Going through the Linebackers that have expiring contracts next month, there are 17 of them that deserve to be watched for their landing spot. There are young four-year players, and there are the old guys of 32+ years of age to watch. Some of these players will end up signing with new teams, and some will re-sign with their current teams. Let’s take a look at some Linebackers to watch over the next few months. I will update these free agent linebackers’ landing spots with notes as each of the 17 players signs.
1) Bobby Wagner – 33 Years Old
Wagner is a 12-year veteran getting ready to play his 13th year in the NFL. He has had 100+ tackles in every year of his career. Wagner is a warrior who has missed just nine games in his 12 years of playing. He played 10 years with the Seahawks before signing with the Los Angeles Rams and delivering a 140-tackle performance. Wherever he lands, he will play all of the snaps and deliver triple-digit tackles. He was the #2 scoring LB in 2023 and should continue to be a Top 10 scoring LB in 2024.
***Wagner signed a one-year contract to play with his old coach, Dan Quinn, and the Washington Commanders. Yes, the same Commanders that signed Luvu. They will now have one of the best tandems in the NFL. That is a combined 308 tackles from 2023 coming to the Commanders defense.
2) Azeez Al-Shaair – 26 Years Old
After playing his first four years with the Los Angeles Rams, Al-Shaair signed a one-year contract with the Tennessee Titans. All he did in 2023 was deliver almost as many tackles in one year as he did in the four years with the Rams combined. He was the ninth-ranked LB in scoring for 2023. This will be a fun player to watch where this free agent linebacker ends up signing for 2024.
***Al-Shaair signs a 3 Year, $34 million contract to reunite with DeMeco Ryans. He will immediately become a starter for the Texans with Blake Cashman leaving for the Minnesota Vikings and Henry To’o To’o not being consistent. Christian Harris finished the season with seven nice performances over the final eight games. Al-Shaair and Harris should be on the field a lot.
3) Lavonte David – 34 Years Old
Could it be that David ends up in a different jersey after 12 years with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers? He showed in 2023 that he still has it with 134 tackles. It was his best showing since 2015. David has only missed one game in the last two years. He was the 10th-best LB in average game scoring for 2023. He will find a home, but will the captain return to the Bucs? Of all the free agent linebackers on this list, I think David has the best chance of staying on his current team.
***David re-signs with the Buccaneers for one-year, $9 million. This is a best case scenario and he will be very relevant again with a Top 20 finish in all the linebackers scoring for IDP.
4) Patrick Queen – 24 Years Old
After a couple of shaky years, Queen delivered #17 total points scored in 2023. It was his finest year yet with 133 tackles, 9 tackles for a loss, 6 QB hits, 3.5 sacks, an interception, 1 forced fumble, and a fumble recovery. Queen played a remarkable 96% of the snaps in 2023. His timing to record his best year yet could not have been better. He should continue to grow now with his new home and is one of the more intriguing free agent linebackers on the market.
***Queen signed a three-year, $41 million contract with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Queen just had his best season to date and the Steelers needed a fix at off ball linebacker with the group in 2023 being represented by such players as soon to be 30-year-old Elandon Roberts (101 tackles), five game starter Mykal Walker (33 tackles), Blake Martinez for one game, and Kwon Alexander who tore his achilles. Queen will likely be a Top 10 LB in 2024.
5) Frankie Luvu – 27 Years Old
Luvu spent his first three years with the New York Jets and posted a combined 59 tackles in that time. He signed with the Carolina Panthers in 2021 and has blossomed into a 125-tackle machine that had him ranked as the #19 scoring LB in 2023. His last 2 years have Luvu at 236 tackles, 29 tackles for a loss, 20 QB hits, 12.5 sacks, 3 forced fumbles, and an interception for a TD. This free agent linebacker will fit in really nicely with his new team.
***Luvu signed a three-year, $36 million contract with the Washington Commanders. With Barton likely signing elsewhere, Luvu will be the LB to own for the Commanders. Barton averaged 10 tackles a game in the 12 games he played in 2023. Luvu will increase that average.
6) Cody Barton – 27 Years Old
Barton played his first four years with the Seattle Seahawks and had his breakout year in 2022 when Wagner played his single season with the Rams. That year, he played in all 17 games while starting 11 of them and posted 136 tackles. That performance earned him a one-year contract with the Washington Commanders. He missed four games last year, but still produced 121 tackles which was good enough to place him #29 in scoring average per game.
***Barton has signed a one-year contract with the Denver Broncos. He will take the spot that was vacated with the Jewell departure. Barton has 257 tackles over the past two years and is now teaming with Alex Singleton to make one of the better tackling duos in the NFL. Sign me up for the ride.
7) Jordyn Brooks – 26 Years Old
Brooks played nearly every snap of 2022 until he tore his ACL in Week 17. He then rehabbed it and returned to play in Week 1 of the 2023 season. Brooks only had six games of above 81% of the snaps last year. He hurt his ankle and his hamstring toward the end of last year also which cost him snaps. Brooks still managed to post 111 tackles and the #26 overall scoring rank last year. He will be fully healed and ready to produce 160 tackles again in 2024 and his new team will be very happy.
