The NFL's negotiating window for free agents opens this coming Monday at noon ET, with the free agency signing period officially beginning at the start of the new league year on Wednesday, March 12, at 4 p.m. ET. The record salary cap of $279.2 million per club is good news for those hitting the open market -- even those who aren't household names.
Here's a short list of less-heralded players who are in position to break the bank, with supporting stats compiled by NFL Senior Researcher Ben McWilliams.
There are a bunch of veteran, big-name edge rushers available in free agency -- Khalil Mack, Matt Judon, Haason Reddick, Chase Young and Josh Sweat, to name a few -- and Odeyingbo could end up with as big a payday as any of them. A second-round pick (54th overall) out of Vanderbilt in the 2021 NFL Draft, Odeyingbo took on a larger role in his fourth season and led the Colts with 50 QB pressures, per Next Gen Stats. He's one of just six players with 30-plus QB hits and fewer than 20 starts over the past two seasons. And he is still only 25 years old. Teams often bet big on upside in crucial areas like edge rushing, so it wouldn't be a shock to see Odeyingbo land a deal in the range of $16 million to $20 million per year.
After the Chiefs placed the franchise tag on Trey Smith, Banks became one of the top guards -- if not the position's headliner -- on the free-agent market. A second-round pick (No. 48 overall) out of Notre Dame in 2021, Banks allowed just one sack on 471 pass-blocking snaps last season, according to Pro Football Focus' charting, while posting a career-high 67.2 PFF grade in 13 starts for the 49ers. Last March, the Panthers signed free-agent guard Robert Hunt to a whopping five-year, $100 million deal. If the market is right, Banks could land a contract in a similar range of $18 million to $20 million per season.
High-end centers usually don't hit free agency, and Dalman should benefit. He missed time last season with an ankle injury but excelled when he played, allowing two sacks on 295 pass-blocking snaps and finishing with PFF's fifth-best grade among centers. A fourth-round pick (No. 114 overall) out of Stanford in 2021, Dalman has 40 career starts and might still have his best football ahead of him at age 26. A contract with an annual salary in the $13 million-to-$14 million range would make sense.
While much of the focus for safeties is on the future of Jevon Holland, don't sleep on Moehrig emerging as one of the big winners in free agency. A second-round pick (No. 43 overall) out of TCU in 2021, Moehrig already has 64 career starts and is still just 25 years old. He set career highs last season with 104 tackles and 10 passes defensed. He also put up a sparkling PFF grade in run defense (87.5). It won't be a surprise if he commands upwards of $12 million a year.
Zack Baun and Nick Bolton, two linebackers who have starred on the Super Bowl stage, will get a lot of attention in free agency. But there's also intrigue with Sherwood, a fifth-round pick (No. 146 overall) of the Jets in 2021 who recorded a career-high 158 tackles in 2024. PFF charted Sherwood with the 11th-best grade in run defense (77.1) among qualified linebackers. And he just turned 25 in January. If Baun and Bolton can push up the linebacker market, Sherwood stands to benefit, with a contract potentially in the neighborhood of $12 million a year.
