The Super Bowl is done, meaning it's time to focus on real-life responsibilities like "friends" and "family" while "making sound financial decisions" for our future or whatever.

Just kidding–let's dive into free agency, baby!

What follows is a preview of the 10 most important free agents *for fantasy football*. I went ahead and included a fun and annoying landing spot for each, but note the landing spot suggestions are only based on *new* potential teams. Cool? Cool.

As always: It's a great day to be great.

Top-10 NFL Free Agents For Fantasy Football

Bengals WR Tee Higgins

  • Fun landing spot: Patriots
  • Annoying landing spot: Giants

The crown jewel of the 2025 free agent class, Higgins just turned 26 in January and is fresh off catching a career-high 10 TDs in just 12 games.

6-foot-4, 216-pound WRs with Higgins' blend of contested-catch goodness and YAC beastliness simply don't fall off trees.

Getting Drake Maye an elite WR would be a pretty, pretty, pretty cool way to help quickly elevate the NFL's reigning 30th-ranked scoring offense. Honestly, adding Higgins to any offense would make them considerably better overnight, but landing in a porous scoring environment that also includes plenty of target competition (Giants? Raiders?) might not provide the sort of returns Higgins' fans are hoping for.

Here's to hoping Cincy pays up for once and manages to make both of their stud WRs happy campers–it's tough to think of a QB better equipped to loft Higgins b-e-a-utiful high-point fades than Mr. Joe Burrow.

Vikings QB Sam Darnold

  • Fun landing spot: Jets
  • Annoying landing spot: Saints

Darnold managed to put forward quite the comeback szn in 2024, even if the last two games were a little f*cked up.

Darnold among 31 QBs with 300-plus dropbacks in 2024:

  • EPA per dropback: +0.127 (No. 14)
  • Completion percentage over expected: +3.9% (No. 7)
  • Yards per attempt: 7.9 (No. 6)
  • Passer rating: 102.5 (No. 6)
  • PFF pass grade: 80.3 (No. 9)

Only 28 in June, it'd make sense if Darnold fetches something in the ballpark of guys like Derek Carr ($37.5M per year), Baker Mayfield ($33.3M), and Geno Smith ($25M), even if life without Kevin O'Connell and the Vikings' stud playmakers is far from guaranteed to continue returning these suddenly great results.

Ultimately, a return to the Jets and the chance to throw the ball to Garrett Wilson and (maybe) Davante Adams would combine some level of nostalgia (the bad kind) with the potential for legit solid pass-game production. Meanwhile, a trip to the Bayou would be dicey considering the potential for the Saints to part ways with Chris Olave in lieu of forking over a nine-figure contract.

Of course, a shorter contract to return to Minnesota continues to make a lot of sense for both parties. QBs fresh off throwing for 4,319 yards and 35 TDs while winning 14 games don't hit the open market very often, and locking down Darnold for at least another two years would give the Vikings plenty of security should J.J. McCarthy fail to live up to his first-round hype and/or struggle to return from multiple knee surgeries.

Texans WR Stefon Diggs

  • Fun landing spot: Panthers
  • Annoying landing spot: Steelers

Diggs should be ready to return to the field during the early portions of the 2025 season. Here's to hoping his torn ACL won't drastically hinder him moving forward, as the longtime stud WR was still quite great at creating separation with the Texans last season.

Diggs' ESPN "Open Score" rating by year:

  • 2024: 83 (No. 7 among qualified WRs)
  • 2023: 69 (No. 19)
  • 2022: 83 (No. 6)
  • 2021: 93 (No. 3)
  • 2020: 84 (No. 5)

32 next November, it's certainly possible Diggs' best football is in the rear-view mirror; just realize he still looked plenty capable of working as a quality No. 2 option at worst during the first two months of last season.

You know who could use a veteran outside WR with proven separation ability? Bryce Young and the Panthers—think of Diggs as an older Diontae Johnson who is less likely to go off the deep end.

Meanwhile, the Steelers are certainly a team in need of help at the position, although that pairing wouldn't be great for Diggs personally due to the obvious questions under center and in terms of overall pass-game volume.

Steelers QB Russell Wilson

  • Fun landing spot: Raiders
  • Annoying landing spot: Browns

It's not like Russ got back to partying like it's 2015 again with the Steelers, but it was at least a step back in the right direction.

 

However, the one thing that hasn't gone out of style just yet—Wilson's patented moon ball!

Overall, nobody had a higher passer rating (126.3) or averaged more yards per attempt (16.1) on passes thrown at least 20 yards downfield in 2024 (including playoffs).

Maybe the Raiders don't exactly have the best personnel to get the most out of Wilson's downfield prowess, but the storylines from a reunion with Pete Carroll are too juicy to ignore. Meanwhile, the fit in Kevin Stefanski's downfield-oriented Browns passing game could actually make some sense, but then again the franchise has, you know, pretty much never enabled a truly successful QB in the modern NFL (with all due respect to Bernie Kosar).

Again, as is the case with most would-be free agents, a return home to the Steelers would probably be best for Russ–particularly if the offense could add another downfield-friendly WR on the outside (DK Metcalf trade anyone?!).

Vikings RB Aaron Jones

  • Fun landing spot: Chiefs
  • Annoying landing spot: Giants

A-aron is fresh off racking up a career-high 306 touches as the focal point of the Vikings' offense. His prowess as a pass-catcher was also on full display, as his 408 receiving yards were good for his most in a season since 2019.

Look, Jones might not have the same 0-60 burst as he did in 2020, but this is clearly still an RB capable of producing some solid efficiency in both the run and pass games.

