The Best Available 2026 NFL Free Agent at Every Position

We're over two weeks into free agency across the NFL in 2026, and it has been the same carnival of spending that happens every year. Billions of dollars of contracts have been handed out, and scores of players have found new teams.

However, not every player who hit the open market has hit the jackpot.

The list of names available has been heavily picked over, but there are still players on the market. Many are aging veterans. Some are coming off down seasons. Others are coming off 2025 injuries or are holding out for a more lucrative deal.

Whatever the reason, there are still plenty of players who have yet to find a new team, and while that list may not be star-studded, there are veterans available who can help NFL teams in the coming season.

Here's a look at the best available at each position.

Quarterback: Kirk Cousins

AP Photo/Mike Stewart

A case can be made for including Aaron Rodgers here—he's technically a free agent. But the four-time NFL MVP is either going to play for the Pittsburgh Steelers again in 2026 or hang them up, so he's out.

That leaves Kirk Cousins as the best of an unappealing group of free agents at the game's most important position.

Assuming the 37-year-old sees the field for a few games in 2026, he will pass 45,000 career passing yards and 300 passing touchdowns this season. The four-time Pro Bowler has amassed $322 million in career earnings.

But in 10 games (and eight starts) for the Atlanta Falcons last year, he averaged just 172.1 passing yards per game with a passer rating of 84.8—his lowest numbers in those categories in well over a decade.

The reality is that while he is a solid veteran insurance policy under center or a potential bridge starter, any team starting Cousins regularly is most likely going to have a long season.

Running Back: Najee Harris

AP Photo/Kyusung Gong

That the best running back available is coming off an Achilles tear tells you all you really need to know about how picked over the position is at this point in free agency. But that is where we are: sifting through a group of aging veterans and third-tier options.

The 2025 season was a calamity for Najee Harris. He made it just three games and 15 carries into his only season with the Los Angeles Chargers before tearing his Achilles.

However, if recent reports are any indication, the 28-year-old's rehab is progressing well, and the more he can show that he should be ready for Week 1 the more interest he is going to generate from teams with a need in the backfield.

That interest stems from what Harris accomplished over four seasons in Pittsburgh. He may not have lived up to his first-round price tag and become an elite running back, but he eclipsed 1,000 rushing yards four times in as many seasons in the Steel City, averaging seven rushing touchdowns and 45 catches per campaign over that span.

Wide Receiver: Jauan Jennings

AP Photo/Terrance Williams

There are some big names still available at the wide receiver position.

Tyreek Hill and Stefon Diggs have combined for 13 1,000-yard seasons and 157 touchdown catches. But both are past their prime, and Hill is coming off a devastating knee injury.

Jauan Jennings has yet to amass 1,000 receiving yards in a season. But he came close in 2024, catching 77 passes for 975 yards and six scores with the San Francisco 49ers. His catches (55) and receiving yards (643) dipped in 2025, but he found the end zone a career-best nine times.

Admittedly, the 28-year-old isn't a burner or a No. 1 wideout. But he's a reliable chain-mover with sure hands who is a more than capable complimentary piece.

Frankly, the reason Jennings remains unsigned is likely financial—this could be the sixth-year veteran's last chance to land a lucrative multi-year extension, but teams may be reluctant to give big money to a guy who isn't going to take the top off opposing defenses.

Tight End: David Njoku

AP Photo/Matt Freed

NFL teams looking for a difference-maker at the tight end position this year were mostly out of luck.

The Atlanta Falcons slapped the franchise tag on Kyle Pitts, and Travis Kelce and Dallas Goedert re-upped with the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles, respectively.

However, there is a tight end still available who has over 4,000 career receiving yards, 34 touchdown catches and a Pro Bowl on his professional resume: David Njoku.

His 2025 campaign with the Cleveland Browns was disappointing. The 29-year-old missed five games and logged the second-fewest receiving yards (293) of his nine-year professional career. It was the second straight season with at least five missed games for Njoku, who hasn't played every game in a season since 2018.

Back in 2023, though, Njoku set career highs in receptions (81), receiving yards (882) and touchdown grabs (6). That year, he was sixth among all tight ends in catches and receiving yards.

If he can just stay on the field, Njoku has the potential to be a plus NFL starter.

Offensive Tackle: Taylor Decker

AP Photo/Zach Bolinger

It has been a surprising offseason for offensive tackle Taylor Decker.

When the 32-year-old announced he would play an 11th season, it was believed he would remain in Detroit. But as he noted on Instagram, after being asked to take a pay cut he requested (and was granted) his release:

"I am opting for a clean and amicable close to what has been such a beautiful 10 years going to war as a Lion. It has been the absolute privilege of my life to be your LT for the past 10 years and I am forever grateful for the opportunity the Ford family and Lions organization afforded me."

Decker turns 33 this year and has missed multiple games in each of the past three seasons. But in 2025 Decker allowed just two sacks in almost 900 snaps per Pro Football Focus.

There are multiple teams in need of help at tackle, and Decker should have his choice of numerous landing spots—although he may have to wait until after the 2026 draft to pick one.

Interior Offensive Lineman: Joel Bitonio

AP Photo/David Dermer

Like Taylor Decker, Joel Bitonio isn't getting any younger—the 12-year veteran turns 35 in October. It's not certain that he will even play in 2026—if he doesn't find the right fit, Bitonio could still elect to retire.

