2024 NFL Free Agency: The 10 Best 25-and-Under Players in This Year's Class

When it comes to NFL free agency, youth is an important factor for a player to have on his side. As teams consider who they are willing to shell out big money to this offseason, the lurking machinations of Father Time can make teams hesitant to commit.

That's why the 25-and-under crowd is much better positioned to cash in this time of year. Even if a team commits to a four-year contract, the player still won't be over 30 years old at any point in the deal.

These free agents bring an extra element of value because they are still young enough for teams to build around. There's no substitute for hitting on a draft pick, but luring a young, productive player to join your franchise for his second contract can be the next best thing.

The following players fit that bill and are headed toward free agency. We'll rank them based on past production, potential upside and positional value. It's possible that their current team will wind up keeping them with a new contract or the franchise tag, but for the sake of keeping things interesting, we'll also take a look at a best fit with another team.

S Geno Stone, EDGE Josh Uche, OT Mekhi Becton, S Julian Blackmon, iOL Ezra Cleveland

It's a fairly deep class of promising players under 25 this season, so it makes sense to highlight a few of the names who were considered but barely missed the cut. Each of these players has flashed some level of promise but has some concerns or just hasn't quite been as impactful as those on the list.

Edge Josh Uche is a perfect example. The Patriots edge defender had a huge season in 2022 with 11.5 sacks, but he went right back to modest production in 2023. He had three sacks and only played 33 percent of the team's defensive snaps. He's never played more than 38 percent.

Geno Stone is another one-year wonder who flirted with the list. He had seven interceptions this season and came in clutch for the Ravens defense, but this was his only year as a full-time starter, and he was kind of scheme-specific with the Ravens' three-safety looks.

Julian Blackmon has been a starter for the Colts for four seasons, but it's hard for him to stand out in this class. As we'll see, it's a good one for young safeties.

Ezra Cleveland and Mekhi Becton are both former first-round picks who haven't lived up to their draft pedigree. However, Cleveland has made a good transition to guard, and Becton finally stayed healthy for a season.

All of these players bring solid upside with just a little more risk than their ranked peers.

This year's wide receiver class has a lot of big names, including Tee Higgins, Mike Evans and Michael Pittman Jr. Thus, Gabe Davis, who doesn't even have a 1,000-yard season to his name, is likely to fly a little more under-the-radar.

Davis could still provide a team with a lot of value, though. He isn't a complete receiver, but he's a serviceable vertical deep threat who has averaged 16.7 yards per reception while scoring 27 touchdowns over the past four seasons.

He's also shown a knack for putting together some big performances when it matters most. He had eight catches for 201 yards to keep the Bills in their 2021 playoff game against the Chiefs. He went for another 113 yards on six catches in the Wild Card Round against the Dolphins this season.

Davis might not have to look far if he wants to go to another suitor. The Jets have an emergent dominant receiver in Garrett Wilson, but they need another vertical threat who can force defenses to divert attention from their No. 1 receiver.

The 25-year-old could be everything that Allen Lazard was supposed to be for the Jets this season. He doesn't have the built-in rapport with Aaron Rodgers that the former Packer does, but it's a pretty safe bet that Rodgers and Davis would be able to figure something out pretty quickly.

Best Fit: New York Jets

Patrick Queen did a lot to boost his stock this season. NFL talent evaluators and coaching staffs had to like what they saw with Queen flying around for a defense that ranked No. 1 in defensive DVOA this season.

Playing alongside Roquan Smith, the Ravens had one of the best linebacker duos in the league. Queen racked up a career-high 133 total tackles with nine going for losses, six passes defended, 3.5 sacks and an interception.

Queen is an uber-atheltic presence in the middle of a defense with the range to track things down sideline-to-sideline. He's also an impactful blitzer with 13.5 sacks and 33 quarterback hits across four seasons.

There are quite a few teams who would be getting an upgrade at linebacker with Queen. He's one of the best players available at the position regardless of age. However, the Seattle Seahawks make the most sense.

The Seahawks just replaced Pete Carroll with former Ravens defensive coordinator Mike MacDonald. They also happen to have a need at inside linebacker, as Jordyn Brooks and Bobby Wagner are set to hit free agency.

Coaches generally like to bring a few players with them. It helps others assimilate to the new culture and learn the scheme. MacDonald should want to bring Queen to the Pacific Northwest to be the flag-bearer for the defense, while Queen should want to reunite with his former coach to build on his career year.

Best Fit: Seattle Seahawks

Versatility is an important calling card for safeties, especially in today's defensive meta where the ability to play two-high and move safeties all over the formation is critical.

Kamren Curl can do everything a defensive coordinator is going to ask him to do. According to the 33rd Team, he played 24 percent of his snaps this season in box and 14 percent in the slot, bolstering his resume as a do-it-all weapon in the defensive backfield.

