NFL Franchise 100

2022 NFL Franchise 100: No. 65-61

Chris McGlynn Football, NFL , , , , , , ,

The NFL season is right around the corner and while all 32 franchises are trying to make their final roster decisions, I wanted to take a different approach to roster building. Inspired in part by the annual NFL Top 100 players list, voted on by the players in the league, I wanted to know who the top 100 players would be to start a team with in 2022.

There are a variety of factors that went into creating this list. Let me lay out the criteria.

First, age played a major role in determining which players made this list. Only six players over the age of 30 made the list. Positional value was the other big driving force behind these rankings. There is no doubt that Jonathan Taylor is one of the best young players in the game right now, but you wouldn’t pick him first overall to start an NFL franchise from scratch. The positional value of running backs is simply not high enough to warrant that. Neither is the longevity of the position on average. You most likely want to find a player who is going to last a long time to build your franchise around. There are a few notable exceptions to that rule. With that in mind, I prioritized quarterbacks, offensive tackles, cornerbacks, edge rushers and wide receivers. There are plenty of instances where a more talented player slid down the board a little further simply because they played a less valuable position.

There were a few other factors I considered, including years remaining on contract, contract structure and salary commitments. There is a reason why rookie contracts are so valuable, especially when you hit on a star. That player is now on a team friendly deal with several years of team control built in.

If you missed the previous entry, you can find it here.

With all of that in mind, let’s continue our countdown to No. 1. Check back Thursday for players 60 to 56.

65. Jonathan Taylor, RB, Indianapolis Colts
Age: 23
Years remaining on contract: 2
2022 cap hit: $2.14 million
At long last, a running back appears! I referenced Taylor in the open. He is without a doubt the top running back in the league right now and at age 23, it seems like he has a lot left in the tank. However, running back is the NFL position with the shortest average career length. The league average is 3.3 years. Running backs stand at 2.57, per Statista’s Christina Gough. For as great as Taylor has looked, it is hard to project longevity for him. Two years ago, Saquon Barkley would have felt like a lock for this list, possibly pushing the top 50. Now, it is unclear if he will even be on the Giants by the end of the season. Christian McCaffrey is in a similar boat. So, despite my better judgment, I will take Taylor in hopes that I can build a contender around him before I inevitably have to pay him or injuries sidetrack his career. There is no question he can be the focal point of an offense: he is that talented. The question is how long he will be capable of filling that role.

64. Bradley Chubb, EDGE, Denver Broncos
Age: 26
Years remaining on contract: 1
2022 cap hit: $13.93 million
This is a tough decision to make. When healthy, Chubb is one of the better pass rushers in the NFL. Unfortunately, he has really struggled to stay healthy over his first four seasons. He missed a combined 22 games during the 2019 and 2021 seasons. Now, the buzz out of Broncos camp this year has been overwhelmingly positive, but I will need to see it before I am willing to move Chubb higher up this list. His talent deserves it, but his injury history and contract history, he is in the final season of his rookie contract with no extension in place, gives me some pause. That being said, if he winds up reclaiming his 2020 form, where he reached the Pro Bowl, he would be a steal at this spot.

63. Fred Warner, LB, San Francisco 49ers
Age: 25
Years remaining on contract: 5
2022 cap hit: $8.13 million
This is a perfect example of me loving the player, but not the contract situation. Warner signed a five-year, $95.2 million extension to stay with 49ers during the 2021 offseason, resetting the off-ball linebacker market. He carries a cap hit north of $20 million over the final three years of his contract. While I don’t love that for a position that is definitely not at a premium in the league, I do love Warner’s consistency and production. He has missed just one game in his four seasons with the 49ers so far. His 2020 season is one of the best in recent memory, earning him 1st-team All-Pro and Pro Bowl honors. He took a bit of a step back in 2021, but still plays at a high enough level to justify this kind of love.

