The Best Players Under 25 Available in This Year's Market

Free agency is coming up next month, with the NFL draft following it in April. The draft is typically viewed as the lifeblood of the NFL, as it's where teams stock their rosters with long-term contracts and young players.

With that in mind, we decided to spin that narrative, instead turning our focus on young free agents who are the same age as some 2017 draft prospects. We'll go through eight of the best free agents the NFL has to offer, with the qualifier being that they're under the age of 25.

Some of these players are restricted free agents, which means draft compensation might have to be exchanged to sign these players, while others are exclusive rights free agents, which means that all negotiations have to go through the team that holds their expiring contract. Still, some are unrestricted free agents, meaning they can hit the open market with no strings attached.

Many free agents only stay with teams for two or three years. Here's an early look at players who could be locked up for four to six seasons.

8. Dominique Easley, DL

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Entering the 2014 NFL draft, there were real debates as to whether the University of Pittsburgh's Aaron Donald or the University of Florida's Dominique Easley was the better three-technique prospect in the class. At the end of the day, the two were the only interior linemen drafted in the first round, with Donald coming off the board with the 13th pick to the then St. Louis Rams and Easley selected with the 29th pick by the New England Patriots.

Easley was known for spinning around stances pre-snap and doing little dances to antagonize SEC offensive linemen. He was playing chess while everyone else was playing checkers. Unfortunately, Easley tore his ACL twice in college, including in his senior season.

For that reason, he never ran at the combine or his pro day, leading to his drop in the draft. Easley also told the Kansas City Star's Terez A. Paylor that he never watched a full football game on his own time before, which then started to raise questions about his work ethic.

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“I don’t really watch football,” Easley said at the Combine, when asked who he compares himself to in the NFL. “I just try to be who I am.”

In fact, in a further moment of candor, Easley — a potential second-day pick in this year’s draft — told reporters that he’s never watched a full game from start to finish.

“I might change it to a cartoon or something,” he said. “I like to play. Just because you’re not watching football doesn’t mean you don’t love football. I have another life, also.”

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As a rookie, Easley struggled with knee issues that eventually led to him landing on injured reserve. After just two seasons and three starts, the Patriots cut Easley, which CBS Sports' Jason La Canfora stated was "related" to off-field issues. After going unclaimed on waivers, Easley talked to the Cincinnati Bengals, Atlanta Falcons and Rams before signing with Los Angeles, as noted by NFLTradeRumors.co.

There, he worked as Donald's backup but set career highs with 35 combined tackles and 3.5 sacks in 16 games as a rotational player. Only 24 years old, Easley still has plenty of football ahead of him if his knees and mind stay right.

As a restricted free agent, the Rams can offer a one-year first right of refusal tender (which last year was $1.7 million) to a first-round tender (which last year was $3.6 million.) The tender differences only matter in the eyes of Los Angeles, who have to gauge how likely a team would be willing to part with a second- or first-round pick for Easley. In a weak defensive tackle class, despite Easley going unclaimed last offseason, a second-round pick may be a fair price.

7. Robert Woods, WR

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Robert Woods, a 2013 second-round pick, is somehow only a 24-year-old. With the Buffalo Bills, he's started 48 games in his career.

Sammy Watkins, who the Bills moved up to draft in the first round in 2014, only has 37 starts over that time span, as he's struggled with injuries. The question now is if Woods, who may capitalize on the open market, is valued enough by the Bills to return to the team.

You don't have to look any further than what the former Cincinnati Bengals receivers signed last year to realize what the market for a No. 2 receiver looks like.

Marvin Jones signed a five-year, $40 million contract with the Detroit Lions. Mohamed Sanu signed a five-year, $32.5 million contract with the Atlanta Falcons. By all indications, Woods should land somewhere in that range as a possession type of receiver.

Woods lacks high end speed and playmaking ability, which is why he was a second-round pick coming out of USC despite the fact that he was an All-American as a sophomore. That hasn't stopped him from being a well-rounded professional, though, and it shouldn't stop him from getting paid like one.

6. Shaquil Barrett, EDGE

Jack Dempsey/Associated Press

Shaquil Barrett was a very interesting draft prospect in 2014. He was a bit of a one-year wonder, after he recorded 12 of his 18 career FBS sacks in his senior season as well as 19 of his 31 tackles for a loss.