Curl doesn't have a ton of ball production. That knocks him down this list a few spots. He hasn't recorded an interception since his rookie season in 2020, but he made a career-high 115 total tackles with an average tackle depth of 2.8 yards, per Sports Info Solutions.

Perhaps going to a new situation will help Curl get his due, but even if it doesn't, a new team would be getting a versatile safety who isn't going to be afraid to run the alley and get involved as a run defender.

The Green Bay Packers attempted to fill their need at safety with a few veteran free agents on one-year deals last offseason. They brought over Tarvarius Moore from San Francisco and Jonathan Owens from Houston.

If the Packers can carve out some salary-cap space, then Curl would be a logical target. Darnell Savage, Owens and Rudy Ford are all set to hit free agency, and new defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley has a strong background in working with secondaries.

He could help elevate Curl's game to the next level and add some ball production to his impressive skillset.

Best Fit: Green Bay Packers

The NFC East could be losing two valuable young safeties with Xavier McKinney also headed toward free agency. The former second-round pick is coming off his best season yet and won't even turn 25 until August.

Unlike Curl, who does some of his best work lined up close to the line of scrimmage, McKinney thrives as the deep safety. He can still moonlight in the box, though. According to PFF, McKinney had a top-10 coverage grade both in deep and box alignments last season.

McKinney has been reliable when he's been on the field. He's given up a passer rating of 72.2 or lower in three of his four seasons with the Giants despite playing for two very different defensive coordinators in Patrick Graham and Wink Martindale.

The safety's ability to thrive as the deep defender in multiple schemes means he could fit in with a lot of clubs, but a reunion with Graham in Las Vegas could be mutually beneficial.

The Raiders defense rallied around new head coach Antonio Pierce in the back half of the season and finished as the eighth-best defense by DVOA. Marcus Epps finished as the 55th-highest-graded safety by PFF last season with no interceptions and just three passes defended.

McKinney could thrive in Graham's system, give them the playmaking ability they need while playing on a defense that could be really good in 2024.

Best Fit: Las Vegas Raiders

Chase Young is one of the most interesting free agents in the entire class. His draft pedigree, raw talent, age and position are among the reasons why he could get paid a lot more than many would expect.

The former No. 2 overall pick has largely failed to live up to expectations. He has just 16.5 career sacks despite a 7.5-sack Rookie of the Year campaign in 2020.

Since that point, injuries have dogged the 24-year-old. He only played in 12 games between the 2021 and 2022 seasons because of an ACL tear. He had five sacks in the first seven games of the season with the Commanders, but that production dipped when he was traded to the 49ers. He only had 2.5 over the final nine games with their talented front.

The metrics are there to project that Young can still become a dominant pass-rusher. He ranked 15th in pass-rush win rate among all the edge defenders in the league, per ESPN.

The market should be stronger than Young's sack totals would indicate for a 24-year-old who can rush the passer and might have more upside than his career has shown to this point. If a bidding war ensues for Young, then a team with a lot of cap space like the Titans should be willing to spend on him.

The Titans had one of the most tepid pass-rushes in the league with a pressure percentage of just 18.8. They also have $73.9 million in cap space to spend to address the issue.

Denico Autry led the team in sacks, and he is a 33-year-old free agent. The Titans need to get younger at the position, and Young is a good fit.

Best Fit: Tennessee Titans

Bryce Huff might have the best pure speed-rush in the league. He might only do one thing, but he's really good at it, and it's something that's invaluable to an NFL defense.

He's only had seven starts in his four seasons with the New York Jets, but he's always among the top pass-rushers in efficiency metrics. There were only two pass-rushers in the league with a pressure percentage higher than 20 percent on at least 250 pass rushes, per Sports Info Solutions: Micah Parsons and Bryce Huff.

In 2023, Huff had the fastest average get-off time in the league at just 0.67 seconds to cross the line of scrimmage, per Seth Walder of ESPN.

The downside of signing Huff is that he's not much of a traditional run defender, and he's only ever played more than 50 percent of the defensive snaps in one season (2021). He's not an every-down defensive lineman, but he was able to put up 10 sacks for the Jets this season despite playing just 42 percent of the snaps.

Huff will need to go to a team with a defensive line that can support Huff playing in a part-time role and a defensive mind that understands how to deploy him. The Arizona Cardinals are a team fit that mold.

Jonathan Gannon got to manage a deep pass-rushing rotation when he was the defensive coordinator in Philadelphia. His defense was much less scary in the desert last season with just 33 sacks.

Plugging Huff into a Haason Reddick-type role would instantly give Arizona a better pass-rush.

Best Fit: Arizona Cardinals

Antoine Winfield Jr. isn't just one of the best free-agent safeties, he's one of the best safeties in the league. If he ends up leaving Tampa Bay, he should be a hot commodity. He's already a Super Bowl champion, All-Pro and Pro Bowler just four years into his career.

Winfield was PFF's second-highest-graded safety in the league last season, and a closer look at his grades reveal just how much he means to the Bucs defense. Winfield was first in run defense grade, second in pass-rush grade and 10th in coverage.

