PFF Top WR Free Agents

[Mac_MaloneV1]

Has Hollywood ever been a #2? I think opposite Lamb he can do alot of damage. His skill set was never that of a high usage player. Mooney would be nice too. Still very young

I mean they'd both be the #3 in Dallas' offense, but that distinction doesn't matter too much.

Hollywood was basically the #1 in Baltimore lol

 

[HanD]

Patrick Crayton never got 700 yards in a season. Even with TO and Witten that his terrible production for a #2

Not disagreeing but crayton was a 7th round pick and cooks a first rounder. Cooks has a great history of production coming here as a number 1/1a type of player.

 

[speedkilz88]

My money is on reuniting with Ced Wilson. Him and Dak had excellent rapport and he has inside/outside versatility.

Wilson only played the slot. CeeDee had to play outside when he was here.

 

[darthseinfeld]

Not disagreeing but crayton was a 7th round pick and cooks a first rounder. Cooks has a great history of production coming here as a number 1/1a type of player.

He is also on the wrong side of 30, and for the type of WR he is that can spell steep declines

 

[McKDaddy]

If they are going to spend FA resources to bring in immediate contributors, they would be wise to focus on the trenches.

 

[817Gill]

Wilson only played the slot. CeeDee had to play outside when he was here.

Wilson played slot a lot because he was WR4 and Coop/Gallup were outside guys even though Coop has versatility. Ceedee played a lot of slot and still does though he excels at both.

Wilson’s strength is in the slot but he can play outside too. Had a sizeable play in our game vs Miami on the outside, stepped in when Waddle got hurt.

 

[817Gill]

I doubt it.

Kirk was coming off his best year - near 1,000 yards - and was ascending. Hollywood has gotten less productive, is less complete, and is a year and a half older.

Less productive solely due to having quite possibly the worse QB situation in football the last two years with Kyler out. He’s been banged up too which could hurt his value, but he’s still relatively young and has been really good at times in his career.

I wouldn’t be shocked at all if a large cap space WR hungry team like Carolina or NE made a splash. Literally what Jax did last year, everyone was shocked when they saw what Kirk went for.

Not saying Brown deserves it, but we know how it only takes one desperate team to overpay. Especially guys with a first round pedigree and legit game changing tape.

 

[big dog cowboy]

Not interested in one of them.

Hard pass. The Cowboys don't need any of them next year.

I guess some think the "free" in free agency means they don't cost anything against the salary cap.

 

[big dog cowboy]

If Gallup is out, Dallas will have WR3 open.

Unlikely.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

Hard pass. The Cowboys don't need any of them next year.

I guess some think the "free" in free agency means they don't cost anything against the salary cap.

lol right. Ain’t nothing free about them. Now if Cooks is gone I look at some of them….but I don’t see anyone I’d replace him with and some of those guys will be more expensive then him.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

Unlikely.

Yeah I’m not spending money on a 3. I draft someone or go with Tolbert.

 

[CowboyStar88]

Curtis Samuel and Tyler Boyd are 2 names that intrigue me.

 

[conner01]

there is very little chance we are going to bring in a Free agent WR,draft is the only option .

And cooks is under contract so he’s not going anywhere

 

[conner01]

Cooks is just getting going and we are talking about replacing him already?

I don’t get why we’d cut him and pay big money for another guy to replace him. On top of the fact it creates 6 mil dead money to cut him

 

[America's Cowboy]

Longhorns have some decent good WRs that can be had in the 2nd or 3rd rounds.

 

[Mac_MaloneV1]

Less productive solely due to having quite possibly the worse QB situation in football the last two years with Kyler out. He’s been banged up too which could hurt his value, but he’s still relatively young and has been really good at times in his career.

I wouldn’t be shocked at all if a large cap space WR hungry team like Carolina or NE made a splash. Literally what Jax did last year, everyone was shocked when they saw what Kirk went for.

Not saying Brown deserves it, but we know how it only takes one desperate team to overpay. Especially guys with a first round pedigree and legit game changing tape.

Eh, he hasn't done anything with Kyler either.

Your point is fair, that teams overpay, but we didn't see that last year at all.

 

[Canadian BoyzFan]

I would like a rookie draft pick who can play the outside.