62. Kyle Pitts, TE, Atlanta Falcons
Age: 22
Years remaining on contract: 4
2022 cap hit: $7.48
Is he a tight end or is he a receiver? The world may never know. Pitts essentially acts as a big receiver. He can line up all over the formation and causes matchup nightmares for opposing defenses. He became just the second rookie tight end to eclipse 1,000 receiving yards in 2021 and seems set for an even larger role moving forward. While I love Pitts’ big-play ability and versatility in his receiver role, he comes with some serious drawbacks. For one, he cannot block. Most of the top tight ends of the past decade have been both elite receivers and dominant blockers. Think Rob Gronkowski, George Kittle and, to a lesser extent in the blocking department, Travis Kelce. Pitts also does not bring much to the table in the red zone. He scored just one touchdown as a rookie and oftentimes looked uncomfortable trying to find space in the red zone, where the field shrinks. Those are both areas of his game that can be developed, but he clearly has limitations right now. While I love that he is under contract for the next four seasons, his rookie deal is hardly a bargain given his draft slot. He already carries a top-10 cap hit for the position in his second season. It’s still solid value, as he is worth more on the open market than what he currently makes, but his deal is far from a bargain.

61. Jaycee Horn, CB, Carolina Panthers
Age: 22
Years remaining on contract: 4
2022 cap hit: $4.80 million
Meet one of my favorite young corners in the NFL. Horn’s rookie season got cut short by injury, but he was off to a great start and I believe in his potential as a lockdown corner. He has long arms and a great vertical. The injury is certainly a concern, but it is nothing that I think will impact his career long term. For me, finding athletic, tall corners is always a priority. Horn fits that mold to a tee. Plus, he has four more years on a rookie contract. If his brief rookie campaign is any indication, he will be one of the most underpaid corners in the NFL for the remainder of that deal.

Follow the Aftermath via email to get every article delivered right to your inbox. Enter your email in the text box to subscribe. You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter. You can also check out our weekly podcast Draft Season Never Ends with new episodes every Friday, available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube.

2022 NFL Franchise 100: No. 70-66

Chris McGlynn Football, NFL , , , , , , ,

The NFL season is right around the corner and while all 32 franchises are trying to make their final roster decisions, I wanted to take a different approach to roster building. Inspired in part by the annual NFL Top 100 players list, voted on by the players in the league, I wanted to know who the top 100 players would be to start a team with in 2022.

There are a variety of factors that went into creating this list. Let me lay out the criteria.

First, age played a major role in determining which players made this list. Only six players over the age of 30 made the list. Positional value was the other big driving force behind these rankings. There is no doubt that Jonathan Taylor is one of the best young players in the game right now, but you wouldn’t pick him first overall to start an NFL franchise from scratch. The positional value of running backs is simply not high enough to warrant that. Neither is the longevity of the position on average. You most likely want to find a player who is going to last a long time to build your franchise around. There are a few notable exceptions to that rule. With that in mind, I prioritized quarterbacks, offensive tackles, cornerbacks, edge rushers and wide receivers. There are plenty of instances where a more talented player slid down the board a little further simply because they played a less valuable position.

There were a few other factors I considered, including years remaining on contract, contract structure and salary commitments. There is a reason why rookie contracts are so valuable, especially when you hit on a star. That player is now on a team friendly deal with several years of team control built in.

If you missed the previous entry, you can find it here.

With all of that in mind, let’s continue our countdown to No. 1. Check back Wednesday for players 65 to 61.

70. Roquan Smith, LB, Chicago Bears
Age: 25
Years remaining on contract: 1
2022 cap hit: $9.74 million
Smith has been in the news quite a bit this offseason, holding in, demanding a trade and bad-mouthing the Bears front office to the media. His contract situation definitely pushed him down this list a little bit for me. Taking a player who has a very uncertain future and is looking to reset the market at a position that is not quite as valuable is dicey. I have a tough time swallowing the idea of paying an off-ball linebacker $20 million plus per season. That being said, Smith is on here because he is enormously talented and only 25 years old. He is coming off back-to-back All-Pro seasons and has proven to be a well-rounded playmaker. I love the player, I just don’t love the situation I would find myself in taking him to build a team around.

