NFL Free Agency is almost here! Let’s dive into this year’s class of NFL Free Agents as well as their fantasy football outlook.
- Erickson’s Free Agency Primers: QB | RB | WR | TE
- NFL Free Agent & Draft Needs for Every Team
- 2024 NFL Draft Guide
- 2024 Dynasty Fantasy Football Draft Kit
2024 NFL Free Agents
Darnell Mooney
Mooney is coming off a horrible and injury-plagued season, but I can’t help but think he is going to be a STEAL in a very bad WR free agent class on a new team. The Bears drafted Tyler Scott in the 2023 draft to be Mooney’s replacement in 2024. Mooney finished the season 10th in yards after the catch per reception (6.0) despite entering the year coming off a late November broken ankle injury.
Don’t rule out Mooney landing in KC as a potential destination.
Matt Nagy was head coach of the Bears from 2018-2021. He coached Mooney during his stint with Chicago in Mooney’s first two seasons after drafting him in the 5th round of the 2020 NFL Draft.
Mooney shined his brightest from 2021-2022 in the NFL with a 27% target share. He has shown the ability to command targets at a high level, and the 26-year-old can surely make some noise should he land on a relatively weak WR depth chart.
I say that because the Titans could be another prime spot for Mooney to land after they hired former Bears WR coach Tyke Tolbert as their new WR coach for 2024 under new head coach Brian Callahan.
Curtis Samuel
Curtis Samuel finished the 2023 season as the WR44 overall, averaging 7.9 fantasy points per game as the WR52 in points per game (7.9). Par for the course when it comes to Samuel, who always seems to string together consecutive weeks of production before seeing his numbers drop off because of injury.
His receiving numbers were nearly identical to his 2020 campaign, albeit he was more efficient as the Commanders’ primary slot WR. Unfortunately, he was barely used as a rusher, with only seven carries compared to 38 in 2022. Entering his age 28 season, Samuel has never finished higher than WR25 at any point during his career, regulating him to WR4 fantasy status regardless of any new landing spot. He will have his fair share of productive weeks but nothing to move the needle as a fantasy game-changer.
Potential landing spots for Samuel include Las Vegas (reunite with Scott Turner), Buffalo (reunite with Joe Brady), Cleveland (reunite with Ken Dorsey) and Detroit (reunite with Jim Hostler, a former Panthers WR coach and senior offensive assistant for the Commanders).
I think the Lions’ landing spot makes a lot of sense, given the lack of reliable WR depth the team has behind Amon-Ra St. Brown.
The Bears and Dolphins also make some sense as well.
Odell Beckham Jr.
The Cowboys, Bills and Jets were heavily rumored to have Odell Beckham Jr. on their radar last season before he ultimately signed a deal with the Ravens.
Based on how each of the team’s WR rooms played out behind their respective alphas, makes sense they would be in the market to add another dynamic pass-catcher.
Beckham just turned 31 years old and did not live up to his contract expectations as a Raven in 2023. WR63 overall, averaging 6.4 fantasy points per game (WR67).
However, he still had his moments averaging 1.8 yards per route run – identical to his averages during his time spent in Cleveland from 2019-2020.
Top-30 WR in PFF receiving grade with a top-3 ADOT among WRs as a primary deep threat in the Ravens’ offense.
And once OBJ got his sea legs under him – after Week 8 – he started to show out more and more. 18th in yards per route run (2.3). He’s not completely washed and still can provide some fantasy juice in a favorable offensive environment.
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