2026 NFL Free Agency: 5 Buyer Beware Players on the Open Market

When you're in charge of an NFL team, especially an NFL team that has not experienced a lot of success of late, and you have the salary cap space to take major swings in free agency, it behooves you to not head to the supermarket after experiencing the most powerful hemp-related products on the market, based on the legality thereof in your state of residence.

In other words, don't shop stoned, kids.

Those NFL shot-callers who do are the ones who ultimately have to live with the repercussions of the worst free agent signings in pro football history. From Albert Haynesworth to Brock Osweiler to Kirk Cousins and on and on, there's all sorts of mess out there if you're not diligent enough about the players you want and whether they fit in your facility — personally, professionally, and schematically.

With the 2026 free agent class coming live next week, here are five impending players who may be key additions under the right circumstances, but who could also flirt with scheme schisms, overpayment, and developmental issues that may have the truths of their talent that might be masked by that most dangerous word:

Potential.

You know, the word that gets more NFL people fired than any other.

QB Aaron Rodgers

With free agency just around the corner, of courseAaron Rodgers went on the Pat McAfee Show on Wednesday (opening the door to questions about his NFL future), and of course he pretended to be mortally offended at the idea that he should make a decision about his NFL future right now, when in reality, he dearly loves people talking about it, because... well, he's Aaron Rodgers.

We all know what that means.

As to whether Rodgers would have enough in the tank at age 42/43 in his 22nd season to make that all worth it for whichever team might sign him, there are definitely two sides to that story. Last season for the Steelers, in an offense that was "coordinated" by Arthur Smith but was really run by Rodgers, and with a receiver group that was basically DK Metcalf and the Pips (we really found that out when Metcalf served his suspension late in the season), Rodgers still balled out to an estimable degree.

Rodgers completed 344 of 531 passes for 3,468 yards, 24 touchdowns, eight interceptions, and a passer rating of 92.1. With all those limitations, it was probably his best season since 2021, and there were more than enough examples of the arm talent (which, at his peak, was probably the best in football history) to make you think that this has to be a done deal for 2026.

Factor in the slim pickings in both the draft and free agency when it comes to the game's most important position, and Rodgers would likely be paid at high market value on another one-year deal, whether that's in a Mike McCarthy reunion in Pittsburgh, or elsewhere.

On the downside, Rodgers' diminished movement skills at his age have him wrestling with throwing mechanics in ways he hasn't since he came out of Cal in 2005, and the Green Bay Packers had to do a complete overhaul on him. Rodgers doesn't like pre-snap motion and other schematic aids, which is a primary reason he's struggled against the NFL's increasing use of disguised coverages more than you'd expect from a quarterback who can read any defense in his sleep. Also, anybody taking that one-year flyer on Rodgers is kicking the can on developing their own younger quarterback over time, and maybe that's the way to go with this particular market.

Wherever he goes in 2026 (if he goes anywhere), Aaron Rodgers could well be both a force multiplier and a complete albatross. It will be up to the fates to see just how much of each side we see.

WR Jauan Jennings

It is a massive endorsement of Kyle Shanahan's coaching genius that the 2025 San Francisco 49ers were able to patch together a 12-5 record in the NFL's most brutally competitive division (the NFC West) despite a nightmarish injury situation, and the fact that receiver Brandon Aiyuk basically decided to take the entire season off after signing a four-year, $120 million contract extension with $45 million guaranteed that you'd think would have made him happy enough to play.

In any event, Aiyuk's unexpected absence made Jauan Jennings, the 2020 seventh-round pick out of Tennessee, the main man in the passing game. Jennings had 58 catches on 96 targets for 711 yards and nine touchdowns, one season after bagging 77 catches on 111 targets for 975 yards and six scores.

Per Spotrac.com, Jennings has the highest market value of any free-agent receiver in the upcoming class, at a bold annual value of $22.6 million. That would put him in the same mix as other second-tier receivers like Jerry Jeudy, Courtland Sutton, Calvin Ridley, and Jakobi Myers.

Which sounds about right for Jennings' recent production. The only real issue here is whether teams will overvalue a player who has a ceiling value as a WR2 of modest growth potential, and whether Jennings can exceed that. He's a reasonably fast player with good route awareness and decent open-field speed, but I would struggle to mark him as an X-iso receiver on a play-to-play basis, especially since his hands are not consistent.

Which means that you'll need another receiver above him in the pecking order. That was the 49ers' idea until it didn't happen.

OT Rasheed Walker

If you're looking for a franchise left tackle in the 2026 offseason, odds are you're doing it in the draft or via the trade route, because the free-agent pool is pretty thin. You're dealing with a lot of Cam Robinson, Braden Smith, and Joseph Noteboom as opposed to protectors who will make your offensive line obviously better with their presence.