69. Derek Stingley Jr., CB, Houston Texans
Age: 21
Years remaining on contract: 5
2022 cap hit: $6.31 million
Talk about a risk-reward scenario. Stingley enters the NFL having played just 10 games over his final two collegiate seasons. Despite injuries and a lack of playing time, he was still selected third overall this year. What Houston is banking on and what talent evaluators pointed to during the pre draft process was Stingley’s top-end potential when fully healthy. As a freshman back in 2019, he was arguably the best corner in the country. He flashed that extreme upside again during the pre draft process where it seemed as though he was finally back at full health. If Stingley is able to regain that form, he should be one of the front runners for Defensive Rookie of the Year. Getting an elite lockdown corner on a rookie deal is something I am willing to gamble on. Maybe he turns out to be Jeff Okudah, but he might also end up being Jalen Ramsey.

68. Aaron Donald, DT, Los Angeles Rams
Age: 31
Years remaining on contract: 3
2022 cap hit: $24 million
This was one of the toughest players to rank. On one hand, you have the greatest interior pass rusher in league history, who leads the league in sacks since he entered and has a resume longer than the runtime of The Batman. On the other hand, Donald is 31 years old, mulled retirement this offseason and has a monstrous contract. He will have the fifth-largest cap hit in the league for the 2023 season. Despite the negatives, it is hard to pass on the game-changing eight-time Pro Bowler, seven-time All-Pro, three-time Defensive Player of the Year. I told you his resume was long. If I was doing this list a few years ago, Donald would be a lock for the top 25. Now, it is a little harder to justify taking him with his career inevitably beginning to wind down, but there is simply no way I could leave him off the list.

67. Elgton Jenkins, OL, Green Bay Packers
Age: 26
Years remaining on contract: 1
2022 cap hit: $4.72 million
Versatility is incredibly valuable in the NFL, especially along the offensive line. Teams always look for players that can line up at multiple positions to give them depth. No offensive lineman offers more versatility than Jenkins. He has started at tackle, guard and center for the Packers since joining the team in 2019 and earned a Pro Bowl nod in 2020 at left guard. Having a player who could be a solid tackle or a dominant guard is a true luxury. Now, there are a few knocks on Jenkins. He is coming off a torn ACL that cost him the second half of the 2021 season. He is also in the final year of his rookie contract. It is hard to pin down exactly where he will fall in terms of pay structure given his ability to line up at multiple positions, but I would make it a priority to keep him around.

66. Odafe Oweh, EDGE, Baltimore Ravens
Age: 23
Years remaining on contract: 4
2022 cap hit: $2.58 million
Oweh is just getting started. A raw pass rusher with great physical traits coming out of Penn State, he flashed that incredible ability during his rookie season in Baltimore. It yielded five sacks, three forced fumbles and 27 pressures in what mostly amounted to a situational role. There is certainly a lot of projection involved here, but I think Oweh has the makings of a special edge rusher in the NFL. He will get a chance to step into a full-time starting role in 2022 and I expect him to make the most of it. Taking a chance on a high-upside 23-year-old with four years left on his rookie contract seems like a very reasonable risk to take here.

Follow the Aftermath via email to get every article delivered right to your inbox. Enter your email in the text box to subscribe. You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter. You can also check out our weekly podcast Draft Season Never Ends with new episodes every Friday, available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube.

2022 NFL Franchise 100: No. 75-71

Chris McGlynn Football, NFL , , , , , , ,

The NFL season is right around the corner and while all 32 franchises are trying to make their final roster decisions, I wanted to take a different approach to roster building. Inspired in part by the annual NFL Top 100 players list, voted on by the players in the league, I wanted to know who the top 100 players would be to start a team with in 2022.

There are a variety of factors that went into creating this list. Let me lay out the criteria.

