NFL Free Agency: 36 Surest Tacklers Available

The current pool of NFL veterans that are about to become free agents is huge. While we wait for final details from the CBA to see which players are free agents, general managers are finalizing their priority lists according to need.

Today we look at the top 36 surest tacklers that will be available in free agency.

You would like to think that most defenders in the NFL are a reasonably sure tackler, but when you watch game footage over and over, you will see just how many missed tackles there are in a game.

These are the guys that more often than not can be counted on to make that big tackle. Missed tackles are also a product of a watered down product. The more teams that comprise the NFL, the weaker the quality of each defensive player across the board.

That is why the better tacklers will be in demand this offseason.

Due to their recent strong play, it would be amazing if all of them do not wind up with a strong contract offer in the near term.

Top 5 Defensive Linemen Tacklers in 2010

The top five defensive linemen that registered tackles in 2010, according to ESPN stats, are:

Matt Roth (Cleveland, 86)

Ahtyba Rubin (Cleveland, 82)

Kyle Williams (Buffalo, 77)

Justin Tuck (New York Giants, 76) 

Chris Kelsay (Buffalo, 72)

Interesting that four of the top five come from two defenses. Out of this group, the only known free agent is Matt Roth.

Further down the list the next four defensive linemen free agents are:

Kenyon Coleman (Cleveland, 68)

Charles Johnson (Carolina, 62)

Jason Babin (Tennessee, 58)

Shaun Smith (Kansas City, 56) 

If you are looking for active defensive linemen, these guys should all be getting phone calls shortly from other NFL teams.

Top Linebacker Tacklers in 2010

The top 10 linebackers that registered tackles in 2010 were:

Jerod Mayo (New England, 175)

Stephen Tulloch (Tennessee, 160)

Paul Posluszny (Buffalo, 151)

Chad Greenway (Minnesota, 144)

Ray Lewis (Baltimore, 139)

London Fletcher (Washington, 136)

Lawrence Timmons (Pittsburgh, 135)

James Anderson (Carolina, 130)

Patrick Willis (San Francisco, 128)

Brian Urlacher (Chicago, 125)

Out of this group, the only current free agents that we are aware of are Stephen Tulloch, Paul Posluszny and James Anderson.

To round out the top five LB free agents we include Dhani Jones (Cincinnati, 125) and Barrett Ruud (Tampa Bay, 118).

Other linebackers that finished in the top 30 in tackles in 2010 and are expected to be free agents include Rocky McIntosh (Washington, 110), Takeo Spikes (San Francisco, 109) and Akin Ayodele (Buffalo, 106).

Some of these free agents will undoubtedly see their old employers trying to snap them up in that first three-day exclusive window, while others will insist on wanting to test the waters in free agency.

Top Safety Tacklers in 2010

Out of the top 12 tacklers in the NFL in 2010, there was only one that wasn't a linebacker. That was Buffalo Bills safety Donte Whitner, who placed fifth in the league with 140 tackles.

Whitner is a free agent and seems to have placed his worth as too expensive for the Bills, so he will be testing the free agent market.

Other top safety tacklers in 2010 were:

T.J. Ward (Cleveland, 123)

Bernard Pollard (Houston, 111)

Dawan Landry (Baltimore, 111)

Michael Griffin (Tennessee, 108)

Antoine Bethea (Indianapolis, 106)

All of them finished in the top 30 tacklers in the NFL in 2010. Out of that group, the upcoming free agents would include Bernard Pollard and Dawan Landry.

Digging further down in to the leading 2010 tacklers, we find this group of safeties that are due to be free agents in 2011:

Roman Harper (New Orleans, 98)

Eric Weddle (San Diego, 96)

Michael Huff (Oakland, 94)

Reed Doughty (Washington, 93)

Lawyer Milloy (Seattle, 88)

Quintin Mikell (Philadelphia, 88)

When you look over this entire list of free agents, you realize that there is quite a few good players available in this group, assuming that they are able to escape the clutches of their old teams.

Top Cornerback Tacklers in 2010

Out of the top 80 tacklers in 2010, 10 of them were cornerbacks.

Terrell Thomas (New York Giants, 101)

Alterraun Verner (Tennessee, 101)

Cortland Finnegan (Tennessee, 100)

DeAngelo Hall (Washington, 95)

Charles Woodson (Green Bay, 92)

Antoine Winfield (Minnesota, 91)

Greg Toler (Arizona, 90)

Richard Marshall (Carolina, 88)

Brent Grimes (Atlanta, 87)

Glover Quin (Houston, 85)

Out of the above group, the free agents for 2011 are Richard Marshall and Brent Grimes. We do not yet know which tender offers will stick in the new CBA and which ones won't be recognized.

But the Falcons did place a first-round tender offer on Grimes.

It appears that the pickings for top tackling cornerbacks are pretty slim in 2011.

Tackling Leaders from 2009 Season

We don't want to just assume that the best tacklers from 2010 are the best free agents in 2011. We also want to go back further than just 2010 to make sure we aren't missing somebody that might have had an off year in 2010 due to a defensive scheme shift or allowing that they were hurt or injured.

From the top 30 tacklers of 2009, we add these names that haven't made the presentation so far:

Defensive Lineman: None

Top 10 Linebackers:

Brian Cushing (Houston, 134)

Kirk Morrison (Oakland, 133)

David Harris (New York Jets, 127)

DeMarco Ryans (Houston, 123)

Lance Briggs (Chicago, 118)

Demorrio Williams (Kansas City, 117)

David Hawthorne (Seattle, 117)

Jonathan Vilma (New Orleans, 110)

Karlos Dansby (Arizona, 109)

Mike Peterson (Atlanta, 109)

Defensive Backs:

Brian Dawkins (Denver, 116)

Erik Coleman (Atlanta, 116)

Jordan Babineaux (Seattle, 104)

George Wilson (Buffalo, 103)

Mike Brown (Kansas City, 103)

Out of the above 15 new names to consider, only four players are going to be free agents. They are linebackers Kirk Morrison and Mike Peterson and safeties Jordan Babineaux and Mike Brown. 

Leading Tacklers from the 2008 Season

We repeat the exercise one more time, this time looking at the leading tacklers from the 2008 season that did not appear in the top tacklers list from either 2009 or 2010.

This is the last season we will research, because more than three years in the NFL is like 20 years of human life for the rest of us mere mortals.

Top 40 tacklers from 2008 season that we have not seen yet are:

Defensive Lineman: none

Top 10 Linebackers:

D'Qwell Jackson (Cleveland, 154)

Eric Barton (New York Jets, 119)

Channing Crowder (Miami, 113)

Thomas Davis (Carolina, 113)

Ernie Sims (Detroit, 113)

Stewart Bradley (Philadelphia, 108)

Freddy Keiaho (Indianapolis, 105)

Pisa Tinoisamoa (St. Louis, 104)

James Harrison (Pittsburgh, 101)

Jamie Winborn (Denver, 99)

Defensive Backs: Gibril Wilson (Oakland, 129) and Michael Lewis (San Francisco, 96).

Out of these 12 players, this group is netting a high percentage of free agents. They are: Gibril Wilson, Eric Barton, Thomas Davis, Ernie Sims, Stewart Bradley, Freddy Keiaho, Pisa Tinoisamoa, Jamie Winborn and Michael Lewis.

Several notes to share. Teams listed were the players current team at the time of the year in question. We used Rotoworld to determine their current free agent status, but it is possible some other names can still surface due to new CBA terms.

If you aware of a top tackler free agent that did not make our list, please add their name in the comments section.