He originally played at Nebraska-Omaha, a former Division II program that dropped its team after his freshman year. With a release to sign anywhere, he took his talents to the Mountain West, a mid-major conference. In his last year at Colorado State, Joey Porter, a four-time Pro Bowl pass-rusher who is now the outside linebackers coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers, was a defensive assistant at the program, which was also Porter's alma mater.

Barrett measured in under 6'2", which is odd for a pass-rusher, but he also scored in the 93rd percentile in the three-cone drill for defensive ends, according to Mock Draftable. With the way pass-rushers have to bend, that is the best indicator of athleticism for the position.

Still, a short one-year wonder from a mid-major program doesn't often make a draftable prospect. Barrett signed with the Denver Broncos as an undrafted free agent, where he's done well in limited reps but is still buried behind Von Miller, DeMarcus Ware and Shane Ray, who combine for three first-round picks, 14 Pro Bowls and 224 sacks.

Barrett has recorded seven sacks in two years as a fourth pass-rusher in a 3-4 defense. While that may not seem impressive, there's a good chance he's a top-three fourth pass-rusher in the league, and he's talented enough to compete for a starting spot in the league. The team even trusted him to make six starts in 2015, which led to 3.5 sacks.

Extrapolated over 16 games, that's a nine-sack season. Of the 66 pass-rushing prospects drafted in the second and third rounds in the 2005 through 2014 draft classes, only 11 have recorded more than nine sacks a season in a single season in their careers.

Barrett will be an exclusive rights free agent, which means you'd have to go through Denver to get him, but he's already on track to be more than your typical second- or third-round pass-rusher. At just 24 years old, he's the same age as some pass-rushers, like Illinois' Carroll Phillips, who were at the Senior Bowl last month.

5. Terrance Mitchell, CB

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Ifo Ekpre-Olomu and Terrance Mitchell were one of the best cornerback tandems at the University of Oregon at one point. Ekpre-Olomu notably slipped in the draft after tearing his ACL during practice leading up to the Ducks' playoff run. Ekpre-Olomu was then drafted in the seventh round by the Cleveland Browns, was wavied and added to the Miami Dolphins, where he then tore his ACL again.

Ekpre-Olomu, the three-time All-Pac-12 first-teamer and one-time All-American, is now out of a job, while his former teammate, Mitchell, is quietly one of the bigger steals in football right now. Mitchell was drafted in the seventh round in 2014, a year before Ekpre-Olomu, after he declared a year early.

Mitchell didn't get positive feedback from the NFL draft advisory board, but that didn't stop him, as he told Andrew Grief of the Oregonian.

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Though he requested an evaluation by the NFL draft board, Mitchell said he did not read much into a review he did not consider favorable.

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"It wasn't a fair evaluation," he said. "It came back in like a week and they didn't have time to break down film. They didn't get chance to really dissect what was real. I've been an underdog my whole life.

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Since then, he's had two stints with the Dallas Cowboys and one run with each of the Chicago Bears, Houston Texans and now Kansas City Chiefs. As a mid-season addition to the Chiefs' 53-man roster, though, he started to make enough of a splash to have you asking about his staying power.

Seven of his 15 career NFL games came in 2016 with the Chiefs, including both of his regular-season starts. Per Mike Renner of Pro Football Focus, Mitchell even had a three-week run when he allowed just 47 receiving yards, resulting in a 45.3 passer rating against.

Kansas City has seemed to catch lightning in a bottle with Mitchell, as he looks like a legitimate NFL starter after being picked up on the active roster on November 25. Mitchell is a restricted free agent, which means the Chiefs can force teams to give up a seventh-round, second-round or first-round pick for the opportunity to compete with a one-year deal for Mitchell, depending on how much they value the 24-year-old themselves.

4. Kenny Stills, WR

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Kenny Stills was a fifth-round pick by the New Orleans Saints in 2013. In two years with the team, Stills posted 17 starts, 95 receptions, 1,572 receiving yards and eight receiving touchdowns.

For whatever reason, Stills was then traded for a third-round pick—more value than New Orleans invested in him coming out of Oklahoma—and linebacker Dannell Ellerbe, who has started 12 games for the Saints in the last two seasons. Now, though, Stills is going to become a free agent with the potential of becoming a starting receiver of his third NFL team before he turns 25 years of age.