First, age played a major role in determining which players made this list. Only six players over the age of 30 made the list. Positional value was the other big driving force behind these rankings. There is no doubt that Jonathan Taylor is one of the best young players in the game right now, but you wouldn’t pick him first overall to start an NFL franchise from scratch. The positional value of running backs is simply not high enough to warrant that. Neither is the longevity of the position on average. You most likely want to find a player who is going to last a long time to build your franchise around. There are a few notable exceptions to that rule. With that in mind, I prioritized quarterbacks, offensive tackles, cornerbacks, edge rushers and wide receivers. There are plenty of instances where a more talented player slid down the board a little further simply because they played a less valuable position.

There were a few other factors I considered, including years remaining on contract, contract structure and salary commitments. There is a reason why rookie contracts are so valuable, especially when you hit on a star. That player is now on a team friendly deal with several years of team control built in.

If you missed the previous entry, you can find it here.

With all of that in mind, let’s continue our countdown to No. 1. Check back Tuesday for players 70 to 66.

75. Danielle Hunter, EDGE, Minnesota Vikings
Age: 27
Years remaining on contract: 2
2022 cap hit: $12.34
It might be easy to forget just how good Hunter has been in his career up to this point. After four straight seasons without missing a game, Hunter missed the entire 2020 due to a neck injury. A torn pec in 2021 limited him to just seven games. It is hard to justify taking a player who only appeared in seven games over the past two seasons, but in those seven games he had six sacks. There is definitely a risk, but grabbing a player at this spot who, when healthy, regularly records double-digit sack seasons is great value. Not to mention he still has two very affordable years left on his contract for a pass rusher as proven as himself.

74. Brian Burns, EDGE, Carolina Panthers
Age: 24
Years remaining on contract: 2
2022 cap hit: $4.31 million
Coming off his first Pro Bowl season, Burns is an up-and-coming pass rusher. He has had at least 7.5 sacks in each of his first three NFL seasons and has an impressive six forced fumbles in that same span. That Pro Bowl selection was well-earned, too, posting nine sacks and 13 tackles for loss. Now it is time for Burns to take that next step. While he has had at least 7.5 sacks each season, he has yet to top nine quarterback takedowns in a single season. Thankfully, he is still on a very affordable contract for the next two seasons and has yet to miss a game in his career to this point. At just 24, there is a ton of upside and a long career still ahead for Burns.

73. DeForest Buckner, DT, Indianapolis Colts
Age: 28
Years remaining on contract: 3
2022 cap hit: $16 million
Another interior defensive lineman makes the cut. Buckner gets the edge over many of his counterparts thanks to top-tier, consistent pass-rushing production and a fairly team-friendly deal for an elite defensive tackle. Buckner’s 36 sacks since 2018 rank third-most among defensive tackles, trailing only Aaron Donald and Chris Jones. However, his cap hit over the next three seasons is more than ten million less than both of those guys. He is a two-time All-Pro and a two-time Pro Bowler. That type of value is incredible for someone as productive and disruptive as him.

72. A.J. Brown, WR, Philadelphia Eagles
Age: 25
Years remaining on contract: 5
2022 cap hit: $5.63 million
Jalen Hurts’ newest target is the first veteran receiver to show up on this list. He is a big-bodied receiver with a knack for finding the end zone. For as talented as Brown has shown he is so far, he still has yet to really enter elite production numbers. His 24 touchdowns and 2,995 receiving yards over his first three seasons rank tied for 10th and 17th in the league respectively. Almost every single one of the players ahead of him also appears on this list. The league is full of young, talented receivers. Brown is a really good one, but his massive contract commitment down the line paired with good, but not great production, makes it hard for me to justify putting him any higher on this list.

71. Kolton Miller, OT, Las Vegas Raiders
Age: 27
Years remaining on contract: 4
2022 cap hit: $13.47 million
He does not get a whole lot of love nationally, but Miller has quietly developed into one of the better tackles in the league. His size makes him a player I would typically covet when scouting college offensive linemen. Miller measures in at 6’8″, 325 pounds with 34-inch arms and massive nearly 11-inch hands. On top of that, he has missed just two games in his first four seasons in the league. PFF gave him a grade of an 84 this year and he ranked sixth in pass-block win-rate among offensive tackles. What’s more, Miller has a relatively affordable deal for a starting left tackle. His highest cap hit over the remainder of his contract is at $17.6 million in 2024. It might not be the sexiest move, but Miller gets the job done at a solid price.

