2026 Fantasy Free Agency Preview

The NFL's free agency period begins on March 11, though teams can legally negotiate with players' agents beginning on March 9. In the table below, I've compiled the free agents at the four primary fantasy positions (QB, RB, WR, and TE), sorted by their 2025 per-game average (half-PPR). Their status indicates whether the player is unrestricted, restricted, or an exclusive rights free agent. I've also included the Average Annual Value (AAV) of their contract in 2025, which I found at the wonderful site Spotrac.com.

Here's a quick refresher on the NFL's (oftentimes convoluted) free agency rules:

• An unrestricted free agent (UFA) can sign with whomever he wants with no compensation going to his old team.
• A restricted free agent (RFA) has three years of service in the NFL and an expired contract. He's free to negotiate with other teams, but once he signs an offer sheet, his old team has seven days to match the deal and retain the player. If his old team declines to match, his new team may have to send a draft pick as compensation, depending on what type of RFA tender the old team offered the player.
• A team can apply a franchise tag to a player to guarantee that the team retains the player's rights for another season in the hopes that the two sides can work out a long-term deal. The price is steep -- it's a formula based on a certain percentage of the salary cap and the salaries of the top five players at the position. Breece Hall, George Pickens, and Kyle Pitts were tagged this year.
• Under the franchise tag, a player can be labeled an exclusive (EFT) or non-exclusive (NEFT) franchise player. Exclusive franchise players cannot negotiate with other teams. Like restricted free agents, a non-exclusive franchise player can sign an offer sheet from another team. If his old team declines to match, they'll receive two first-round picks as compensation. (In 2023, six players were slapped with the franchise tag, and all six were non-exclusive.)
• If a team doesn't apply a franchise tag, it can elect to apply a transition tag instead. The tender is cheaper because it uses the top 10 salaries at the position, but if another team negotiates a deal and his old team elects not to match, they won't get any draft picks as compensation. In previous years, teams could use both the franchise and transition tags, but under the new CBA, a team can use one or the other, but not both. The transition tag is rarely used in the NFL, though the Colts used it on Daniel Jones this year.

As is my approach with the Draft, I don't spend much time speculating about landing spots for the top players because it's a waste of time since things will typically be solidified in a few weeks. Just tell me where everyone lands and let me start my 2026 projections!

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