But if Bitonio does elect to give it a go one more time, any contender looking for a short-term fix at left guard should pick up the phone.

For much of his career with the Cleveland Browns, Bitonio was one of the best guards in the NFL.

From 2018 to 2024, he was named to seven consecutive Pro Bowls. That streak ended last season, but he still played at a high level—per Pro Football Focus, he allowed just two sacks and committed a single penalty over 1,081 snaps, and he graded out as one of the best pass-protecting guards in the league.

Bitonio has also been mostly durable over his career. Since missing most of the 2016 season with an injured foot, he has missed just two contests over the last nine seasons combined.

Edge-Rusher: Joey Bosa

AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty

The edge-rusher position was blasted early in free agency, with multiple players hitting the jackpot.

Odafe Oweh got $25 million a season from the Washington Commanders, and no player in all of free agency got more money per season than the $30 million a season the Carolina Panthers gave Jaelan Phillips.

The position has been picked over and then some. But there's still at least one big name looking for work.

Joey Bosa is no longer the player who won Defensive Rookie of the Year honors, topped 10 sacks four times and made it to five Pro Bowls while a member of the Los Angeles Chargers. His last 10-sack season came in 2021. Injuries have taken their toll, and Bosa will turn 31 before the 2026 season starts.

But while Bosa may no longer be a game-wrecking every-down force defensively, he showed some pop as a rotational pass-rusher with the Buffalo Bills in 2025, logging five sacks in 562 snaps over 15 games.

Interior Defensive Lineman: Calais Campbell

AP Photo/Rick Scuteri

It wasn't an especially deep class in free agency on the interior of the defensive line, and the bigger names were gobbled up quickly.

John Franklin-Myers got north of $20 million a season from the Tennessee Titans, while veterans Javon Hargrave and Jonathan Allen got $10 million-plus a year from the Green Bay Packers and Cincinnati Bengals.

The best defensive tackle remaining has also been around the block—several times.

Assuming Calais Campbell finds a team in 2026 (and he's given no indication he plans to retire), it will mark his 19th season in the NFL.

Over 18 seasons with five teams, the 39-year-old has tallied 117 sacks—a number that all but ensures he will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He has made it to six Pro Bowls, and he was second in Defensive Player of the Year voting in 2017.

Campbell will be 40 when the 2026 season begins, but it's not like he wasn't effective a year ago with the Arizona Cardinals: 43 total tackles and 6.5 sacks in just 524 snaps.

Linebacker: Bobby Okereke

AP Photo/Chris Szagola

There are a pair of future Hall of Famers still available in free agency—Lavonte David and Bobby Wagner have combined for over 3,700 total tackles over 28 professional seasons. But David and Wagner are also both at least 35 years old, and as great as they have been their age showed at times last year.

Bobby Okereke admittedly doesn't have the NFL resume of David or Wagner. But he's had a solid career in his own right—over seven seasons with the Indianapolis Colts and New York Giants, the 29-year-old has averaged 115 total tackles per season. In four of the past five seasons, Okereke has eclipsed 130 stops, including 143 in New York a year ago.

Okereke has also been solid in coverage throughout his career—he has posted a passer rating against of less than 85 each of the past two years, and he has never allowed a passer rating against north of 100.

Okereke is a three-down linebacker with experience wearing the "green dot" helmet communicator with a fair amount of tread left on his tires—and he's the best off-ball linebacker still left on the market.

Cornerback: L'Jarius Sneed

AP Photo/George Walker IV

Cornerback is a premium position in today's NFL, and we saw at least one huge contract handed out at the position this offseason when the Los Angeles Rams traded for Trent McDuffie and then gave the 25-year-old the biggest pact for a defensive back in NFL history: $124 million over four years.

L'Jarius Sneed didn't get quite that robust a payday when he was dealt to the Tennessee Titans in 2024: $76.4 million over four years.

After a pair of injury-marred seasons in Nashville in which Sneed missed 22 games, the Titans released him in a cap-savings move.

The 29-year-old's time in Tennessee was disappointing. But he showed with the Kansas City Chiefs that he can both get dirty against the run (108 total tackles in 2022) and be formidable in coverage (a passer rating against of 56.2 in 2023).

If Sneed can stay healthy in his new home, he has the potential to be a quality starter who will likely be available at a discount.

Safety: Kyle Dugger

AP Photo/Matt Durisko

It wasn't a great year to be an NFL team looking for safety help in free agency—there were few high-end options available, and those were signed quickly. Only three safeties cleared $10 million a season on their new contracts.

Now, the cupboard at the position is almost bare. Harrison Smith is the biggest name still available, but he's 37. Donovan Wilson is probably the best player yet to turn 30, but he struggled in coverage over the past two seasons with the Dallas Cowboys.

Kyle Dugger's tenure with the New England Patriots ended badly. The arrival of head coach Mike Vrabel led to the seventh-year pro getting benched and then traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers for a modest return.

However, the 30-year-old played well in nine games with the Steelers, posting the best passer rating against (81.9) of his professional career.

Is Dugger an exceptional talent? No, but he is a capable NFL starter, and he can likely be signed on a short-term deal at a reasonable price at this point in his career.