Follow the Aftermath via email to get every article delivered right to your inbox. Enter your email in the text box to subscribe. You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter. You can also check out our weekly podcast Draft Season Never Ends with new episodes every Friday, available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube.

2022 NFL Franchise 100: No. 80-76

Chris McGlynn Football, NFL , , , , , , ,

The NFL season is right around the corner and while all 32 franchises are trying to make their final roster decisions, I wanted to take a different approach to roster building. Inspired in part by the annual NFL Top 100 players list, voted on by the players in the league, I wanted to know who the top 100 players would be to start a team with in 2022.

There are a variety of factors that went into creating this list. Let me lay out the criteria.

First, age played a major role in determining which players made this list. Only six players over the age of 30 made the list. Positional value was the other big driving force behind these rankings. There is no doubt that Jonathan Taylor is one of the best young players in the game right now, but you wouldn’t pick him first overall to start an NFL franchise from scratch. The positional value of running backs is simply not high enough to warrant that. Neither is the longevity of the position on average. You most likely want to find a player who is going to last a long time to build your franchise around. There are a few notable exceptions to that rule. With that in mind, I prioritized quarterbacks, offensive tackles, cornerbacks, edge rushers and wide receivers. There are plenty of instances where a more talented player slid down the board a little further simply because they played a less valuable position.

There were a few other factors I considered, including years remaining on contract, contract structure and salary commitments. There is a reason why rookie contracts are so valuable, especially when you hit on a star. That player is now on a team friendly deal with several years of team control built in.

If you missed the previous entry, you can find it here.

With all of that in mind, let’s continue our countdown to No. 1. Check back Monday for players 75 to 71.

80. Jonathan Allen, DT, Washington Commanders
Age: 27
Years remaining on contract: 4
2022 cap hit: $9.50 million
Rushing the passer is one of the most valuable things any defense can do, especially on the interior. That is where Allen makes his living. After a down season in 2020, he bounced back in a big way with nine sacks, earning him his first Pro Bowl nod. It was the third time in four seasons that Allen had posted at least six sacks. His 34 quarterback pressures were tied with Chris Jones for the second most in the league among interior defensive linemen, trailing only Aaron Donald. My biggest knock against Allen is his contract. He counts for a modest $9.5 million against the cap in 2022, but that number is at least $21.5 million for the remainder of his contract. He is well worth the investment, but that’s far from a bargain.

79. Harold Landry, EDGE, Tennessee Titans
Age: 26
Years remaining on contract: 5
2022 cap hit: $5.05 million
Landry continues to prove himself at the NFL level. He posted a career-high 12 sacks in addition to ranking tied for seventh in quarterback pressures with 43. That culminated in him being selected to his first Pro Bowl. His one area of weakness is in pass coverage, which does matter even if he is one of the game’s better pass rushers. If he can show signs of improvement there while maintaining this level of pass-rushing success, I think he will likely be in the top 50 this time next year. His contract situation could make that a little trickier, as his five-year, $87.5 million extension really starts to take effect with an $18.8 million cap hit, but he has proven himself to be worth the money so far.

78. Jeffery Simmons, DT, Tennessee Titans
Age: 25
Years remaining on contract: 2
2022 cap hit: $4.03 million
We have a mini run on Titans defenders here. Simmons turned in a stellar 2022 season that resulted in his first Pro Bowl nod and a place on the AP All-Pro second team. It was highlighted by 8.5 sacks and 12 tackles for loss. What’s more, Simmons has shown a clear improvement in disrupting passing lanes, with 11 deflections over the past two seasons. As if that package of production and athleticism wasn’t enough, Simmons still has two years remaining on his rookie deal, including his fifth-year option, which makes him very affordable. At just 25, he is one of the best young linemen in the league and shows no signs of slowing down.

