Offensive line help is hard to find. That’s why it costs a lot in free agency.
Last offseason, offensive linemen like Mike McGlinchey (five years, $87.5 million to the Denver Broncos), Jawaan Taylor (four years, $80 years to the Kansas City Chiefs) and Orlando Brown Jr. (four years, $64 million to the Cincinnati Bengals) got huge deals in free agency. This class of free agent offensive linemen isn’t as strong, but due to supply and demand, many of them are about to be paid well. Guard Kevin Dotson already got a three-year, $48 million extension from the Los Angeles Rams, taking one prime option off the board for free agency.
Yahoo Sports is ranking the top five NFL free agents by position. (Mallory Bielecki/Yahoo Sports)
Here are the top five offensive linemen in free agency:
When Smith plays, he’s still very good. The issue is he hasn’t played a full season since 2015, and usually durability doesn’t get better at age 33. Many teams need offensive line help and some team will take on the injury risk to sign one of the best left tackles of this era and hope that Smith gives them closer to the 13 games he played in 2023 instead of the six he played in 2020 and 2022 combined.
Brown is still a competent tackle, which means he’s valuable. Injuries and age (Brown will be 31 next season) are a concern, but he’s still a top-end run blocker and has experience with 93 career starts, so he can be a steadying player on an offensive line as long as he’s healthy.
3. New England Patriots OT Mike Onwenu
Onwenu could have a big payday coming. Unlike some of the other offensive linemen in free agency, he has age on his side. He’s just 26 years old. He has started at guard and tackle and spent most of his time last season at right tackle, and had a fine season. The former sixth-round pick has great size at 350 pounds and will be a priority for plenty of teams with cap space and offensive line needs.
Hunt has some experience as tackle but mostly played right guard for the Dolphins after…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/nfl-free-agent-rankings-top-5-ol-includes-longtime-cowboys-star-tyron-smith-140006806.html
Author : Yahoo Sports
Publish date : 2024-03-08 14:00:06
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