The Most Intriguing NFL Free Agents on the Market in 2022 Offseason

NFL free agency is often a gamble. Teams are willing to dish out valuable cap dollars to land players with proven and sustained production, but they're also willing to bet big on those with untapped potential or upside.

These bets don't always pay immediate dividends. Last offseason, for example, the Tennessee Titans gave a five-year, $82.5 million contract to pass-rusher Bud Dupree, who was coming off a torn ACL. Dupree logged a mere three sacks in 11 games in 2021.

Sometimes they do, though. The Cincinnati Bengals made a four-year, $60 million bet on pass-rusher Trey Hendrickson, who had just one year of double-digit sack production on his resume. Hendrickson logged 14 sacks and made the Pro Bowl this past season.

This risk-reward nature of free agency is what keeps it at the forefront of the NFL offseason, and things will be no different when this year's market opens on March 16.

We know what players like Davante Adams, Terron Armstead and J.C. Jackson can provide. Players with unrealized potential, consistency or injury concerns or who are coming out of bad situations? Well, that's where things get interesting.

Below, you'll find eight intriguing players who are far from sure things but who will garner their fair share of headlines heading into the open market.

Players are listed in alphabetical order.

Edge Jadeveon Clowney

Terrance Williams/Associated Press

In recent years, Jadeveon Clowney has regularly been among the NFL's more intriguing free-agent options. Drafted No. 1 overall in 2014 to be a premier pass-rusher, Clowney has often been better at defending the run than pass-rushing and has never notched a double-digit-sack season.

Injuries have also frequently been a concern with Clowney, as he's missed 32 games in eight years. In 2019 and 2020, he appeared in only 21 games and logged a mere three sacks.

However, Clowney also had a rebound season with the Cleveland Browns in 2021. He tallied nine sacks and 32 quarterback pressures in 14 appearances. Now headed back to the open market, he is once again an intriguing option.

Can Clowney stay healthy for the majority of the year? Was his 2021 production the product of playing opposite All-Pro Myles Garrett? Will the 29-year-old demand a long-term commitment after taking a one-year, $8 million "prove-it" deal this past season?

These are all questions that only add to the uncertainty surrounding Clowney. His physical talent has never been in question, though, and some team is going to bet on that talent in a matter of weeks.

WR Chris Godwin

Alex Menendez/Associated Press

Chris Godwin is unquestionably the most intriguing receiver headed to market, for a couple of reasons.

The 25-year-old appears to have No. 1 receiver potential, as evidenced by his breakout 2019 campaign. Though he missed two games with a hamstring issue, Godwin was mostly healthy and finished with 1,333 receiving yards and nine touchdowns.

Godwin provided a quarterback rating of 114.8 when targeted that season.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers view Godwin as a "cornerstone," according to ESPN's Jeremy Fowler. However, he is coming off a torn ACL that he suffered in late December. There's no guarantee that he'll be available early in 2022 or that he'll be at 100 percent at any point in the season.

It's also fair to wonder how good of a top target Godwin can be without four-time Pro Bowler Mike Evans lining up alongside him. We've seen productive receivers like JuJu Smith-Schuster fall off significantly in the past when their running mates are no longer part of the equation.

Still, there should be little doubt that Godwin can be a valuable receiver with a new team if he can get and stay healthy. Just how valuable can he be next season? Therein lies the intrigue.

Edge Von Miller

Jason Behnken/Associated Press

Pass-rusher Von Miller missed the entire 2020 season following ankle surgery. He returned to the Denver Broncos in 2021 but was traded to the Los Angeles Rams midseason. He then, of course, went on to win his second Super Bowl.

Miller bounced back from the injury to perform well for both the Broncos and the Rams. During the regular season, he accumulated 9.5 sacks and 30 quarterback pressures combined. He produced another four sacks for L.A. in the postseason, including two in Super Bowl LVI.

At almost 33 years old, though, there's no way Miller can keep producing at a high level, right? Right?!

The reality is that Miller may still have plenty left in the tank—and the year off may have helped rejuvenate the future Hall of Famer. Miller didn't fade down the stretch as some aging defenders tend to do. Instead, he got better as his time with the Rams went on.

Miller's age will still be a question mark for some teams, and he is probably best suited for a franchise with an open championship window. According to NFL Media's Ian Rapoport, however, Miller plans to "fully explore" free agency.

This will mark Miller's first foray into free agency, and it's going to be an interesting journey to follow.

TE David Njoku

Kirk Irwin/Associated Press

The 2022 tight end pool should be a good one, with seasoned vet Zach Ertz and productive young players like Mike Gesicki and Dalton Schultz hitting the market. Browns tight end David Njoku, though, is more of an enigma than a proven commodity.

The 2017 first-round pick has flashed plenty of potential in Cleveland but has had limited sustained success. His best season so far came back in 2018, when he caught 56 passes for 639 yards and four touchdowns. In Week 5 of this past season, he hauled in seven passes for 149 yards and a touchdown.

While Njoku's big-play ability is apparent, he's topped 500 receiving yards in only one of his five pro seasons.

The intrigue surrounding the 25-year-old is about more than just untapped potential. Over the past two seasons, he's been part of a run-heavy Cleveland offense while sharing reps with fellow tight ends Austin Hooper and Harrison Bryant.