77. Chris Jones, DT, Kansas City Chiefs
Age: 28
Years remaining on contract: 2
2022 cap hit: $29.4 million
If it wasn’t for Aaron Donald, we would all revere Jones. Since 2017, he has the same number of sacks as Joey Bosa and Yannick Ngakoue, narrowly beating out guys like Khalil Mack and Shaq Barrett. He is truly one of the best interior pass rushers in recent memory and he demonstrated it again in 2022. He posted nine sacks, 34 quarterback pressures and five passes batted down at the line, leading to his third Pro Bowl and All-Pro selections. He is still in his prime at 28 and would likely be higher on my list if it were not for that monstrous cap hit. It’s the sixth largest cap hit in the entire league. 2023 is a little better, but then you are facing a tough decision to pay an interior defensive linemen premium money entering his age 30 season. Jones is the type of guy you want to pay, but it will limit your ability to afford talent elsewhere.

76. Tua Tagovailoa, QB, Miami Dolphins
Age: 24
Years remaining on contract: 2
2022 cap hit: $8.27
This one probably is going to raise a few eyebrows. Tagovailoa has had a rocky start to his NFL career. He has yet to live up to his fifth overall draft spot back in 2019. Over 23 games, he has 27 touchdowns and 15 interceptions to go with a 66.2 percent completion rate. In reality, those numbers really aren’t that bad. However, consistency and durability have both been difficult to come by for the former Alabama quarterback. There is no use trying to fit a square peg into a round hole though. He is never going to be Patrick Mahomes or Josh Allen, but he still has the potential to be someone like Drew Brees. In the right offense, I believe Tua can thrive. He is accurate and goes through his progressions well. There are limitations, but I think it is very possible to win with him. On top of that, he is still on his rookie contract, which makes it much easier to build around him from a cap standpoint.

Follow the Aftermath via email to get every article delivered right to your inbox. Enter your email in the text box to subscribe. You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter. You can also check out our weekly podcast Draft Season Never Ends with new episodes every Friday, available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube.

2022 NFL Franchise 100: No. 85-81

Chris McGlynn Football, NFL , , , , , , ,

The NFL season is right around the corner and while all 32 franchises are trying to make their final roster decisions, I wanted to take a different approach to roster building. Inspired in part by the annual NFL Top 100 players list, voted on by the players in the league, I wanted to know who the top 100 players would be to start a team with in 2022.

There are a variety of factors that went into creating this list. Let me lay out the criteria.

First, age played a major role in determining which players made this list. Only six players over the age of 30 made the list. Positional value was the other big driving force behind these rankings. There is no doubt that Jonathan Taylor is one of the best young players in the game right now, but you wouldn’t pick him first overall to start an NFL franchise from scratch. The positional value of running backs is simply not high enough to warrant that. Neither is the longevity of the position on average. You most likely want to find a player who is going to last a long time to build your franchise around. There are a few notable exceptions to that rule. With that in mind, I prioritized quarterbacks, offensive tackles, cornerbacks, edge rushers and wide receivers. There are plenty of instances where a more talented player slid down the board a little further simply because they played a less valuable position.

There were a few other factors I considered, including years remaining on contract, contract structure and salary commitments. There is a reason why rookie contracts are so valuable, especially when you hit on a star. That player is now on a team friendly deal with several years of team control built in.

If you missed the previous entry, you can find it here.

With all of that in mind, let’s continue our countdown to No. 1. Check back Friday for players 80 to 76.

