Top Free Agents by Position: Wide Receive Edition
Top Free Agents by Position: Wide Receive Edition
Wide Receiver
Amari Cooper
AJ Green
Robby Anderson
Randall Cobb
Emmanuel Sanders
Honorable Mentions
Demaryius Thomas
Breshad Perriman
Devin Funchess
Nelson Aglohor
Geronimo Allison
Phillip Dorsett
Demarcus Robinson
Amari Cooper
This year has a notably weak free agency class for wide receivers. It’s not for lack of talent, but because the team was handing out contracts more strategically than before. Some teams did the deals in the last year of the contract, while some players had been traded around then landed in a team where they are needed. Then some players didn’t even make it out their rookie contracts before being cut for just bad play. Whatever the reason may be, this class is weak, but it does have its highlight players. The most notable guy is Amari Cooper. Cooper had been drafted by the Raiders and was an immediate success. Yet, after two more seasons in Oakland, he was no longer looked at as the future for the team. He was dealt with Dallas midway through the 2018 season and had a resurgent second half of the season in which he and Dak Prescott looked unstoppable together. He once again proved to be a number one target for his quarterback and Dak looked more like a Franchise quarterback with Cooper by his side. Then in 2019, he had another middling year. He was excellent when playing at Jerry World but anywhere else he played, it was mixed to weak results. He even got pulled out of two games near the end of them due to performance issues. So now that free agency is around the corner, the Cowboys need to make a decision: Let Cooper walk and have used a first-round pick on a guy for just two years, or sign him long term and find the best way to get him to play at his highest level. My thought on this is that Cooper will stay, and Jerry Jones gets a deal done in the eleventh-hour right before free agency. Yet, anything can happen in football and he could actually leave the Cowboys. If that is the class, then he will have a few suitors to choose from. His most ideal fits in terms of teams would be the Eagles, Bills, Ravens, and 49ers. All these teams need a solid number one guy that can be a possession and deep threat weapon at times, while three of the four can offer a strong running game like in Dallas to allow more one on one matchups. I would love to see him play for either the Eagles or the Ravens. The Eagles would allow Cooper to torch the Cowboys twice a year as payback for not signing him, while with the Ravens, he will help develop Lamar so much more in the passing game inside and outside the numbers.
Robby Anderson
The guy that many call a one-trick pony is Robby Anderson. He was primarily the Jets deep threat guy and showed great results in that part of his game, though his route running was less desirable. Even with the one-trick pony skillset, it is a skill many teams need in this game nowadays. He will not be commanding that high of a price but will have a few suitors in terms of fit for him. The Eagles, Chargers, Giants, Raiders, and Bears can all use his skillset to varying degrees. His best teams in terms of fit would be the Eagles and the Bears. Both teams are missing a deep-threat complement to their core of guys they have now. In the Eagles, Alshon Jeffrey is nothing more than a big-bodied possession receiver and Desean Jackson’s injury last year had the rest of the offense stalled for a deep threat option. They had no replacement for what Jackson can do. In terms of the Bears, Allen Robinson is a solid number one who can run the route tree and catch almost anything, but he is more productive as underneath or intermediate target. Anthony Miller is an up and coming receiver who seems to be best used out the slot as underneath or sometimes over the top guy. You add in Anderson and then you can really open up the playbook as the defense will have threats at all three levels, and that is before you add in Tarik Cohen out the backfield or a Trey Burton in the middle of the field.
Emmanuel Sanders
This is one of the other more notable guys coming into free agency this year. He is on the other side of 30 but can still be a highly productive player in the right system as a number two or three option. He showed this past season with the Broncos and 49ers, that he can still be a precise route runner, and even take the top off a defense and keep them honest. He produced more with the 49ers and their heavy running game attack as he had more one on one matchups and thrived off the threat of any play can be a run. In play-action, he destroyed defensive back, but in one on one situations, he used his veteran route-running ability to give Garoppolo a solid target each and every play. Since he is a free agent this offseason he would best go back with the 49ers and try to run it back again for a Super Bowl title. Yet if he looks elsewhere for his new team, he can have a few good options. The Eagles, Ravens, Bills, Jaguars, Steelers, and Redskins can all use his services. The Eagles are a notable team lacking at receiver, the Ravens need another outside target to help Lamar continue to develop in the passing game. The Bills need a complementary piece to what they have already in Beasley and Brown, the Jaguars need a reliable number two to help take some of the pressure of up and coming receiver DJ Chark, while the reunion of Big Ben and Sanders could work wonders in Pittsburgh and help Juju look more like his 2018 self than this past season. Lastly, the Redskins have an emerging star in Terry McLaurin, and it would do wonders to give him a veteran partner for a few years to help him develop and give him a little help at the other receiver spot.
-By: Darren Braxton
Writer/Interviewer