2015 NFL Free Agency: Odds on Where Biggest Names Will Land

NFL free agency opens this Tuesday (March 10) at 4 p.m. ET—and once it does, the cash will be flying like you won the lottery and headed straight to Vegas.

All of the players listed in this column are among the best set to hit the market, and all will undoubtedly be lavished with attention like a beautiful woman on a Saturday night. The question is not if these men will be paid—it's which team will pay them.

And we're here to answer that question for you, playboy.

In this column, we've listed many of the top free agents and the odds (constructed by yours truly) for which team they'll inevitably sign with. We came up with the odds based on recent media reports and speculation, with a dash of common sense added in for good measure.

We expect some players to sign with the highest bidder, while others might opt to take less in order to potentially win a championship. Either way, we're here to break it down for you.

Here are the odds on where the biggest names will land in NFL free agency 2015.

Lions DT Ndamukong Suh

Tony Gutierrez/Associated Press

Odds:

• Dolphins -120
• Raiders +150
• Chargers +200
• Jaguars +250
• Lions +400

Over the past few days, the Miami Dolphins have seemingly come out of nowhere to emerge as the front-runner for Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, the top free agent set to hit the market.

New Dolphins executive vice president Mike Tannenbaum is the type of cat who likes to make splashy moves, so this shouldn't come as a shock. The Dolphins have been close to making the playoffs the past two years, and signing Suh would go a long way toward returning them to the tournament. 

And let's not discount the fact that there's no state-income tax in Florida, which provides the Dolphins with a significant advantage over the Raiders and Chargers. Think about it: If you were Suh, would you be down with forking over a ton of your hard-earned cash to the government if you didn't have to? Nah, homie. You wouldn't. Instead, you'd hit up South Beach and spend the extra dough there. We believe Charlie Sheen once referred to that as #winning.

San Diego is a beautiful city, and the team employs quarterback Philip Rivers, and Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reported, via Kevin Patra of NFL.com, that the Bolts are prepared to enter the fray for Suh. And he is scheduled to visit with the rebuilding Raiders next week, per Marissa Payne of The Washington Post.

The Lions remain a dark-horse candidate, but we can't imagine Suh going back to Motown. And the Jaguars must be considered, if only because they have more greenbacks at their disposal than Fort Knox.

But because of the city's allure and the lack of income tax, we believe the smart money is on Suh taking his talents to South Beach. 

The Prediction: Dolphins (-120)

Patriots S Devin McCourty

Charles Krupa/Associated Press

Odds:

• Patriots -110
• Eagles +180
• Giants +200
• Titans +250

The New England Patriots surprised many (including yours truly) when they made kicker Stephen Gostkowski their franchise player in lieu of star safety Devin McCourty.

Yeah, Gostkowski is a sweet kicker, but McCourty is a legitimate stud in the team's defensive backfield. It's tough to doubt Patriots coach Bill Belichick (because, y'know, he's only the best coach in all of sports), but that was a quizzical decision.

Now McCourty is set to hit the market, and he should have no shortage of suitors. Even though they might not offer him the most money, we believe the Patriots have a strong chance of re-signing him. McCourty is a smart dude who knows that his best shot to win multiple rings is in Foxborough.

Dianna Marie Russini of NBC 4 in our nation's capital recently reported that the Eagles and Giants will be in on McCourty, and that makes all the sense in the world. Both teams need to upgrade the back end of their respective defense.

Don't count out the Titans, either. Devin's twin brother, Jason, is a star cornerback for Tennessee, and as they say, blood is thicker than water. But is it thicker than money? That remains to be seen, playboy.

We'll throw our hard-earned cash behind the Eagles in the McCourty derby. Eagles coach Chip Kelly is remaking the team in his image and knows that it needs a player of McCourty's stature in the secondary. 

The Pick: Eagles (+180)

Broncos TE Julius Thomas

Michael Conroy/Associated Press

Odds:

• Raiders -150
• Jaguars +200
• Falcons +250
• Seahawks +300

Denver Broncos tight end Julius Thomas is about to become a very, very rich man. Catching 24 touchdown passes over the last two seasons en route to free agency will do that for a player.

ESPN's Adam Schefter told SiriusXM's Adam Schein that the Raiders will prioritize signing Thomas, and that is logical, since the club needs weapons for quarterback Derek Carr. Thomas is a red-zone matchup nightmare, and the Raiders have a ton of cash to lavish on prospective free agents.

The Jaguars will be in on Thomas as well, with Mike Klis of The Denver Post reporting that Jacksonville will "aggressively pursue" him. 

D. Orlando Ledbetter of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution wrote that the Falcons will be in on Thomas, and Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio reported that the Seahawks will also be in contention.

So let's sort through this, shall we?

The Raiders will be in the mix, but we'd guess that Packers receiver Randall Cobb is a higher priority for them than Thomas. Jacksonville can offer a ton of money, and Florida has no state-income tax, which is appealing to anyone with a functioning brain. The Falcons would be Thomas' best bet if he wants to come close to replicating his numbers in Denver's offense, while the Seahawks present him with his best opportunity to win a Super Bowl.

Nix the Broncos from contention, as Thomas' agent said in February that Thomas is being "pushed away from Denver," per Klis.

At the end of the day, we expect Thomas to take the money, playboy. And we believe the best offer will come from Duval County, Florida.

