Remaining free agents who could offer fantasy value
The NFL offseason goes in phases. The first couple phases — free agency and the draft — carry the most fantasy football weight. But the “most” weight does not mean the “only” weight. Every year, after the draft, there are a handful of veterans who remain free agents and have the potential to carry fantasy value.
To be clear, there isn’t often a lot of value out there. When I did this piece last year, I blurbed nine players. Only five even found 2019 employment. Only one (Javorius Allen) even scored a single touchdown. Benjamin Watson was the leading fantasy scorer from the group, at 34.3 PPR points. Combined, they totaled 67.3 points. It was bad.
But! A year earlier, this exercise netted Adrian Peterson, who topped 1,000 yards in 2018. The year before that, LeGarrette Blount had 800-plus yards. The year before that, Anquan Boldin scored 8 touchdowns. You aren’t likely to find a fantasy goldmine from the ranks of free agents after the draft, but it’s far from impossible, and you’re doing yourself a disservice if you aren’t paying attention to what’s out there.
Also worth noting: After 4 p.m. Monday, any free agents signed no longer count toward the 2021 compensatory pick calculation. So there’s an incentive to signing these guys that didn’t exist last week (or more accurately, not a disincentive).
So below, I’m looking at remaining free agents who could carry fantasy value in 2020 (you know, if there’s a season).
Quarterback
Cam Newton
With Andy Dalton theoretically available but not technically a free agent, Newton is very obviously the prize here (and honestly, he would be for fantasy even if Dalton were out there). There are precious few places left for Newton to have a clear path to a fantasy impact (the list is basically New England and maybe Jacksonville), but he would obviously have an enormous ceiling if he finds work. Before last season’s two-games-and-IR stint that produced only 8.3 fantasy points per game, the worst fantasy season of Newton’s career featured 17.0 PPG, and he’s topped 20 four times.
Joe Flacco
There isn’t much in the way of fantasy depth among free agent quarterbacks (unsurprisingly), and I can’t very well continue to mention Colin Kaepernick in this sort of space. So the next best name out there, now that Jameis Winston is under contract, is Flacco, he of 6 touchdowns and 5 interceptions in eight games last year before being sat for *cough* Brandon Allen. So basically, this section of this piece is about Cam Newton.
Other quarterbacks who could find value: I don’t know, man. Josh McCown? Blake Bortles? Matt Moore? This is the Newton-only zone.
Running back
Devonta Freeman
Freeman’s PPR points per game by year, starting with his 2015 season where he finished as the overall RB1: 21.1, 17.8, 14.3, 7.1 (only two games played), 14.1. So he’s a 28-year-old back who missed almost all of 2018, didn’t even rush for 700 yards last year, and has seen his fantasy production fall every health season since 2015. But he’s also averaged 90-plus scrimmage yards a game over his last five seasons and has a career 4.2 yards per attempt. There aren’t many jobs left, but Freeman’s going to land somewhere. He’s not going to be a high fantasy draft pick, but he’ll be worth monitoring.
Frank Gore
Literally, until like three days ago, I had it in my head that Gore was still under contract with the Bills for another year. Then I realized he wasn’t and I got sad, because the end of Frank Gore’s career will be a sad occasion, and I want it to come when he’s ready for it to come and not just when the league decides it. That said, I do think he’ll eventually find work for 2020. He’s held in ridiculous esteem around the league, basically treated as a coach on the field, and for teams with younger running backs — like the Rams, or the Chiefs, or even back with the Bills — he could be an asset in that sense. Even in relatively limited run last year, he had 599 rushing yards. It’s a stretch, but there will be some Gore to be heard from.
Carlos Hyde
Hyde is not a receiver (he’s only scored a receiving touchdown in one year of his career, the 2016 season when he scored 3). He’s not a lightning bolt as a rusher either (under 4.0 yards per carry across his last three seasons, only at 4.1 for his career). But he can run the ball into a pile like crazy, and he did so 245 times last year to the tune of his first career 1,000-yard season. That’s got some limited value if he can find work … which is no guarantee.
Lamar Miller
Miller’s Texans tenure is going to be remembered as something of a disaster, and while it definitely was a disappointment, it’s going to be unfairly colored by expectations. Miller came to Houston looking ready to take on a full-time workload and put up RB1 seasons. Instead, he was … meh. He scored exactly 6 touchdowns each of his first three seasons with the Texans (before missing 2019 to injury), but also averaged 1,204 scrimmage yards per season, including at least 1,100 all three years. That’s not RB1 material, but it’s also not embarrassing. He turned 29 on Saturday, and there have been absolutely no whispers connecting him to any team this offseason, so it’s possible we’ve seen the last of him. But a team that suffers a training-camp injury could do far worse than calling Miller.
Other running backs who could find value: Chris Thompson, Theo Riddick, Isaiah Crowell, Ty Montgomery
Wide receiver
Josh Gordon
If we ever see Josh Gordon on an NFL field again I’ll be somewhat surprised. He’s serving his sixth suspension since 2013, and this one is “indefinite,” basically meaning it’s up to Roger Goodell. Gordon has said he wants to play in 2020, he’s still only 29, and there are still plenty of tools. If he finds a job, you have to give him some fantasy attention. But that’s a huge if.
Taylor Gabriel
One of the reasons given for why the Bears released Gabriel with $2 million in dead cap instead of keeping him on his contract was how loaded this year’s receiver draft class was, meaning they could get someone to slide in behind Allen Robinson and Anthony Miller pretty easily. Instead, the only receiver the Bears took over the weekend was Darnell Mooney out of Tulane in the fifth round. So I wouldn’t be shocked if Gabriel finds his way back to Chicago at a discount before the season starts. In his two years in Chicago (25 total games), Gabriel only scored a touchdown in three of them … but that includes two in one game and three in another. He’s got (limited) best-ball upside if he finds work.
Paul Richardson
Richardson’s Washington tenure was supposed to be his coming-out party, if not as a “star” player, at least as a competent one. Instead, injuries limited him to 17 games, 507 yards, and 4 touchdowns across two seasons before getting released this offseason. Now 28 and with only one season of more than 300 yards or 2 touchdowns, there isn’t a lot of chance left for Richardson to carve out a real niche in the league, but if he can get a job and stay healthy he’s got a shot.
Other wide receivers who could find value: There’s not a lot here. Demaryius Thomas, if he wants to keep playing? Rashard Higgins? Tavon Austin?
Tight end
Jordan Reed
Reed has been mentioned a lot this offseason, including rumors connecting him to the Rams (who have Tyler Higbee, Gerald Everett, and now Brycen Hopkins) and the Seahawks (who have Greg Olsen, Will Dissly, and Jacob Hollister). So maybe those rumors won’t work out, but at the least there appears to be interest in the tight end who has averaged 51.9 yards and 0.37 touchdowns per game in his career, but has never topped 14 games played in a season and missed all of 2019 with injury. Honestly, I’d rather see him retire, given his concussion history, but if he finds work, he’s got upside.
Delanie Walker
Like Reed, there have been rumors connecting Walker to numerous teams, but none in more than a month now. Walker is 35 now, will be 36 before the season started, and has played eight games across the last two seasons. But before that, he had played at least 15 games in seven straight seasons, at least 14 in 11 straight, and had a four-year run of 800-plus yards. Teams like Washington with essentially no tight end on the roster could definitely do worse.
Other tight ends who could find value: Really, running back is the only position with much depth left. Charles Clay and Geoff Swaim are the “draws” here.