Whether he's lined up in the slot, playing as a box safety or tracking down deep balls as a deep safety, he provides the versatility to fit in with any scheme. His experience with a successful Buccaneers franchise should make him an attractive addition for numerous suitors.

One that should be particularly interested is the Minnesota Vikings. From a sheer football standpoint, Winfield fits in with what they do on defense. Like Todd Bowles' system in Tampa Bay, Brian Flores has brought a blitz-happy approach to Minnesota that relies on multiple looks and blitz packages to wreak havoc.

Winfield's ability to play all over the field would give Flores someone to weaponize within his scheme.

Then there's the obvious off-field connections that could make Minnesota attractive. Winfield was a Minnesota Golden Gopher in college, and his dad, Antoine Winfield Sr., played for the Vikings for nine years.

Best Fit: Minnesota Vikings

It's been a rocky ride at times, but Jaylon Johnson finally broke out in 2023 with a season that earned him a second-team All-Pro nod. Now he's about to cash in.

Johnson had 15 passes defended as a rookie in 2020 but also gave up an opposing passer rating of 107.5, including five touchdowns. Every year those numbers have gone down, but in 2023 he played like a shutdown corner.

Johnson had four interceptions, 10 passes defended and gave up a passer rating of just 50.9 and 4.8 yards per target. According to Player Profiler, he was No. 1 in yards allowed per targets, 10th in catch rate allowed and No. 3 in fantasy points allowed per target.

The only caveat to Johnson's stellar season was that he was 82nd in man-coverage rate and 87th in shadow rate. He wasn't following the other team's best receiver, and he wasn't asked to play man coverage a whole lot.

That doesn't take away from what he did, but it does limit his fits to teams that played less man coverage.

It's a scary thought for opposing offenses, but a pairing with the Houston Texans could work. They played the eighth-highest rate of zone defense in the league and need an outside corner opposite of Derek Stingley Jr.

Giving DeMeco Ryans two young, high-level cornerbacks with the ability to go and attack the ball in the air could be the makings of a championship defense.

Best Fit: Houston Texans

The Panthers reportedly denied trade offers for Brian Burns at the trade deadline, and it's not hard to see why. When a franchise trades for draft picks, they are hoping to land a player of Burns' caliber at a premium position.

If the Panthers were to actually let him hit the open market, Burns would check all the boxes of a premium free agent. He plays a highly valuable position, is just 25 years old and already has production with 46 career sacks in five seasons.

He finished 11th in pass-rush win rate among edge defenders and had 41 total pressures, per Sports Info Solutions. Unlike Josh Uche or Bryce Huff, Burns is an every-down player who played 83 percent of the snaps in 16 games for a Panthers team that earned the No. 1 pick (even if they traded it to Chicago).

If the Panthers don't franchise-tag Burns or sign him to a long-term deal, he could score the biggest payday of anyone not named Chris Jones. Spotrac projects his market value at $21.7 million per year, which is third only to Jones and Josh Allen among 2024 free agents.

The Los Angeles Rams are finally in a cap position to add a premium free agent. After showing what they could do with Aaron Donald, Matthew Stafford, Cooper Kupp and a bunch of young players, it could be attractive to Burns to move to the West Coast.

Burns could pair up with Donald and Kobie Turner (who had nine sacks as a rookie) to make a run in the NFC West.

Best Fit: Los Angeles Rams

True No. 1 receivers rarely hit the open market. It's even more rare for them to hit the market after their rookie contract.

Higgins is a unique case, though. The Bengals followed up drafting Higgins in 2020 by taking Ja'Marr Chase with the No. 5 pick in the 2021 draft. For most teams, Higgins would have likely become the top receiver, but Higgins has taken a back seat to Chase and formed one of the best receiving duos in the league.

In all likelihood, the Bengals will franchise-tag Higgins. They have the cap space ($61.4 million) to take on the projected $20.7 million cap hit for one more season before they have to worry about a Ja'Marr Chase extension. Reports already seem to be confirming this is the plan.

It would open the Chase-Higgins window for one more year that the Bengals could make a run with a healthy Joe Burrow.

If they decide against it, however, Higgins' best fit would be with an offense that is going to feature him as a deep-threat No. 1 receiver. There are a few places that need that kind of player, but the Carolina Panthers might be the most desperate one that would pay up for him.

The Panthers are in a tough spot at receiver. Bryce Young struggled in his rookie season, and Carolina missed D.J. Moore, who was included in the trade to move up the board and draft Young.

Higgins would immediately come in and be a force-multiplier for the Panthers receiving corps. He would take pressure off of 34-year-old Adam Thielen and give Young the downfield receiver that D.J. Chark was supposed to be.

It would be a chance for Carolina to add a No. 1 receiver without a first-round pick in this year's draft and a chance for Higgins to get out from the shadow of Chase.

Best Fit: Carolina Panthers