Defensive Tackle: Harrison Phillips, Buffalo Bills
Phillips is a bull in the trenches and was an unsung hero on the Buffalo defensive line. In 2021 he 51 tackles in 14 games with 1 sack and 1 pass deflection. At 6’3, 307 pounds, Phillips is tough to move and eats up double teams better than anyone in the league.
The Stanford alum is twenty six years old and going into his fifth NFL season. Teams like Cleveland and Baltimore need interior defensive lineman and could make a run at Phillips, but I wouldn’t be shocked if Buffalo made a hard run to resign Phillips because he was instrumental in the Bills success last season.
Edge Rusher: Harold Landry, Tennessee Titans
Harold Landry was the leagues most underrated pass rusher in the NFL is past season as he tallied 12 sacks coupled with 75 tackles and 1 forced fumble. The Titans are around six million over the cap and won’t be able to give Landry a favorable deal to keep him in Nashville.
Landrys ability to bend the edge and transition from power to speed makes him a tough mismatch and a team that I could see signing the Boston College alum is Atlanta. They recently released Fowler and are in the market for a big time pass rusher. The other team could be Detroit as they have twenty million in cap space and could create a great pass rushing rotation between the Okwara brothers, Harold Landry, and Trey Flowers.
Linebacker: Elandon Roberts, Miami Dolphins
I think we’ll be seeing another Kyle Van Noy scenario here where a former Patriot linebacker signs with Miami, plays a few seasons, and returns to New England. Roberts has always flown under the radar, and this season was the same as he didn’t get talked about much, but still put up numbers as he made 83 tackles with a sack, 2 forced fumbles, and a pick six.
This years free agent class of linebackers is pretty loaded with older faces like Dont’a Hightower, Anthony Hitchens, and Leighton Vander Esch, so teams could land Roberts on a low deal. I mentioned it before, New England will be in the mix to bring Roberts back on a three year, eleven to fifteen million dollar contract. Don’t be shocked to see him controlling the Patriots defense in 2022.
Cornerback: Levi Wallace, Buffalo Bills
With older players like Stephon Gilmore, Patrick Peterson, and Kyle Fuller hitting the market, teams will be looking to sign corners to short term, bigger money deals. But the most underrated cornerback on this years market is Levi Wallace. He is young, athletic, and was instrumental in Buffalo having a top defense.
In 2021, the Crimson Tide alum made 58 tackles with 2 interceptions and a career high 10 pass breakups. He played a great corner number two on the opposite side of Tre White and whoever signs him can count on him being a corner two and work him as a corner one. The Chargers have a lot of cap space and could use a top corner because playing against Hunter Renfrow, Tyreek Hill, and Cortland Sutton isn’t easy.
Safety: Quandre Diggs, Seattle Seahawks
A lot of big names at the safety position are hitting the market like Tyrann Mathieu, Jessie Bates, and Devin McCourty, but if a team that needs an eye in the sky signs Quandre Diggs they’ll be getting a hell of a player. Last season, Diggs tied for fourth in the NFL with 5 interceptions, 94 tackles, and 7 pass breakups.
Houston would be a good suitor for the Texas alum because they could create a great safety duo with Diggs and Kyle Hamilton if they choose to take him third overall. Or, Houston signs him and passes on Hamilton so they can draft either offensive tackle Evan Neal or edge rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux.