NFL Free Agency 2012: Listing the Best Player at Each Position

The 2012 free agency period in the NFL will be a return to normalcy after the lockout of last year forced a crammed free-agent frenzy this past August.

There are many good options available, most notably at the wide receiver position.

In fact, the wealth of receiver talent available via the FA market in 2012 may be the best in league history.

There are other positions however, that lack depth and overall talent—as seen by the crop of defensive linemen ready to hit the market.

March 13 is fast approaching, and as it is every year, it will be an exciting period to watch as the story lines unfold and new twists are added along the way.

Highlighted over the next few slides are the best players available at each position.

(Note: Drew Brees, though a free agent to-be, is left off because New Orleans will not let him go.)

Quarterback: Matt Flynn

The most talked about performance of Week 17 was Flynn stepping in for the resting Aaron Rodgers.

He led Green Bay to a victory and blew up the Detroit Lions secondary for four quarters.

What Flynn did was throw for more yards in a game (480) and throw more touchdowns (6) than any quarterback in team history.

More than Bart Starr, Lynn Dickey, Don Majkowski, Brett Favre and Rodgers have ever thrown for in a game.

His stock in the free-agent market was going to be good before Week 17. Now, though, he is looking at a big payday from a team that may have otherwise spent an early draft pick on a quarterback in April.

Flynn likely will not get Kevin Kolb money.

Kolb signed a five-year contract extension upon arriving in Arizona that can be worth as much as $63.5 million.

It has been said that Flynn’s could fall somewhere between Kolb’s and the one Matt Schaub signed with Houston in 2007, which was a six-year, $48 million deal.

Running Back: Matt Forte

Forte and the Chicago Bears could not work out a contract extension before he went down with a Grade 2 MCL sprain in Week 13 against Kansas City.

The injury will lose him some money on his next contract, however he will still be a hot commodity when the time comes.

Forte has openly disagreed with the mishandling of his contract talks, so he is a prime candidate to leave for greener pastures.

Before his injury, he was on the verge of another 1,000-yard season. He finished with 997 yards and three rushing touchdowns.

He also was the third-leading receiver on the team, catching 52 passes for 490 yards and five TD.

Wide Receiver: Wes Welker

Welker has caught at least 111 passes in four of the five seasons he has been with New England.

He has led the league in receptions in three of those four years, including this season in which he totaled 122 catches for 1,569 yards and nine TD.

Whether he will stay in New England or test the free-agent waters remains a mystery, but it is a safe assumption that he is about to sign the final contract of his career.

Welker will be 31 years old by the time the new season kicks off, and you would think he has—at the most—five good years of production left.

Tight End: Jermichael Finley

Finley has made it clear that he wants to retire in Green Bay—a big statement coming from the 24-year-old.

That is a long time considering the career he is expected to have.

Should the young tight end live up to his potential, he will play well into his 30s, much like Shannon Sharpe did and like Tony Gonzalez is doing now.

Hampered by injury until 2011, Finley has enjoyed his best season by far of his career. He played in all 16 regular-season games for the first time, totaling 55 grabs for 767 yards and eight TD.

He will be a star for the next decade provided he stays free of major injury.

Offensive Line: Carl Nicks

This mammoth left guard has been lights-out in protecting Drew Brees over his career.

He will participate in his second consecutive Pro Bowl (unless the Saints make the Super Bowl), largely because he is a member of an offensive line that allowed only 24 sacks all season—tied with Tennessee for second-fewest in the NFL.

Only Buffalo (23) allowed fewer.

Nicks is just 26 years old and will be an anchor on any offensive line for the better part of the next 10 seasons.

With Brees set to hit free agency in March just like Nicks, it is more likely that the Pro Bowl guard will be suiting up for another squad in 2012, and with a fat wallet.

Defensive Line: Calais Campbell

Using a word coined by James Lipton (Will Farrell) on SNL, the 6’8” defensive end for the Arizona Cardinals was “scrumtrulescent” in 2011.

His career-high eight sacks led the team for the third consecutive season.

He also set career-highs in total tackles (72), passes defended (10) and blocked kicks (3), as well as recording the first interception of his career against Michael Vick and the Eagles.

Should he not get a long-term deal with the Cardinals, he will almost assuredly be hit with the franchise tag, keeping him in Arizona for at least one more season.

Linebacker: Mario Williams

The recently converted defensive end started off great in 2011 before being placed on IR with a torn pectoral muscle.

He had already racked up five sacks through the middle of Week 5, the game against Oakland in which he suffered the injury.

He has recorded 53 sacks already in his career—ninth most since coming into the league in 2006.

Williams has been one of the more feared pass-rushers in the game since the day he stepped foot onto an NFL field, and he is set for a big payday.

Defensive Back: LaRon Landry

Washington’s oft-injured safety is one of the best young talents in the league when healthy.

Landry missed only one start his first three years, but he spent the second half of the 2010 season on IR with an Achilles injury, and it plagued him once again in 2011.

He also had surgery in February of last year on his left wrist, which he dislocated in a game against the Texans in September of 2010.

That may hinder his next contract, but he still will be the biggest addition to a team’s defensive secondary—whoever takes a chance on him.