Training camps are opening around the NFL, yet a number of notable veterans remain unsigned. Here are five free agents who should be added to teams this month.
While the Los Angeles Rams wait to see if the rich get richer this month, as three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year Aaron Donald weighs returning from retirement, other teams have more pressing needs without future Hall of Famers around to swoop in and fill them.
But there just so happens to be a handful of remaining potential-impact free agents still looking for teams as training camps get underway.
More to the point, there are five in particular who match up well with specific teams and their existing needs.
As intriguing as it is to envision a Tyreek Hill return to the Chiefs, especially given Kansas City’s unreliable wide receiver corps, Hill hit pause on any such thoughts himself in a YouTube video last week in which he said he still has “no power” in his left leg after dislocating his knee and tearing ligaments last fall.
Remaining Impact NFL Free Agents Available For 2026
So the former “Cheetah” doesn’t make our list at this point, but these five veteran free agents are healthy are ready to help a team.
1. LB Bobby Wagner
Let’s not overcomplicate this.
1. Wagner, a likely Hall of Famer when his time comes, has made clear that he wants to play football in 2026.
2. He may be 36 years old, but he remained plenty useful at 35 last season for the Washington Commanders when he played all 17 games, tallied 162 tackles (fifth-most in the league and the fourth-highest total of his 14-year career) with 8 tackles for loss, 4 sacks and 2 interceptions.
3. And the Cincinnati Bengals happen to have the worst set of linebackers in the NFL, failed to upgrade the unit whatsoever this offseason despite investing heavily in fortifying their defensive line, and they intend to contend if QB Joe Burrow can deliver a full, healthy season.
We’ve remained dubious of the fresh Bengals hype purely because most of their abysmal defense didn’t change or upgrade much — the interior of the defensive line aside.
Cincinnati clearly sees greater potential in second-year linebackers Barrett Carter and Demetrius Knight Jr. despite them grading out as two of the worst in football last year, per PFF, which ranked Carter (39.5 grade) 85th out of 88 qualifying linebackers and Knight (40.2) 83rd out of 88.
Even if that’s true, it wouldn’t hurt to have a 10-time Pro Bowl, six-time first-team All-Pro veteran mentor them while picking up the slack a bit in the meantime.
Wagner may have lost a step from his “Legion of Boom” days with the Seattle Seahawks, but he’d unquestionably be an asset to the Bengals.
This fit just makes too much sense not to happen.
2. WR Stefon Diggs
It’s been a humbling handful of months for Diggs.
He went from the validation of a bounce-back 1,000-yard season with the New England Patriots and playing in his first Super Bowl, to being held to 3 catches for 37 yards in that one-sided loss to the Seahawks, an ugly public breakup with rapper Cardi B (with whom he has a child) immediately thereafter, followed by his release from the Patriots in March, a public court ordeal in May in which he was found not guilty of assaulting his private chef, all while remaining unsigned late into the summer.
One can only deduce teams are wary of Diggs’ off-field distractions.
Despite 85 catches for 1,013 yards and 4 TDs last season in New England — a solid bounce-back after tearing his ACL midway through the 2024 season with Houston — it’s also fair to say Diggs is on the downside of his career and no longer a true star No. 1 WR.
That seemed clear when he was held to 40 yards or less in all four Patriots postseason games, which was surely a reason they moved on from his inflated salary and traded for A.J. Brown from the Eagles to fill that role instead.
Even Diggs has seemingly accepted this, pitching himself as a top No. 2 WR option for teams in a video posted to his YouTube channel a couple weeks ago.
“My opinion, I can compete with anybody,” Diggs said. “But take those [top wide receivers] as your 1s, right? You can’t name a No. 2 better than me.”
Diggs can absolutely help an NFL team in 2026, entering his 12th season and turning 33 years old in November.
The four-time Pro Bowl wideout has topped 1,000 receiving yards in each of his last seven healthy seasons (with 2024 the lone exception).
And there are two teams in particular that make the most sense for Diggs.
Diggs is from Gaithersburg, Maryland, and starred at the University of Maryland — right down the road from Baltimore, where the Ravens have a Super Bowl-caliber roster that is light on proven wide receivers.
The Ravens have their WR1 in Zay Flowers, but they let veteran DeAndre Hopkins become a free agent after a quiet season and Rashod Bateman (19 catches for 224 yards and 2 TDs in 13 games last season) is underwhelming as a second option.
The team addressed its wide receiver needs on Day 2 of the draft, selecting USC WR Ja’Kobi Lane in the third round and Indiana WR Elijah Sarratt in the fourth. Both were nice value picks with clear upside, but depending on rookie receivers is a dice roll, especially for a team with championship expectations.
Diggs, who should come relatively affordably at this point, would be an ideal No. 2 to Flowers while continuing his football career back close to where it all started.
The Washington Commanders make sense for the same reasons.
Beyond WR1 Terry McLaurin, Washington doesn’t have a clear WR 2. It drafted Clemson’s Antonio Williams in the third round to help address that void, but Diggs would be a clear asset to a Commanders team hoping to get back in the playoffs if QB Jayden Daniels can stay on the field this year.
