NFL free agency 2026: Top 5 players at each defensive position

The last two Super Bowl champions each made a splashy move in free agency leading up to the season that led to their title: the Eagles signing Saquon Barkley two years ago and the Seahawks acquiring Sam Darnold last year. What will be the move that wins the next Super Bowl? It’s coming soon.

Free agency in the NFL officially begins March 11 with the start of the league year, but teams can begin negotiating with available players on March 9. Plenty will change in the three weeks until that happens as various players are released, signed to extensions, or tagged by their teams, and trades are always on the table, so everyone will have to remain flexible through the process. Here, though, are the top 5 players at each defensive position who are currently due to become unrestricted free agents and should be landing some of the bigger contracts in that first frenzy of activity… and perhaps a championship next February.

DEFENSIVE LINEMEN

1. John Franklin-Myers. The former Jet had a career-high 7.5 sacks and 23 pressures this season for the Broncos. He’s best suited as an interior linemen at this point in his career rather than someone to set the edge.

2. Sheldon Rankins. Another former Jet, Rankins started all 17 games for the Texans in 2025 and had 3.0 sacks. He provides solid play and veteran leadership.

3. Logan Hall. A solid run-defender in four years with the Bucs Hall never quite emerged as a pass-rushing threat. He has 10 career sacks, 5.5 of them coming in 2024. Still, there could be some untapped potential that a change in scenery and scheme could bring forth.

4. Sebastian Joseph-Day. A veteran who was on the Rams’ Super Bowl-winning team (2021), he had 2.0 sacks and 6 tackles for loss for the Titans in 2025. He also had 6 quarterback hits.

5. D.J. Reader. In the last two years with the Lions, Reader started every game but two at nose tackle. He’s not the top-tier run-stuffer he was earlier in his career with the Texans and Bengals, but the 31-year-old can still plug a hole for a defense.

EDGE

1. Trey Hendrickson. A four-time Pro Bowler and All-Pro in 2024, Hendrickson is considered the top free agent regardless of position and whichever team signs him will get a premier player in his prime. The 31-year-old has 81.5 career sacks, including 17.5 in both 2023 and 2024.

2. Jaelan Phillips. Phillips had 2.0 sacks and 27 pressures in half a season after being traded to the Eagles in November. In a career that has been hampered by an Achilles and a knee injury he has notched 28 sacks and 150 pressures in 63 games over five seasons.

3. Odafe Oweh. Three sacks in the Chargers’ wild card loss to the Patriots was a strong way to head into free agency. A former first-round pick of the Ravens he has 30.5 career regular-season sacks, including 7.5 in the 12 games after he was traded to the Chargers in 2025.

4. Khalil Mack. A nine-time Pro Bowler and 2016 Defensive Player of the Year, Mack, who turns 35 this month, is no longer the dominant every-down player he was, but he can still be a solid situational pass-rusher for a team looking to add a veteran aspect to that position.

5. Joey Bosa. He posted 5.0 sacks and a league-high five forced fumbles for the Bills on a one-year deal in Buffalo for 2025. A five-time Pro Bowler with 77.0 career sacks but no double-digit sack season since 2021.

 LINEBACKERS

1. Devin Lloyd. The top free agent at the position is a 27-year-old coming off a career year with the Jaguars in which he had five interceptions (one returned for a 99-yard touchdown against Patrick Mahomes) and was named to the Pro Bowl and a second-team All-Pro. He also broke up another six passes and while he only had 1.5 sacks he had six tackles for loss.

2. Quay Walker. A first-round pick by the Packers in 2022 he’s started 57 games in four years. His stats: 469 tackles, 29 tackles for a loss, 9.0 sacks, three forced fumbles, one interception, and 17 pass deflections. In 2025 he had 128 tackles in 14 games, eight tackles for a loss, 2.5 sacks, and five pass deflections.

3. Quincy Williams. Williams, like just about everyone else on the Jets’ disappointing defense, is coming off a down year. But he was a first-team All-Pro in 2023 when he recorded 139 tackles. In 2024 he ranked 10th in the league with a 74.3 PFF run-defense grade.

4. Nakobe Dean. A painful patellar tendon tear in the playoffs last year ended Dean’s season short of the Eagles’ Super Bowl run but he returned in the middle of the 2025 season to rack up 4.0 sacks and 55 tackles in just 10 games. He’s still only 25 but he has missed 21 games over the past three years. The only season he played a full slate of games was as a rookie backup.

5. Alex Anzalone. With his best seasons coming in Detroit playing for coordinator Aaron Glenn the assumption by many is he will wind up a Jet – and replace Quincy Williams – but the 31-year-old will have other suitors too. He had 95 tackles in 16 games in 2025.

CORNERBACKS

1. Nashon Wright. Wright came into 2025 on a league-minimum salary with one career interception and three starts only to become a key to the Bears’ playoff resurgence while recording five interceptions, two forced fumbles, and a Pro Bowl nod. Now it’s time for him to get paid.

2. Jaylen Watson. A seventh-round pick who grew into a star role for Kansas City, Watson is more that just a coverage guy. He had a PFF run defense grade of 83.5 and can be a useful player for a team that likes to blitz its cornerback. His 2.0 sacks were the second-most among corners in 2025.

3. Jamel Dean. Dean took a huge pay cut of $8 million in 2025 from the Bucs in order to become a free agent this offseason and now he gets to cash in on that trade-off. He’s coming off a 2025 season in which he allowed just 25 receptions, had three interceptions, and also had two forced fumbles.

4. Cor’Dale Flott. It took a while for the former third-round pick originally projected as a slot corner to blossom with the Giants but in his first season as a regular starter on the outside in 2025 he showed the kind of upward trajectory that teams look for in free agency.

5. Alontae Taylor. The four-year veteran has played in all 17 games each of the last three seasons for the Saints, lining up outside and in the slot. He had two picks in 2025 and has 7.0 career sacks, including 4.0 in 2024.

SAFETIES

1. Bryan Cook. Cook ranked 4th among safeties with an 83.5 PFF grade in 2025, starting 17 games for the second season in a row and posting a career-high 85 tackles with 6 passes broken up for Kansas City.

2. Coby Bryant. In 15 regular-season starts for the Super Bowl champ Seahawks in 2025 he had 66 tackles, 4 interceptions and 7 pass breakups. In the three playoff games he added 10 more tackles (8 solo) and 2 more pass breakups.

3. Reed Blankenship. A down season in 2025 will hurt his market a bit but Blankenship is still young (27) and in 2023 and 2024 he was among the best at his position for a team that won a Super Bowl; he had seven combined interceptions in that two-year span and in 2023 he had a career-high 113 tackles.

4. Kam Curl. Curl’s 81.8 PFF overall grade over the past four years ranks 13th among qualifying safeties. He’s coming off a season in which he allowed just one touchdown pass.

5. Jaquan Brisker. Posted 93 tackles and an interception for the Bears in 2025. Brisker has a concussion history (he has three documented injuries and missed 12 games in 2024 due to one) but he started all 17 games and played 100% of the defensive snaps for the Bears in 2025.