85. Marshon Lattimore, CB, New Orleans Saints
Age: 26
Years remaining on contract: 5
2022 cap hit: $9.00 million
As you will see throughout this list, I am a fan of long, rangy corners. Lattimore certainly fits the bill at 6’0″ tall with great ball skills. He has been one of the most consistent producers at the position since he entered the league in 2018. He earned Rookie of the Year honors that season and has earned four Pro Bowl selections in his five years with the Saints. At just 26, he has plenty of prime years left ahead of him. His contract situation is about to get a little less appealing though. His $9 million cap hit for 2022 is a bargain for a player of his caliber, but his cap number is north of $22 million for the remainder of the deal. There is unquestionably room to maneuver within pretty much any contract and it is nice to have him locked up long term, but he has a ton of money left on this deal.

84. George Kittle, TE, San Francisco 49ers
Age: 28
Years remaining on contract: 4
2022 cap hit: $7.68 million
Let’s get this out of the way early here: I love George Kittle. I liked him as a late-round flier coming out of Iowa back in 2017, but I can’t pretend that I knew just how good he would go on to become. He has dominated the NFL not just as a receiver, but also as a blocker. He is the most complete tight end in the league and a true asset in both the run and pass game. It has resulted in three Pro Bowl selections and two All-Pro honors. However, he has been a bit banged up over the past two seasons, missing 11 games since the start of 2020. The other drawback with Kittle’s situation is he is far and away the highest paid tight end in NFL history. His cap hit will be nearly $3 million higher than any other tight end in 2023. That being said, even as he nears his 29th birthday, I think Kittle would be well worth the investment.

83. Davis Mills, QB, Houston Texans
Age: 23
Years remaining on contract: 3
2022 cap hit: $1.19 million
Alright, hear me out before you completely write me off here. I get that Mills has not really done much to deserve this kind of love, but I am willing to buy the upside. He completed 66.8 percent of his passes while tossing more touchdown passes (16) than interceptions (10) in 11 starts. That’s more than can be said for Trevor Lawrence, Zach Wilson or Trey Lance. Oh, and he did all of this playing on the Texans, who might be the most talent-bereft team in the league. Brandin Cooks was a great safety blanket for the rookie quarterback, but he did not have much else to fall back on. If he could do that playing in Houston, imagine what he could do if he was surrounded with some actual talent and given another year to develop. On top of that, Mills’ contract is one of the cheapest at the position in the league. His cap hit for 2022 ranks 62nd in the league. It is far from a guarantee that he will pan out, but I would have tons of cap space to build around a high-upside 23-year-old. I will take my chances in that situation.

82. Yannick Ngakoue, EDGE, Indianapolis Colts
Age: 27
Years remaining on contract: 1
2022 cap hit: $13 million
Talk about one of the most unique NFL journey’s in recent memory. I would hate being Ngakoue’s real estate agent, as he is now on his fifth team in four seasons. Now landing in Indianapolis, Ngakoue has been one of the league’s most consistent pass rushers despite all of the movement. He has produced at least eight sacks every season he has been in the league. In fact, since he entered the league in 2016, he is tied with Von Miller for the eighth-most sacks. He might not be a truly elite edge rusher, but I will take consistent production over the guy who flashes a 15-sack season only to never eclipse six sacks in a season the rest of his career. Ngakoue has a ton of value, however, he is also in the final year of his deal. I don’t love the idea of starting a franchise around a player on an expiring contract, but, hopefully, we could work out a long-term extension.

81. Rashan Gary, EDGE, Green Bay Packers
Age: 24
Years remaining on contract: 2
2022 cap hit: $5.05 million
In Year 3, Gary showed everyone why the Packers believed he was worth a first-round pick back in 2019. He posted a career-high 9.5 sacks and racked up an impressive 47 quarterback pressures. The latter was tied with Micah Parsons for the fourth most in the league. He earned a stellar 89.3 from Pro Football Focus as well. This came on the heels of a 2020 season where Gary showed signs of making the jump, putting up five sacks in limited playing time. He took the next step and now seems to have developed into an every down player. With two years remaining on his rookie contract, this is great value for a player that seems to be coming into his own.

Follow the Aftermath via email to get every article delivered right to your inbox. Enter your email in the text box to subscribe. You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter. You can also check out our weekly podcast Draft Season Never Ends with new episodes every Friday, available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube.