The Best NFL Free Agents Still Available Ahead of 2024 Preseason (2024)

"How is that guy still available?!"

A common phrase uttered by NFL fans—and maybe even a few general managers—this time of year as people stare at their team's current depth chart and the list of remaining free agents within the league.

Despite being five months removed from March, there are still plenty of good players available on the open market who could help get teams over the hump as playoff or even Super Bowl contenders. Here, we'll dive into a few of the best remaining free agents and what they can offer clubs around the league heading into the preseason.

Simmons might top the list when it comes to good players who are still available to sign. The Denver Broncos let him go primarily because of financial reasons as the team began the offseason up against the cap and needed to cut some costs. But make no mistake about it, the four-time second-team All-Pro can still play.

After racking up three interceptions and eight passes defended, Simmons has been either a Pro Bowler or All-Pro in each of the last five seasons. He's built a career out of being a ball-hawk in the secondary and is coming off an impressive 77.6 run defense grade from Pro Football Focus in 2023.

On top of all of that, the 30-year-old doesn't turn 31 until mid-November and is considered one of the top remaining players available around the league, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport.

"Most of the teams I talked to consider [Simmons] to be the top free agent still available," Rapoport said on July 11 via 'The Insiders'. "...He is healthy. There has been considerable interest. But this is one of those things where it's really just the situation and the money have to be right."

For context, he was on a four-year, $61 million deal ($15.25 million per year), per Over The Cap, when Denver let him go.

"...The time is coming for Justin Simmons and certainly teams have been sniffing around for some time," Rapoport concluded.

So, it sounds like the safety could be headed to a new training camp soon.

Staying in the defensive backfield, Stephon Gilmore is another player where it's a bit head-scratching why he's still available.

The 2019 Defensive Player of the Year isn't the same defender he used to be, but he still has the impressive ball skills that helped him win the award, logging two interceptions with 13 passes defended. The latter was the most he's recorded since that impressive campaign five years ago.

Gilmore is available primarily because the Dallas Cowboys have several other contract extensions to worry about like CeeDee Lamb, Dak Prescott and Micah Parsons. Also, Dallas began free agency without much cap space and has two quality starting cornerbacks in Trevon Diggs and DaRon Bland.

Hence why Jerry Jones was cheap on the open market despite being "all-in".

Granted, the soon-to-be 34-year-old did have surgery to repair a torn labrum in his shoulder, according to Michael Gehlken of the Dallas Morning News, which might scare teams off given his age. Still, Gilmore would be a quality addition for a team looking to bring on a potential starting cornerback option, and his confidence hasn't wavered.

"Honestly, I'm still being patient and staying ready until teams see what they have in training camp;" Gilmore told NFL Insider Josina Anderson, "but you mean to tell me among 32 teams that there are 64 starting corners that are better than me? I don't think that. If teams want to win, I think they should sign the best players. I know I'm still a starter in this league."

Unlike the first two free agents featured, it's somewhat understandable why Connor Williams is still available. He missed a handful of games around the middle of last season with a groin injury and then ended the year with a torn ACL in December, the second of his six-year career.

So, Williams is likely, and justifiably, getting slapped with the 'injury prone' label around the league. That being said, it does sound like he'll be ready to go for the start of the regular season despite having surgery toward the end of the 2023 campaign.

"Connor has had a remarkable recovery, nothing short of miraculous," Drew Rosenhaus, the center's agent, said in an interview with WSVN on June 23. "Really looking good for the start of the season. There's a lot of teams interested in him. But I'm just delighted for Connor.

"[I] Did not anticipate him going to training camp with the team and felt like it might be something during the season before he played, but now he's done an awesome job and we're gonna see Connor Williams in someone's training camp."

While that may sound like an agent trying to talk up his client, ESPN's Adam Schefter reported that the veteran offensive lineman visited with the Seattle Seahawks on July 23. Seattle could use a starting center and he can play if he's healthy enough after posting an 86.5 grade from Pro Football Focus last season.

A broken ankle forced Yannick Ngakoue to miss the final four games on the Chicago Bears' schedule last season and led to him posting a career-low four sacks. The combination of a down year statistically and an injury is likely the primary reason why the 29-year-old remains unsigned.

That being said, Chicago's pass-rush unit as a whole was bad last season until the front office traded for Montez Sweat, who ended up leading the team with six sacks despite only playing in nine games for the Bears. With little to no other notable rushers around him, that meant Ngakoue commanded the most attention from opposing offensive lines until Sweat's arrival.

Those two only got to play a handful of games together, so it wouldn't be a bad idea for the organization to reunite them for another year in the Windy City to see how they feed off each other for a full season.

Plus, it seems like the current free agent has recovered from the ankle injury as he posted a video on social media of him running around cones in a half-circle, similar to turning a tight corner at the top of the rusher, back in May.

Also, while the Miami Dolphins ended up signing Emmanuel Ogbah instead, the Dolphins did bring Ngakoue in for a workout at the same time as Ogbah. So, there still seems to be some interest in the former Pro Bowler around the league.

Ahkello Witherspoon has struggled to stay off the injury report for the majority of his tenure in the NFL which might explain why he's still available in free agency. However, he is coming off a career year with three interceptions and 14 passes defended. Those figures are tied for the most and the most of his career as he finally played a full year's worth of games.

But the Los Angeles Rams opted to sign cornerbacks Darious Williams and Tre'Davious White in free agency instead, leaving Witherspoon to find a new home. About four months later, the seven-year veteran is still seeking shelter and has recently been dubbed a good pickup for one of his former teams.

"Even with the arrival of Cameron Sutton to play in the slot, the [Pittsburgh] Steelers could still use more veteran depth at corner," Aaron Schatz of ESPN wrote. "Witherspoon, a former Steeler, was surprisingly good for the Rams last season – he ranked 18th in success rate in coverage and 37th in coverage DVOA with 14 passes defended.

"He will likely be inexpensive to sign, as he's 29 years old and could back up all three Steelers starters."

It's worth noting that Sutton will be suspended for the first half of this season after turning himself in for a domestic violence incident that occurred in March. So, Pittsburgh's depth at cornerback will be tested to begin the fall, providing more reason to sign Witherspoon.

Granted, the Steelers might be scarred from signing the Colorado product and only seeing him play for 13 games in 2021 and 2022 combined. But there are plenty of other teams who could use help in the secondary that should be interested in at least bringing him in for training camp.