The beginning of NFL free agency is inching closer and it could be a lot of fun for both fantasy players and fans of individual teams alike. There are so many possibilities in free agency, making it one of the most unpredictable parts of the off-season news cycle.
It also gives us a chance to play armchair GM, placing free agents on teams that would be great for fantasy purposes and, in some cases, help the fantasy teams you're managing.
Here’s a look at five players who are about to hit free agency and the teams that would be the most fun fantasy landing spot. We’ll also pick a landing spot that makes sense from a positional and salary cap sense.
Jameis Winston
Fun Fantasy Landing Spot: Carolina Panthers
Speak it into existence!
There’s a lot to love for the Carolina Panthers offence. Look at those playmakers: Christian McCaffrey, D.J. Moore and Robby Anderson, and the guess is that they will be adding another wide receiver, tight end or complementary running back as part of Matt Rhule’s retooling of this team. The only thing missing is a quarterback.
Love him or hate him, Jameis Winston makes football interesting. There’s talent there – you don’t throw 33 touchdowns in an NFL season by accident. I know what you’re thinking though: the interceptions. He’s not quarterbacking my team so I don’t care as much about that and if he’s on your fantasy team, you probably shouldn’t worry about it too much either. Most leagues don’t punish you enough with negative points for interceptions, so ride the touchdown wave.
Winston was QB6 before leaving Tampa to be the backup in New Orleans, so you can expect that if he goes to a team like Carolina that he’s going to sling it.
Logical Landing Spot: New Orleans
After seeing how Drew Brees finished the last two seasons, it’s clear the clock has struck midnight for him. And while Taysom Hill is a nice idea, he just doesn’t work for me as a starting NFL quarterback over the course of an entire season. Winston has spent a year with the team, so he knows the playbook. It’s not an awful landing spot fantasy-wise, either, with some established players like Alvin Kamara and Michael Thomas, plus the potential emergence from second-year tight end Adam Trautman.
Aaron Jones
Fun Fantasy Landing Spot: San Francisco 49ers
This one might raise a few eyebrows because the 49ers’ backfield situation always seems to be a hot-hand approach and you never know what to expect.
But what about the thinking that maybe Kyle Shanahan hasn’t had the workhorse running back in his stable to really unleash? This is the angle I’m taking with this landing spot.
This would be such a fun team for Aaron Jones, especially considering his RB5 finish last season, his ability to catch passes, run between the tackles and the pairing with a brilliant offensive mind like Shanahan. The 49ers love to run the football and Jones can certainly fill any role in that offence, a trait the head coach absolutely loves in his players, as seen with the drafting of Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk and the signing of Jerick McKinnon a few years ago.
Logical Landing Spot: Miami Dolphins
This would be a good fantasy landing spot for Jones as well, but not nearly as good as San Francisco. Miami makes a lot of sense financially as the team has some cap space and from a roster perspective. Myles Gaskin was good in the lead role last season and provided a good spark for Miami’s offence, but he isn’t Aaron Jones.
Having a running back like Jones will help the Dolphins offence, and in particular, quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, immensely. On a team that boasts some good playmakers, this might help push them closer to a playoff spot.
Allen Robinson
Fun Fantasy Landing Spot: Green Bay Packers
For this one, we turn back the clock a little bit. The last time Allen Robinson was a free agent, the Packers were right there with the Chicago Bears as one of the suitors for his services. Eventually, as we know, they lost out to their division rivals.
Plenty believe the Packers are in desperate need of another top-end wide receiver to complement Davante Adams. While this narrative is a tad bit overblown, it would still be a ton of fun to watch those two wide receivers in the same offence. How do you defend that?
It would give Aaron Rodgers the best one-two punch he’s ever had and would also keep him very relevant as a top fantasy option for another few seasons. It would hurt Adams' fantasy numbers as you would expect Robinson to eat into some of that workload, plus whatever Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Allen Lazard accumulated.
We’ve always wondered what kind of numbers Robinson would put up if he had a great quarterback, and this would be one of those opportunities.
Logical Landing Spot: Baltimore Ravens
The Ravens desperately need an alpha wide receiver and Robinson fits that bill. However, I can also hear the collective groans as people read this. It would be a terrible spot for Robinson from a fantasy perspective. In fact, it may be one of the worst fantasy landing spots for any top wide receiver.
Having said that, it would do wonders for Lamar Jackson to get a top-end wideout on the roster to pair with some talented playmakers in J.K. Dobbins, Mark Andrews and Marquise “Hollywood” Brown, but will it change their offensive approach? I doubt it. The Ravens threw the ball a league-low 25.9 times per game in 2020. That certainly doesn’t bode well for Robinson to reach his full season averages of 88 catches for 1,170 yards and 8.25 touchdowns.
If Robinson ends up in another situation with an inaccurate quarterback, especially with his pick of the litter, we can then all blame him for his choices.
Will Fuller
Fun Fantasy Landing Spot: Los Angeles Chargers
Not only does this fall under the category of a great fantasy landing spot but it also could be the most fun landing spot.
Will Fuller set career highs in basically every statistical category in 2020 and only played 11 games due to a violation of the NFL’s policy on performance enhancing drugs. It was an unfortunate end to what was shaping up to be a special season. Fuller was on pace for 77 catches for 1,278 yards and 12 touchdowns on 109 targets. That would have been a WR4 finish in standard and WR6 finish in PPR scoring.
The Chargers would offer a great spot for a burner like Fuller to land because of quarterback Justin Herbert’s deep-ball ability. The rookie threw for 953 yards on passes over 20 yards, which was good enough for sixth in the league, while also throwing the second-most touchdowns on passes over 20 yards with 12.
It seems like the perfect marriage – Fuller’s 4.32 second 40-yard dash time to go along with a gunslinger like Herbert.
Logical Landing Spot: Green Bay Packers
The Packers were interested in Fuller ahead of the trade deadline but couldn’t come to an agreement with the Houston Texans. This would be the Packers’ counter to not being able to sign a bigger name like Robinson, but would be a really good fit. Fuller’s blazing speed and sure-handedness would be a suitable replacement for the drop-prone Valdes-Scantling. This might also be a little easier for Green Bay to fit under the salary cap considering Fuller’s previous injury history could mean a bit of a discount on the cap hit.
This would also be a pretty good landing spot for Fuller for your fantasy team and it wouldn’t be nearly as much of a hit to Adams’ numbers as someone like Robinson would be.
Hunter Henry
Fun Fantasy Landing Spot: Seattle Seahawks
Russell Wilson hasn’t had a good tight end to use as a security blanket and end-zone threat since Jimmy Graham left town after the 2017 season and it’s something that is needed in Seattle. The Seahawks could use a playmaker at the tight end position, especially one who converted four of six red-zone targets into touchdowns last season.
At six-foot-five, 250 pounds, Hunter Henry is a big-bodied, athletic tight end who can be a safety valve for Wilson, who has seemingly been running for his life since he came into the league behind a shoddy offensive line. Health is a bit of a concern for Henry as he has yet to play a full season in his career, but he has produced when on the field. His full-season averages would be 58 catches for 653 yards and seven touchdowns.
It would be a pretty lethal combo to have Henry along with DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett in the passing game to go along with Wilson’s accuracy. Now, if Pete Carroll would only let Wilson throw the ball.
Logical Landing Spot: Indianapolis Colts
Carson Wentz is now at the helm of the Colts and there is a need for an athletic tight end with Trey Burton and Mo Alie-Cox being free agents. Wentz comes from Philadelphia where he had a couple of good tight ends in Zach Ertz and Dallas Goedert. A reliable, athletic tight end is necessary for this offence to succeed with Wentz at quarterback as that has been what has worked in the past.
The Colts are also loaded with cap space, so they can afford to overpay for a player like Henry if they need to.
