PFF Top WR Free Agents

[Mac_MaloneV1]

i'm very curious what mike evans goes for.

Depends what he wants. I bet could get more than $25m per year if he wanted to, maybe even $30m if he doesn't want term. There are a bunch of teams with a lot of cap space who could use him.

Texans, Colts, Panthers, Bears should all be willing to pay him to align with their QB on a rookie deal.
Chiefs, Lions badly need another WR to push them over the top.

I kind of doubt he's going to become a FA though. They'd be dumb not to tag him.

 

[gimmesix]

I would think NFL draft ...or a cheap bargain FA. But after the James Washington disaster, if they decide to go
bargain FA, they need to re-evaluate how they go about such a FA signing.

Plus keep in mind that there's still Tolbert and Brooks ..and they still have Turpin as a spot receiver for a 4th WR.

Of course this is assuming the club's decision on Gallup. Is he making too much money for such underachieving production ?

Could the club ask Gallup to take a pay cut,... place him on the trade block ..or casualty cut him altogether ?
Do they want to get much more outta the 3rd WR role and production than what they feel they already have on the roster ?

I really think the fall-off with Gallup will have the front office thinking that there's no difference between him and Tolbert in that third receiver role. We may try to trade Gallup based on his past production, but I don't think we'll have any takers based on his current production. Since we'll owe $13 million in dead cap if we cut him (a slight savings over his cap hit), I could see us trying to get him to take a pay cut. But I'd be looking to take another third-round receiver to both see if we can improve the spot and find someone who could take over for Cooks in a couple of years.

 

[Mark]

But spend most the picks and FA money on Oline/RB.

...and a plug-n-play LB. Isn't Damone Clark the only true linebacker on the active roster right now?

Funny how we have a safety playing LB, and a LB playing DE. Love the out-of-box thinking, but we do seem a little thin at LB, even with Overshown expected to make an impact next season.

 

[quickccc]

3 games over 60 yards in our last 8 games is not making an impact . He had 27% of his entire seasons yardage total in one game

You guys are really squinting to see something in Brandon Cooks that isnt there anymore. He is not a productive #2 WR anymore.

Cooks can only go as the higher powers that be go ... everyone knows the goof McCarthy did by not involving BC into the game plan the first half of the season - only after he was publicly criticized did Big Mac finally began to implement him into the game of schemes the 2nd half of the season.

" Productive not anymore " would mean a WR that can no longer jet by CBs, that can no longer separate and Cooks is showing that he still has those jets, Dak is having difficult connecting with such jet speed, .. but Cooks has made two big corner TDs (you forgot to post the TDs in the last 2 games, BTW)

 

[darthseinfeld]

i'm not trying to convince you. just my perspective. ceedee just set the cowboys record, so there are degrees to the feasting lol

Think of this. A team has won the Super Bowl once in the last 25 years with a a 100 catch reciever. With what we have, we live and die by Lamb. Funneling the ball to one player that much is not a recipe for success. .

 

[darthseinfeld]

Cooks can only go as the higher powers that be go ... everyone knows the goof McCarthy did by not involving BC into the game plan the first half of the season - only after he was publicly criticized did Big Mac finally began to implement him into the game of schemes the 2nd half of the season.

" Productive not anymore " would mean a WR that can no longer jet by CBs, that can no longer separate and Cooks is showing that he still has those jets, Dak is having difficult connecting with such jet speed, .. but Cooks has made two big corner TDs (you forgot to post the TDs in the last 2 games, BTW)

Again I point that since he "broke out" he has topped 60 yards in a game only 3 times in the last 8 games. And those are the only 3 times he has done all year. That abysmal

So he has been adequate scoring. If you are gonna thump your chest over that and ignore every other aspect of his play this year, Im not going to stop you

 

[CalPolyTechnique]

Xavier Legette please

Dude reminds of AJ Brown in a good way.

 

[ActualCowboysFan]

Dude reminds of AJ Brown in a good way.

Little Deebo mixed in.

 

[Jarntt]

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.

You can do anything but it would be dumb to add a pricy #3 WR and dumber to do so while ignoring RB. Diminishing returns and such...

 

[Mac_MaloneV1]

You can do anything but it would be dumb to add a pricy #3 WR and dumber to do so while ignoring RB. Diminishing returns and such...

Nope.

You have it backwards.

A vertical passing game is the best investment you can make for a successful run game. To do that, you invest in WRs. It is not, however, a two-way street. A good run game does not support a good passing game, because teams will just let yourun.

 

[Jarntt]

Nope.

You have it backwards.

A vertical passing game is the best investment you can make for a successful run game. To do that, you invest in WRs. It is not, however, a two-way street. A good run game does not support a good passing game, because teams will just let yourun.

First off that's wrong which is why PAP has been a thing forever and drawing safeties into the box is followed by taking shots deep, but even if you believe that, spending big $'s on a #3 WR isn't the way to build a team

 

[Mac_MaloneV1]

First off that's wrong which is why PAP has been a thing forever and drawing safeties into the box is followed by taking shots deep, but even if you believe that, spending big $'s on a #3 WR isn't the way to build a team

Nope, this is an expired line of thinking. Good teams are letting opponents run into light boxes. It's why teams like ATL and TEN can have success running the ball and still have anemic passing offenses.

Defenses who do what you are talking about - like Detroit - are terrible.

 

[ActualCowboysFan]

WR is a huge hole right now IMO. I’d take Noah Brown over Gallup. It would be my first round pick personally.

 

[Mr_437]

Cowboys have a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd round picks, so the mid round picks are gone. Now, with needs at Center, LT, LB, RB, also possibly Edge and CB y'all suggest drafting a WR3 with only 3 picks to improve the team? Explain how a low cost veteran WR doesn't make sense over using limited draft capital.

 

[Thomas82]

Some interesting alternatives there. Hollywood opposite Lamb could be very good. Mooney could wind up being very good value. Still young. Boyd was productive when he was #1 before Higgins and Chase got there. Samuel has always been interesting, but I dont know that I'd count on him to he a #2.

That would be an interesting reunion. They were teammates at Oklahoma.

 

[CalPolyTechnique]

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

That’s a bit misleading though. Crayton was only WR#2 on the depth chart.

The real pecking order during those days was TO, Witten, and then everyone else.

 

[Loso86]

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

If they decide to move Gallup they will

 

[Loso86]

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

I like the names but as it stands Cooks is under contract next year and I think he will be better for us next then this year

 

[big dog cowboy]

WR is a huge hole right now IMO.

 

[big dog cowboy]

Cowboys have a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd round picks, so the mid round picks are gone.

After comps they will have at least 7 as of right now.