There's simply no telling how productive Njoku might be in a pass-first offense and as a team's go-to tight end. That 2018 campaign might serve as a baseline example, but it's worth noting that quarterback Baker Mayfield was a rookie that year, while Njoku was only 22 years old.

Njoku is undoubtedly the biggest boom-or-bust option in a loaded tight end market.

RB/WR Cordarrelle Patterson

Danny Karnik/Associated Press

Cordarrelle Patterson was one of the NFL's most fascinating players throughout the 2021 season.

The four-time first-team All-Pro return specialist had rarely held a significant offensive role before landing with the Atlanta Falcons last offseason. There, Patterson reinvented himself as a receiver and runner with Atlanta and head coach Arthur Smith.

"I think this is a very talented player, a very talented athlete," franchise owner Arthur Blank said, per Scott Bair of the team's official website. "This is a good example of when a coach understands the scheme—which he does, Coach Smith—and he takes an athlete like this and can use him in a variety of ways I think you see the kind of production that he can have."

Patterson finished the year with 618 rushing yards, 548 receiving yards and 11 combined touchdowns. However, it's fair to wonder if the soon-to-be 31-year-old can replicate that success, particularly away from Smith and the Falcons.

A repeat performance of 2021 would hinge on a team's willingness to use Patterson as an all-around weapon.

It would also depend on Patterson avoiding the dreaded wall. Thirty-one is old for a running back, even one with relatively few carries under his belt. It's worth noting that Patterson seemed to fade late in the season, averaging less than four yards per carry in his final five games.

Still, Patterson flashed enough as a versatile runner/receiver/returner in 2021 that he remains a very intriguing option.

RB Rashaad Penny

Stephen Brashear/Associated Press

It took nearly four years for Seattle Seahawks running back Rashaad Penny to scratch the surface of his potential. The 2018 first-round pick struggled to get on the field early, suffered a torn ACL in 2019 and had just 823 rushing yards through three years.

However, Penny took full advantage of his opportunity late last season and was arguably the league's best running back down the stretch. He finished the year with 749 rushing yards in just 10 games with a league-leading 6.3 yards per carry, and 671 of those yards came over the final five weeks.

It must be noted that Seattle faced teams with underwhelming run defenses—the Arizona Cardinals, Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions and Houston Texans—in four of those five matchups. Against the Rams, Penny logged just 39 yards and 3.6 yards per carry.

Still, Penny's impressive stretch will make him one of the bigger boom-or-bust players in the running back pool. It's unclear if he can be the same explosive runner consistently over a longer period, largely because he's never before had the opportunity.

At 26 years old, Penny may only be entering his playing prime and fully capable of being a franchise back. At the same time, the possibility exists that his eye-opening stretch run was merely a fluke. A team is going to have to pay up to find out.

WR Allen Robinson II

Phelan M. Ebenhack/Associated Press

Chicago Bears receiver Allen Robinson II had a down year in 2021, logging a mere 38 receptions, 410 yards and a single touchdown. However, there are reasons to believe that his decline was merely a product of circumstance.

For one, Robinson entered 2021 coming off of back-to-back seasons of at least 1,100 receiving yards. Secondly, he entered amid a strained relationship with then-head coach Matt Nagy.

"Things like that coming into the season were a little unsettling for me, especially with that being my guy since the time I stepped foot in Chicago and us having open communication and things like that," Robinson told ESPN Radio (h/t Brendan Sugrue of Bears Wire).

Robinson was also hampered by a bout with COVID-19 and with poor overall quarterback play—Chicago passers had a cumulative 75.5 quarterback rating. To be fair, though, Robinson didn't exactly get stellar quarterback play in 2019 and 2020 but still managed to produce.

Can the 28-year-old Robinson return to being a No. 1-caliber receiver? That's the question teams will be asking as March 16 nears.

The fact is that we don't know if Robinson can reinvigorate his career, and we won't know until he takes the field in a new situation this fall.

QB Jameis Winston

Butch Dill/Associated Press

This year's free-agent quarterback pool isn't particularly deep, and Jameis Winston is unquestionably its most intriguing option. The 2015 No. 1 overall pick has started 77 games in the NFL, and yet, we still don't know exactly what he can be as a signal-caller.

With the Buccaneers, Winston oozed big-play ability but also had a penchant for avoidable mistakes. He was a rookie Pro Bowler in 2015 and led the league with 5,109 passing yards in 2019. However, he also tossed 88 interceptions in five years with the Buccaneers, including a league-high 30 in 2019.

As the New Orleans Saints' starter in 2021, Winston was much more careful with the football. He threw 14 touchdown passes and only three interceptions while compiling a 5-2 starting record. Unfortunately, his season was cut short on Halloween by a torn ACL.

His recovery adds another layer to the proverbial puzzle.

At 28 years old, Winston is still young enough to become a team's franchise quarterback. If he can get back to 100 percent and combine the downfield potency from his Tampa days with the ball security we saw in New Orleans, he might be exactly that. Of course, there's no guarantee that he can.

Winston posted a career-best 102.8 passer rating last year, but was that a sign of progress or the product of a carefully constructed game plan by former Saints coach Sean Payton? Will Winston return to his mistake-prone ways in a different system? These are some of the biggest questions quarterback-needy teams will be asking as they ponder Winston as a potential answer at quarterback.

Cap and contract information via Spotrac. Advanced statistics from Pro Football Reference.