Two years of Stills may not have been worth a third-round pick, but are the Dolphins willing to invest even more in him? He's young, but so are Jarvis Landry, a screen machine, and DeVante Parker, the team's 2015 first-round pick.

Stills' 17.3 yards per catch dwarfed Landry's 12.1 and Parker's 13.3 averages last season. Stills also had more touchdown receptions than both of them. Miami's offense did well enough before Ryan Tannehill's injury to earn a playoff berth. Is this team willing to let Stills, an unrestricted free agent, walk knowing all of those factors?

3. Willie Snead, WR

Butch Dill/Associated Press

Willie Snead was a draft crush for many people who watched weekday MACtion in 2013. As an undrafted receiver coming out of Ball State, Snead signed with the Cleveland Browns.

Snead running a 4.62-second 40-yard dash at 5'11"-flat led to him going undrafted, despite breaking school receiving records for the Cardinals. In his rookie season, Snead bounced from Cleveland to Carolina to New Orleans, where he's played ever since.

It wasn't until 2015, though, that Snead actually made a 53-man roster. In the last two years, Snead has played in 30 of 32 possible games, recording 141 receptions, 1,879 receiving yards and seven receiving touchdowns.

You could argue that, of the three receivers on this list, the 24-year-old is the most talented of the bunch, because of his production in just two seasons. As an exclusive rights free agent, Snead has to negotiate through the Saints if someone else wants him on their 2017 roster.

In all likelihood, Snead will be catching passes from New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees next year.

2. David Irving, EDGE/DL

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At the end of his college career, after being suspended from Iowa State for charges in criminal mischief, disorderly conduct and thief, David Irving had the resume of a camp body at best. The defensive linemen recorded just three sacks in 26 games, mostly as a backup.

Still, Irving, who last played college ball as a 20-year-old, impressed enough with his 6'7.5" and 273-pound measurements at his pro day to attract a camp invite with the Kansas City Chiefs after he went undrafted, an opportunity that turned into a practice squad slot in his rookie season of 2015.

He was then plucked by the Dallas Cowboys onto their 53-man roster, which resulted in a familiar role for Irving: backup. In 12 games, he posted eight solo tackles and a half-sack.

In 2016, after Randy Gregory and DeMarcus Lawrence suspensions pushed everyone up the depth chart, Irving started to see more playing time in Dallas. Against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, he completely took over, with analysis of Irving leading Bleacher Report's NFL1000 Scouting Notebook that week.

In the last three games of the season, Irving recorded three sacks and his first two NFL starts of his career. He's just a 23-year-old, and he's proven he can be a dominant hybrid end-tackle in the NFL already. Considering his age, he could be in the upcoming 2017 NFL draft without anyone batting an eye, but with his size, athleticism and film, Irving would standout as a top-10 lock in terms of talent.

After signing a two-year, $960,000-deal with the Cowboys in 2015, Irving will need a new contract soon. As an exclusive rights free agent, Dallas can tender Irving for a minimum contract, and Irving can only negotiate with the franchise.

1. Isaiah Crowell, RB

Aaron Josefczyk/Associated Press

If you've been following football for the past three seasons, you already know who Isaiah Crowell is. You may not be watching three hours of Cleveland Browns football on Sundays, but you at least have Crowell on your fantasy team or catch his highlights during the Sunday Night Football rundown.

The running back has started 29 games over the last three seasons, which has resulted in 2,265 rushing yards and 19 touchdowns on top of 558 receiving yards. He's a starting-caliber running back and, after three seasons, he's still just a 24-year-old.

Age is even more important at the running back position, which sees a steep drop-off around the age of 28 and very few backs retained by any team by the age of 30. Crowell's production will lead to a big contract sooner or later, and his age will give teams hope that he can finish it out.

Crowell was the SEC's Freshman of the Year in 2011, which set future first-round expectations for the player. After a weapons charge, though, the University of Georgia kicked him off of the team, leading to his two-year stint with Alabama State, an FCS program.

That reason, not his talent, is why he was an undrafted player. Since then, he's passed every off-field test with flying colors. As a restricted free agent, considering how often he touches the ball, you have to assume that he nets a first-round tender, especially since Case Keenum was able to land one with the Los Angeles Rams last offseason.