The Pick: Jaguars (+200)

Seahawks CB Byron Maxwell

Michael Conroy/Associated Press

Odds:

• Eagles -200
• Jaguars +250
• Falcons +400

Seattle Seahawks cornerback Byron Maxwell is widely considered to be the top cornerback set to hit the free-agent market. And yes, you should be envious of that fact, because it means he is going to receive a boatload of cash. (No, seriously. He might actually get a boat filled with cash. We wouldn't be surprised.)

Forget about Maxwell resuming his role in Seattle's "Legion of Boom" secondary, as Bob McGinn of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that the Seahawks are resigned to losing Maxwell. They do have to pay star quarterback Russell Wilson, you know.

Maxwell made the media rounds this past week and expressed a desire to play in Philadelphia, per Sheil Kapadia of PhillyMag.com. The Eagles have the cap space to sign Maxwell, who should command between $8 and $10 million per season.

Once again, the Jaguars are thrown into the ring because they have so much damn money, while Stephen Cohen of the Post-Intelligencer reported that the Falcons will also have interest.

At the end of the day, Maxwell wants to get paid and wants to win. That makes the Eagles the easy choice here, homie.

The Pick: Eagles (-200)

Bills DE Jerry Hughes

Bill Wippert/Associated Press

Odds:

• Bills +120
• Bengals +150
• Eagles +300
• Jaguars +350
• Titans +500

In 2013, Indianapolis Colts general manager Ryan Grigson traded defensive end Jerry Hughes to the Bills for linebacker Kelvin Sheppard. Two years and 20 sacks later, Hughes is set to make a ton of cash on the free-agent market, while Sheppard is now on the Dolphins roster. Nice work, Ry-Ry.

Hughes nabbed 10 sacks in each of the last two seasons in lovely Western New York, and with new coach Rex Ryan in town, one has to believe the Bills will do what they can to keep Hughes in the fold. Matthew Fairburn of Syracuse.com recently broke down the Bills' cap situation as it pertains to Hughes, and he surmised that the team could retain Hughes but believes it would limit the other options in free agency.

Nate Davis of USA Today connected the dots on Hughes potentially going to Cincinnati, while we would also count the Eagles, Jaguars and Titans among the potential suitors.

At the end of the day, we know that Ryan loves to attack the opposing quarterback, and we believe that he'll do what he can to keep Hughes in town.

The Pick: Bills (+120)

Cowboys RB DeMarco Murray

Tim Sharp/Associated Press

Odds:

• Cowboys -200
• Colts +180
• Raiders +220
• Jaguars +400
• Eagles +500

My, how things can change.

If you had asked us a few weeks ago if running back DeMarco Murray would return to the Cowboys, we'd have resounded with a dismissive, guffawing belly-laugh and a Dr. Evil-esque "how about no?"

But now, we'd set the Cowboys as the prohibitive favorite to bring Murray back. Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk recently wrote that Dallas is expecting a "soft market" for the 27-year-old Murray and that the Cowboys believe they'll retain him.

Logical connecting of the dots points to the Colts (who could use an upgrade over the pu pu platter of Trent Richardson, Dan Herron and Zurlon Tipton), Raiders, Jaguars and Eagles also being in the mix.

At one point this offseason, we believed that Adrian Peterson would be Dallas' starting running back next year. After all, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is known to have an affinity for Peterson, and it previously appeared that AP would force his way out of Minnesota.

But we're smart enough to have confidence in the negotiating ability of Vikings coach Mike Zimmer, who recently met with Peterson. Zimmer could convince a freezing man to take off his jacket in the middle of a blizzard, so we'll go ahead and assume that he did a good job of persuading Peterson to remain in the Twin Cities.

Ultimately, Murray might not get paid the most by Dallas, but it remains his best shot for future success. It'll boil down to whether or not he will want to take the most money or not. If we were him, we'd take the money—after all, he's not likely to ever receive another big-money deal.

But we'll read the tea leaves here and wager that he re-signs in Big D.

The Pick: Dallas (-200)

Panthers DE Greg Hardy

Bob Leverone/Associated Press

Odds:

• Bengals -150
• Jaguars +200
• Falcons +300
• Cowboys +450

When it comes to on-field production, Carolina Panthers defensive end Greg Hardy is an absolute stud. He compiled 26 sacks from 2012 to -2013 and appeared to be ascending to the stratosphere of elite pass-rushers.

But charges stemming from a domestic violence case limited him to only one game in 2014. The charges were recently dropped, and it's unclear if Hardy will face further discipline from the league.

Panthers fans can forget about Hardy re-signing with the team, as Bill Voth of the Black and Blue Review recently reported the team is ready to move on from the 26-year-old pass-rushing demon.

Pete Prisco of CBSSports.com opined that the Bengals, Cowboys, Falcons and Jaguars would be fits for Hardy, and they all make a ton of sense.

But at the end of the day, the Bengals should be considered the favorite to sign Hardy. The team needs pass-rushing oomph, and a player of Hardy's caliber could be what the franchise needs to get over the hump and win a damn playoff game for the first time since George H.W. Bush (Dubya's dad) was in office (1991, for those wondering).

Cincinnati makes the most sense and has the cap room to make it happen. Expect that to go down, playboy.

The Pick: Bengals (-150)

Nick Kostos is a featured NFL columnist for Bleacher Report and a host for Bleacher Report Radio on SiriusXM. Follow Nick on Twitter here and become a fan of his on Facebook here.