But left tackle is an especially important position, which means that Rasheed Walker, who has manned the left side for the Green Bay Packers over the last three seasons, is in the right place at the right time to be overpaid. Not that the 2022 seventh-round pick out of Penn State has been bad, per se — that's not the point. But if you're paying for LT1 play, you'd better get it, and Walker isn't always the easiest watch.

Last season, Walker allowed six sacks, four quarterback hits, and 26 quarterback hurries in 577 pass-blocking reps, and his run-blocking was... well, decent. At 6-foot-6 and 324 pounds, Walker has the requisite size and frame to block with power, but when you see a tackle get rolled back as often as he does, it tells you that there are some technical things to fix. He's not the most nimble man when in his kick-step, and there are times when he struggles to match speed-rushers step for step as a result. Moreover, Walker's short-area quickness is nothing to write home about.

We're not saying that no team should want Walker, but this is a case where scarcity when it comes to experienced tackles could lead to a hope-based overpay.

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EDGE Trey Hendrickson

The Bengals announced this week that they would not place the franchise tag on Hendrickson in 2026 as they did in 2025, ending a rather weird process in which Cincinnati's front office utterly and predictably failed to reward Hendrickson when he was at his best. In 2023 and 2024 combined, Hendrickson amassed 38 sacks and 162 total pressures, and he was among the top edge disruptors in the game.

That didn't register with the Bengals' legendarily parsimonious shot-callers, and when Hendrickson worked through an injury-plagued 2025, you knew that things were coming to an end. Hendrickson had four sacks and 23 total pressures in 177 pass-rushing reps despite back, hip, and core muscle issues that ultimately shut him down in Week 8.

Now, with Hendrickson on the open market, the question is what the NFL will think of a guy coming off all those injuries, who turns 32 on December 5? We didn't really see a healthy Hendrickson last season, and he was a warrior for battling through it, but now, we're talking about market value and the future.

Another concern I have about Hendrickson, which goes back to his 2024 season, is how often he picked up his sacks against offensive tackles that are nowhere near a Pro Bowl or All-Pro nod. Two of his sacks in 2025 came against Detroit Lions backup left tackle Giovanni Manu, and in 2024, there were far too many quarterback takedowns against opponents who didn't have the requisite skills to counter his abilities. There was a lot more Dan Moore, Thayer Munford Jr., and Kingsley Suamataia than, say, Trent Williams or Lane Johnson.

You can say that of any pass-rusher to a degree, but the extent to which Hendrickson beat up on the little kids, so to speak, would be on my mind were I on the verge of giving him a massive contract. This is not to say that Hendrickson is washed up by any means; but both financially and schematically, you'd better be sure that your highest-profile pass-rusher can bring it at the highest possible level.

CB Nahshon Wright

The Dallas Cowboys selected Wright in the third round of the 2021 draft out of Oregon State, but injuries prevented him from making the most of that opportunity, and Wright was traded to the Minnesota Vikings on August 9, 2024. He never got on the field for defensive coordinator Brian Flores, and one day after the Vikings released him on April 7, 2025, Wright signed a one-year, $1.1 million contract with the Chicago Bears that had no guaranteed money.

It's safe to say that Wright exceeded the value of that contract to an EXTREME degree. In Dennis Allen's defense, which directs cornerbacks to play in an aggressive fashion, Wright had five interceptions and two forced fumbles, which wasn't bad for a guy who had a grand total of one pick and no forced fumbles in his NFL career to that point.

So, why are we "buyer-bewaring" Wright when he could be on the verge of a major payday as some NFL team's No. 1 cornerback? Well, there are boom-and-bust pass defenders who are just as likely to give one up against their intentions as they are to rob opposing quarterbacks... and at this point in his process, Wright is very much that type. In 2025, he allowed 60 catches on 93 targets for 800 yards, 248 yards after the catch, eight touchdowns, those five interceptions, seven pass breakups, and an opponent passer rating of 98.0.

Now, you want to watch all of those allowed touchdowns to see what they mean, and in Wright's case, there's a weird combination of over-aggressiveness and hesitation which implies to me that he's still working on seeing things the way he needs to see them. When he's in phase, the 6-foot-4, 185-pound Wright can absolutely envelop opposing receivers, but he's also longer and lankier than the average cornerback, which means that being in phase is Job 1.

Wright could figure it all out in 2026 and become one of the NFL's best. Or, he could struggle to put it all together, and have a ceiling as a CB2. The upside intrigues me, but not necessarily at CB1 money unless the defensive coordinator and his staff are completely convicted of Wright's ability to mine his potential to the ultimate extent.