 

[Rockport]

Some of the alternatives to Cooks that will be out there. I'm leaving out those they have projected to be tagged or sign a deal out of our range

4. WR MARQUISE BROWN, ARIZONA CARDINALS​

2024 Free agency rank: 17​

The Ravens traded Brown and a third-round pick to the Cardinals for a 2022 first-round pick, and his time in Arizona has been a journey, to say the least. Between his own injuries and Kyler Murray’s torn ACL, the former college teammates haven’t been able to team up as much as the old regime probably hoped, but he has flashed when in the lineup.
It’s hard to come up with a solid comparable player for a 5-foot-9, 180-pound outside wide receiver — although now the NFL is adding more of this archetype each year — and it’s also fair to wonder how badly Arizona wants to extend anyone, given their timeline and the emergence of rookie wideout Michael Wilson.

Top free agent comparison: Christian Kirk, 2022​

Player​	Receiving grade​	Yards per route run​	Average depth of target​	Yards after catch per reception​	APY as % of Cap at signing​
Marquise Brown​	70.5​	1.35​	12.2​	3.5​	?​
Christian Kirk​	69.2​	1.52​	12.5​	3.4​	8.6%​

*All data in tables reflects two years prior to UFA contract signing
Contract Projection: One year, $12 million fully guaranteed

5. WR CALVIN RIDLEY, JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS​

2024 Free agency rank: 24​

Ridley’s contract situation is a true one-of-one. He returned to play in 2023 after missing all of 2022 while serving a suspension for sports gambling and had stepped away from football before the 2021 campaign was over but was a top wide receiver in 2020. There have been drop issues in 2023 as Ridley returns to full speed, but he is still capable of taking over a game while breaking off a series of explosive receptions.
Equally fascinating is the conditions on Ridley’s trade to Jacksonville, where the pick the Jaguars send to the Atlanta Falcons escalates to a second-rounder if the two parties agree to an extension. We’re not 100% certain that the same language for the condition exists here as it did when Leonard Williams was sent from the New York Jets to the New York Giants, but there the Giants did not have to send a better pick by merely placing a franchise tag instead of signing Williams to a multi-year extension in 2020.

Top free agent comparison: Odell Beckham Jr., 2023​

Player​	Receiving grade​	Yards per route run​	Average depth of target​	Yards after catch per reception​	APY as % of Cap at signing​
Calvin Ridley​	69.2​	1.47​	14.0​	2.6​	?​
Odell Beckham Jr.​	76.9​	1.62​	13.6​	3.3​	6.7%​

*All data in tables reflects two years prior to UFA contract signing
Contract Projection: Franchise tag

6. WR DARNELL MOONEY, CHICAGO BEARS​

2024 Free agency rank: 60​

In Mooney’s second season in 2021, he put up 1,055 receiving yards on 81 receptions with a career-best 74.9 receiving grade. Since then, Mooney has unfortunately dealt with a few minor injuries and one of the lower volume passing attacks in the league. Nonetheless, Mooney creates separation on intermediate and deep routes consistently, and he could be the ultimate buy-low for a team that can untap the potential we saw a few years back.

Top free agent comparison: Emmanuel Sanders, 2014​

Player​	Receiving grade​	Yards per route run​	Average depth of target​	Yards after catch per reception​	APY as % of Cap at signing​
Darnell Mooney​	64.3​	1.20​	12.3​	5.1​	?​
Emmanuel Sanders​	70.0​	1.43​	11.5​	4.7​	3.8%​

*All data in tables reflects two years prior to UFA contract signing
Contract Projection: One year, $9 million fully guaranteed

They’re going to have to pay #88 big money so I doubt they bring in a big money free agent. Tolbert’s going to be good and they’ll draft another this year.

 

[Jarntt]

You need 3 WRs.

A) that's the primary personnel grouping and B) you need depth. Dallas has been incredibly lucky to get the games they have out of Cooks/CD

Of course you need at least 3 but you can’t add another highly paid WR and the list in the OP isn’t for #3 guys. Paying a 3rd WR that much at this point would be horrible roster building in a cap world. You going to pay Calvin Ridley to come to this team? That’s a pipe dream

 

[Mac_MaloneV1]

Of course you need at least 3 but you can’t add another highly paid WR and the list in the OP isn’t for #3 guys. Paying a 3rd WR that much at this point would be horrible roster building in a cap world. You going to pay Calvin Ridley to come to this team? That’s a pipe dream

Sure you can. There's no reason they can't take Pollard's $10m cap dollars, allocate them to WR, and go cheap at RB.

I also didn't say Ridely.