 

While it's easy to put pretty much any skill-position player in Kansas City and love the fit, Jones' dual-threat ability really would gel nicely here–his ability to still supply some explosive plays from time to time would also be a godsend for Patrick Mahomes and company. Meanwhile, taking on a similar committee role in an offense like the Giants wouldn't be nearly as fun; it's tough to expect true booms from veteran RBs inside offenses that offer such little scoring upside.

Again, a return to Minnesota would probably be best for Jones' fantasy ceiling, although his stranglehold on the RB1 job was starting to slip just a bit down the stretch due to the presence of longtime KOC favorite Cam Akers.

Buccaneers WR Chris Godwin

  • Fun landing spot: Broncos
  • Annoying landing spot: Browns

Godwin was nothing short of excellent in 2024 before unfortunately dislocating his ankle in Week 7.

Godwin among 84 WRs with 50-plus targets:

  • Yards per route run: 2.36 (No. 10)
  • Targets per route run: 24.6% (No. 19)
  • Passer rating when targeted: 127.5 (No. 6)
  • PFF receiving grade: 85.7 (No. 10)
  • PPF points per game: 19.7 (No. 2)

The long-time Bucs WR turns 29 in February and seems like a candidate to miss a chunk of 2025 depending on how his recovery goes. Still, last season proved that Godwin is still plenty capable of racking up production from the friendly confines of the slot when given the opportunity.

This takes us to the offseason: Why wouldn't Godwin make for an excellent underneath addition for Bo Nix and Sean Payton to build around? That's a pairing fans could get behind, although another situation like Cleveland would be a bit tougher to get excited about due to the existing target competition and obvious black hole under center.

Steelers RB Najee Harris

  • Fun landing spot: Chargers
  • Annoying landing spot: Bengals

The NFL's only RB with 1,000-plus rush yards in each of the past four seasons, Harris has three-down ability (caught 74 passes as a rookie!) and has consistently worked as one of the league's best tackle breakers with the football in his hands.

Harris tackles avoided per carry among all RBs with 150+ rushes:

  • 2021: 18.6% (No. 12)
  • 2022: 20.2% (No. 13)
  • 2023: 20.4% (No. 15)
  • 2024: 24% (No. 8)

I get it: Harris isn't necessarily the sexiest RB choice here for any team, but his physical presence would be appreciated inside a Jim Harbaugh/Greg Roman scheme. Think of him as an upper-middle-class man's Gus Edwards.

Meanwhile, I'm sure he would be fine enough on the Bengals, but that offensive line hasn't exactly enabled high-end efficiency for any RB in recent years, and the presence of Chase Brown would likely render each as borderline RB2 types–not overly dissimilar from what the former first-round back dealt with alongside Jaylen Warren during his time in Pittsburgh.

Cowboys RB Rico Dowdle

  • Fun landing spot: Broncos
  • Annoying landing spot: Patriots

Dowdle entered the season seemingly in a committee alongside Ezekiel Elliott, but the starting job was all his by Week 9. And for good reason: The former undrafted free agent emerged as a perfectly solid RB despite working behind the league's 31st-ranked offensive line in yards before contact per carry.

Dowdle among 31 RBs with 150-plus carries in 2024:

  • Yards per carry: 4.6 (No. 10)
  • Yards after contact per carry: 3.3 (No. 10)
  • Yards over expected per carry: +0.3 (No. 16)
  • Missed tackles forced per carry: 19.1% (No. 15)
  • Explosive run rate: 8.1% (No. 15)

The consistency behind Dowdle's ability to pick up yards after contact was particularly impressive: He led the entire NFL in percentage of carries to gain at least three yards after contact (51%) in 2024.

Moving on to the Broncos would give Dowdle the sort of wide-open backfield situation that would make an encore effort possible, while joining a potential three-way committee in New England would spell doom for a player that, let's face it, has only proven capable of fully leading a backfield for about two months since entering the NFL in 2020.

Bills WR Amari Cooper

  • Fun landing spot: Commanders
  • Annoying landing spot: Titans

2024 was not a good year for Mr. Cooper. Career-low counting numbers across the board went hand-in-hand with brutal efficiency marks—ESPN ranked Cooper 106th among 116 qualified WRs, while PFF receiving grades ranked him 60th.

That said, we're only one season removed from Cooper going for 1,250 yards with a combination of Deshaun Watson and Joe Flacco under center. 31 in June, Cooper isn't exactly a spring chicken these days, but perhaps more leniency should be given to a hand/wrist injury that seemingly impacted the long-time route-running maven throughout the second half of 2024.

Forming an Ohio State-friendly one-two punch with Terry McLaurin would be a 1.) Fun time, and 2.) Cheap-ish way to add more pass-catching talent for Jayden Daniels. However, landing in a similar 1.A/1.B situation in a less proven passing "attack" like the Titans or Giants wouldn't be nearly as cool.

Bears WR Keenan Allen

  • Fun landing spot: Chargers
  • Annoying landing spot: Rams

The 2024 season didn't start out so hot for Allen, but he actually put together a rather great stretch later on: Only five WRs scored more PPR points than Allen in Weeks 12-16. Arbitrary timeline, absolutely, but it was still good to see flashes from the soon-to-be 33-year-old veteran.

Conveniently, Allen already revealed there are only three teams he'd be willing to sign with:

  • Da Bears
  • Los Angeles Chargers
  • Los Angeles Rams

There's a little overlap between Ladd McConkey's game and Allen's, but still: Both players are plenty good enough to win from the outside in addition to the slot, and it's tough to deny a reunion wouldn't help the overall skill level in the WR room.

Now, the Rams actually wouldn't be a half-bad location should the team essentially decide to swap out Cooper Kupp for Allen. However, failure for that to come to fruition would lead to plenty of target competition inside an offense that could use more field-stretching help than anything.