3. OT Taylor Decker
Of anyone on this list, it’s most perplexing that Taylor Decker remains unsigned as a reliable veteran left tackle.
The only reason he isn’t still anchoring the left side of the line for the Detroit Lions is money. Decker was due to make $18.2 million this season and the sides could not come to an agreement on a restructured/reduced contract, so the Lions released the 10-year veteran.
He made his lone Pro Bowl appearance in 2024 and started 140 games in 10 seasons for the Lions. Last year, PFF graded him 41st (67.9) out of 89 qualifying offensive tackles.
Unless he reverses course on his intentions to play in 2026, Decker will surely find a home before the start of the season.
The most logical landing spot is the Chicago Bears.
Chicago enjoyed a playoff breakthrough last year and is a team on the rise under second-year head coach Ben Johnson, who happened to be Decker’s offensive coordinator in Detroit for three seasons.
The one concern for an otherwise loaded offense is at left tackle. The hope was that 2025 second-round draft pick Ozzy Trapilo would lock down that side of the line, and indeed he was coming on strong in seven starts late last season before he ruptured the patellar tendon in his knee in the Bears’ wildcard playoff win over the rival Green Bay Packers.
Trapilo is expected to miss most or all of the upcoming season.
The Bears re-signed Braxton Jones, who made 44 starts for the team the last four seasons, but he’s been injury-prone through his career (playing more than 12 games just once in four seasons) and he spent most of last season sidelined by a knee injury.
The Bears have too much potential this season to hinge the protection of emerging star quarterback Caleb Williams on Jones or lesser options.
Decker would not only be an upgrade as the starter but would in turn boost the overall depth of the unit after Chicago went through a turnstile of left tackles last season.
4. OG Kevin Zeitler
Zeitler is 36 years old and nearing the end of his career, but he played well enough last season for the Tennessee Titans for PFF to grade him 13th out of 81 qualifying offensive guards (74.5 grade).
Zeitler was on a one-year contract with the Titans and became a free agent after the season — which is how he remains, surprisingly.
He’s made 213 career starts in 14 seasons for the Bengals, Browns, Giants, Ravens, Lions and Titans and isn’t a long-term solution for any franchise at this point, but there are two teams in particular that could sure use a short-term upgrade at guard.
First, the Pittsburgh Steelers lost veteran starter Isaac Seumalo to the Arizona Cardinals in free agency. After being heavily linked to top OG prospect Olaivavega Ioane leading up to the NFL draft, the Penn State standout was scooped up with the 14th pick by the rival Ravens before the Steelers’ turn.
Pittsburgh did draft an offensive lineman, but it was tackle Max Iheanachor. Meanwhile, the Steelers’ plan is to shift right guard Mason McCormick to the left side with Spencer Anderson (11 starts in three seasons) competing at right guard with former Dallas Cowboys reserve Brock Hoffman and third-round rookie Gennings Dunker.
Zeitler is a better option than any of those three and buys the Steelers time to further develop Dunker (and Anderson).
The other clear fit for Zeitler is the San Francisco 49ers, who lost starting left guard Spencer Burford in free agency to the Las Vegas Raiders.
For now, the 49ers are patching that spot together while evaluating free agent addition Robert Jones (one season as a full-time starter for the Miami Dolphins in 2024 before missing all of last season with injury), rookie fourth-round pick Carver Willis or 2025 seventh-round pick Connor Colby.
It sure seems like the best option for San Francisco, a team in win-now mode, is not presently on the roster.
5. WR Deebo Samuel
While it seems like Samuel has been in the NFL as long as some of the other remaining veteran free agents (like Diggs, Hopkins or Keenan Allen), he’s only played seven seasons and is just 30 years old.
The reason for that is because Samuel’s peak is pretty far in the rearview now. It came in his third season with the 49ers when he broke out for 77 catches for 1,405 and 6 TDs while rushing for 365 yards (on 6.2 yards per carry!) and 8 TDs.
He was just a uniquely versatile and potent weapon with his physical 6-foot, 215-pound frame and ability to operate all over the field.
But Samuel never had another season quite like that as his production tailed off in recent years. Specifically, he’s no longer much of a factor in the run game (just 17 carries for 75 yards and 1 TD for the Commanders last season), but his lone season in Washington wasn’t a waste. He caught 72 passes for 727 yards and 5 TDs.
Samuel isn’t a star anymore, but he’s a useful No. 3 weapon.
There’s a number of teams he could help in 2026, but the most intriguing fit is the Los Angeles Rams.
The preseason Super Bowl favorites are loaded across the board, with exception to a proven WR3 who can operate out of the slot and complement the tandem of Puka Nacua and Davante Adams on the outside.
The Rams whiffed on a prime opportunity to fill this void in the NFL draft when USC WR Makai Lemon was still available at pick 13 yet they chose to stash Alabama QB Ty Simpson for the future instead.
As it stands, the Rams’ No. 3 WR is Jordan Whittington (18 catches for 171 yards last year).
There’s buzz that Samuel could reunite with the 49ers, but they don’t need him like the Rams do — Los Angeles is the most intriguing landing spot for the veteran wide receiver.
