Linger Longer: A Look At The NFL's Top 20 Remaining Free Agents

The free agency pool still has a lot of talented players remaining on it. With a lot of teams hurting for space with the salary cap, these remaining top free agents are still waiting for a city to call home in 2009.

A lot of the big names like Haynesworth, Houshmandzadeh, and Dawkins have found new places to call home.

And while their former teams and fanbases will miss them, they'll leave their mark on their new teams, as will the players on this list of remaining unsigned free agents.

20. Warrick Dunn, Running Back

Warrick Dunn had a productive season in Tampa Bay, for an aging halfback.

He started in six of the 15 games he played in, with 186 carries for 786 yards; an average of 4.2 yards per carry, and two touchdowns.

Dunn also had 47 receptions for 330 yards, for an average of 7 yards after the catch.

His services will be wanted somewhere. He can best be utilized as a third-down back for short yardage situations.

Potential landing places: Any team that uses a rotating running back system, and could use depth and leadership at that position.

19. Amani Toomer, Wide Receiver

Amani Toomer has been a New York Giant since he was drafted in 1996. His production in New York has diminished since the 2003 season.

He will most certainly find a home soon, as he is a good slot receiver.

In 2008, he started in 12 of the 16 games he participated in, putting up 580 yards on 48 receptions, with an average of 12.1 yards after catch and four touchdowns.

Potential landing places: San Francisco 49ers, Oakland Raiders

18. Matt Jones, Wide Receiver

Matt Jones' legal problems could catch up to him; they did in Jacksonville, but his quality of talent is too good to be dismissed.

In 2008, Jones had 65 receptions for 761 yards, an average of 9.3 yards after catch and two touchdowns. 2008 was the best season of his four-year career thus far.

Potential landing places: New York Jets, Dallas Cowboys

17. Mark Tauscher, Offensive Tackle

Mark Tauscher has been a dominant force on the Packers offensive line, starting in 13 games in 2008, at 31 years of age.

The downside to Tauscher is he is rehabbing from ACL surgery, which in turn, has brought down his free agency market value.

Green Bay might try to re-sign him, but division rival Minnesota could try to steal him from under their noses.

Potential landing places: Green Bay Packers (re-sign), Minnesota Vikings

16. Mike Brown, Safety

Mike Brown is a solid playmaker at the safety position. His only downfall hurting his free agency value, is he's suffered some bad injuries in recent years.

In 2008, Brown had decent production with the Bears, starting in 15-of-15 games played, he had 57 tackles, 16 assists, and a sack. He also defensed eight passes, and collected two interceptions.

So far, he hasn't attracted much attention from any team.

15. Marcus Washington, Linebacker

Marcus Washington has been indicating that he will be back with the Redskins in 2009.

In 2008, he had a decent amount of production, starting in nine-of-10 games he played, Washington had 25 tackles, 19 assists, and a pass defensed.

Potential landing places: Washington Redskins (re-sign)

14. Freddie Keiaho, Linebacker

Freddy Keiaho has a very scarce shot at returning to Indianapolis in 2009. It is decided that other teams should start showing some interest in him before the NFL Draft.

In 2008, Keiaho had 79 tackles, and 26 assists.

Potential landing places: Indianapolis Colts (Longshot re-sign), Buffalo Bills

13. Marvin Harrison, Wide Receiver

Marvin Harrison has had an excellent career, but since being released by the Indianapolis Colts, the big question is who wants him? Harrison has shown a marked decline in his performance, and that of course is due to his age.

At best, he might have one or two years left in the tank, but that depends on whether he decides to retire. Still, should a team want a veteran third receiver, he could get another chance.

In 2008, Harrison started in 15 of the games he played in, had 60 receptions for 636 yards; an average of 10.6 yards after catch, and five touchdowns.

Potential landing places: San Francisco 49ers, Oakland Raiders, Detroit Lions, retirement

12. Roy Williams, Safety

Roy Williams, the former Dallas safety, is best known for what? His sneaky horse-collar tackle.

Injury limited Williams in the 2008 season, to two starts in three games, where he only had four tackles and two assists.

Williams' agent has said that several teams have expressed interest in Roy.

Of the several teams, Williams has visited Cincinnati, leaving the Bengals impressed, and Chicago will be looking for a replacement for Mike Brown.

Potential landing places: Cincinnati Bengals, Chicago Bears

11. Dominic Rhodes, Running Back

I've always liked Rhodes. He has good ball control, body control, and does a nice job of finding the gaps.

In 2008, Rhodes saw four starts in 15 games, had 152 carries for 538 yards; an average of 3.5 yards per carry, and six touchdowns.

Rhodes also had 45 receptions for 302 yards, an average of 6.7 yards after catch, and three touchdowns.

So far, no teams have expressed much interest in Rhodes, but the Colts have said they'd like to bring him back at a cheaper rate.

Potential landing places: Indianapolis Colts, any team in need of a second or third running back

10. Ken Lucas, Corner Back

Ken Lucas didn't have a terrible season, but it wasn't a great one, either.

In 2008, Lucas started in all 16 regular season games. He had 53 tackles, seven assists, defensed 10 passes, and had two interceptions.

Lucas has a some good years left in him, but will more than likely see playing time as a second option, unless he goes to a team in dire need of help in the secondary.

Carolina would probably have resigned him, but cap space, Chris Gamble, Richard Marshall, and Dante Wesley were more important and promising.

Potential landing places: Miami Dolphins

9. Jeff Garcia, Quarterback

Always an underdog as a quarterback, Garcia proved the naysayers wrong when he showed that he does have an arm for the deep pass, and an accurate arm at that.

In 2008, Garcia was very productive with the Buccaneers. He started in 11-of-12 games he played in, was 244-of-376 (64.9 percent) in passing attempts for 2,712 yards, 12 touchdown passes, six interceptions, and was sacked 23 times, for an overall quarterback rating of 90.2.

The rumor is that he could be closing on a contract with the Raiders soon, as a backup to quarterback JaMarcus Russell, but nothing has been finalized yet.

Potential landing places: Oakland Raiders

8. Dre' Bly, Corner Back

One of the upper-tier corners in the league, Dre' Bly was productive in 2008 with the Broncos.

Bly started in all 16 games in 2008, with 54 tackles, eight assists, eight passes defensed, and two interceptions.

Bly hasn't garnered much attention from around the league, but he could bring interest later in the offseason, most likely after draft day by teams looking to bolster depth and leadership.

Potential landing places: Atlanta Falcons, Minnesota Vikings

7. Cato June, Linebacker

Cato June has always been a huge defensive talent for the Buccaneers, but his reputation could be hindered, as he's never played outside of a Tampa-2 defensive scheme.

In 2008 June had 49 tackles, 18 assists, defensed two passes, had an interception, and started in 14-of-16 games.

Buffalo has had him in for a visit, and he would probably fit in nicely with the Bills.

Potential landing places: Buffalo Bills

6. Jason Taylor, Defensive End

Even after he struggled in 2008, there are still a lot of teams trying to land Jason Taylor. The most notable team being the New England Patriots, which has shown they like to resurrect veteran careers.

Potential landing places: New England Patriots

5. Orlando Pace, Offensive Tackle

Orlando Pace is a monster on the offensive line, and provided he can stay injury-free, should make an impact on any team that signs him.

Pace started in all 14 games he played in 2008.

So far, Baltimore has indicated the most interest in Pace, but there has been no definitive signs as to whether or not the Ravens will make an offer.

Potential landing places: Baltimore Ravens, Philadelphia Eagles

4. Derrick Brooks, Linebacker

Derrick Brooks has always been a fierce competitor on Tampa's defense and a team leader.

In 2008, Brooks started in all 16 regular season games, posting 58 tackles, 15 assists, seven passes defensed, and an interception.

Right now, after 15 seasons, Brooks is definitely making his case for a run at the Hall of Fame, and if he retires, I'd expect to see him nominated or inducted within the next six years.

In the meantime, after trading linebacker Julian Peterson to the Lions, the Seahawks could look to bolster their line's depth with an experienced leader in Derrick Brooks.

Potential landing places: Seattle Seahawks

3. Byron Leftwich, Quarterback

After starting his career in Jacksonville, then landing in Atlanta, Leftwich is currently in Pittsburgh.

Leftwich participated in five games in 2008. He went 21-for-36 (no interceptions) for 303 yards, a 58.3 completion percentage, averaged 8.4 yards per pass, and threw two touchdown passes for a quarterback rating of 104.3.

Leftwich also carried the ball four times for seven yards and a touchdown.

So far there hasn't been much interest in Leftwich, so he could very well wind up as Roethlisberger's backup again next season. Otherwise, he could get a chance somewhere else like Tampa Bay.

Potential landing spots: Pittsburgh Steelers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

2. Chris McAlister, Cornerback

Chris McAlister only started in five of the six games he played for the Ravens in 2008, but even in that short amount of time, he had some nice numbers.

McAlister had 13 tackles, three assists, seven passes defensed, and three interceptions.

Despite knee issues and being 31 years of age, McAlister still has a lot of potential. Don't be too surprised if former Ravens defensive coordinator Rex Ryan considers adding McAlister into the Jets' defensive mix.

Potential landing places: New York Jets, New York Giants, Denver Broncos

1. Torry Holt, Wide Receiver

At 32 years of age, Torry Holt still has a great pair of hands for making catches, has great body control, knows where his feet are at all times, and is a great playmaker.

In 2008, Holt started in 14 of the 16 games he participated in, making 64 receptions for 796 yards; averaging 12.3 yards after catch, and three touchdowns.

Holt's supposed to visit Jacksonville, and with the Jags' woes at the receiver position, he could be a shoo-in there.

Potential landing places: Jacksonville Jaguars, Philadelphia Eagles*, New England Patriots, New York Giants, Arizona Cardinals*

*If the Eagles were to trade picks to the Cardinals for WR Anquan Boldin, the Cards might generate interest in reuniting Holt with QB Kurt Warner; OR, the Eagles sign Holt, and package him and a first-round pick as trade bait for the Cardinals' Anquan Boldin.