***Brooks signed a three-year, $30 million contract with the Miami Dolphins. With Baker gone, Brooks should be a Top 10 LB for the next three years. He has proved his value with the Seattle Seahawks when healthy and will bring all he learned from Wagner to Miami.
8) Josey Jewell – 29 Years Old
Jewell has played his entire six-year career thus far with the Denver Broncos. His snaps have decreased over the last couple of years to just 70% in 2023. Even with the fewer snaps, Jewell produced 108 tackles and was the #37 overall scorer in the LB position. Whoever signs him will get a very reliable tackling player. He has triple-digit tackles in each of his last three seasons where he played 13 or more games.
***Jewell signed a three-year, $22.75 million contract with the Carolina Panthers. He will be joining Shaq Thompson, who is returning from a fractured fibula. The middle of the Panthers defense should be solid and Jewell can be a Top 24 linebacker in 2024. Jewell should definitely have an increase in snaps from the 70% he played last year with the Denver Broncos.
9) Kenneth Murray – 25 Years Old
Murray has been a disappointment ever since he was the Los Angeles Chargers first-round pick back in 2020 out of Oklahoma. In 2023, Murray achieved career bests-in tackles per game, sacks, and passes defended. He played 15 games and produced 107 tackles last year. Maybe a new team can unlock his potential and have him keep growing into the player that was expected back in 2020.
***Murray signed a two-year, $18 million contract with the Tennessee Titans. Al-Shaair has moved on to the Texans. The Titans needed another off-ball linebacker and decided on Murray. The opportunity will be there, but will Murray seize the opportunity and start cementing his legacy as a riser, instead of a 1st Round bust.
10) Jordan Hicks – 32 Years Old
Hicks has had a stellar career with five straight triple-digit tackle years after leaving the Philadelphia Eagles. His first four years were with the Eagles, followed by three years with the Arizona Cardinals, and then the last two years with the Minnesota Vikings. Hicks produced 107 tackles on 72% of the snaps after being named captain once again. He still has a lot of game left in him and somebody will be very happy to have him on their team.
***Hicks signed a two-year, $8 million contract with the Cleveland Browns. The Browns have been looking for that off-ball linebacker forever and have finally signed a leader in Hicks. At 32 years of age, he showed last year that he still has some juice left in those legs.
The rest of my 17 LBs to keep tabs on the landing team will be players that had less than 100 tackles in 2023 but do have the potential to reach that mark in 2024.
11) Nicholas Morrow – 28 Years Old
Morrow played his first four years with the Las Vegas Raiders. He then signed to play one year with the Chicago Bears and had his career-best season of 116 tackles. That production got him a one-year contract with the Eagles in 2023 and he produced 93 Tackles on 73% of the snaps. He did miss two games in 2023 but was still the 33rd-best scoring LB in average scored per game played.
***Signed a one-year contract with the Buffalo Bills. This wasn’t the best landing spot if you were hoping he would continue his recent performances of 116 and 95 tackles. He is likely fourth on the depth chart behind Matt Milano, Terrel Benard, and Dorian Williams.
12) Shaquille Leonard – 28 Years Old
Leonard was once the top LB in the game, but then injuries stole that from him. Out of his six-year career, Leonard has played in every game just once. Nine games into the 2023 season, the Indianapolis Colts released Leonard. Four weeks later, the Eagles signed him to finish the season and help the Eagles go deep into the playoffs. Neither was successful as Leonard played less than half the snaps for just 23 tackles and the Eagles lost in the Wildcard round of the NFL Playoffs. Does Leonard and his broken body have anything left?
13) Zach Cunningham – 29 Years Old
Cunningham started his career with the Houston Texans as a second-round pick in 2017 out of Vanderbilt. His best two years came in the back-to-back 2019/2020 seasons where he posted a combined 306 tackles. Then in 2021, Cunningham was released by the Texans after Week 10 and claimed by the Tennessee Titans. He had an injury-riddled 1 1/2 years with the Titans and signed with the Eagles for the 2023 season. He missed more games with injuries but did post 85 tackles in the 64% of snaps he played on the season. If he can stay healthy, his new team will have a diamond in the rough.
14) Devin White – 26 Years Old
After being the #5 overall pick in the 2019 NFL draft, White has done nothing but come up short on all projections. He has missed just seven games in his five-year career to date. His best season was 2020 with 140 tackles and his worst was 2023 with just 83 tackles in 14 games. A change in scenery sounds like a good idea for White and his career, and is one of the more fascinating free agent linebackers out there.
***White gets his one-year, $7.5 million prove it contract in a nice place. The Philadelphia Eagles welcome White in to play next to Nakobe Dean. White has yet to live up to his draft capital, but this landing spot just might be the ticket to production. There were a combined 233 tackles produced by the 2023 Eagles’ off ball linebackers. The leading tackler was a safety. Opportunity abounds in Philadelphia.
15) Jerome Baker – 27 Years Old
Baker has played his entire six-year career with the Miami Dolphins. He has posted three different triple-digit tackle seasons. Last year was the first year he missed multiple games as he played just 13 games in 2023. He still finished with 78 tackles on 60% of the year’s snaps. Baker should land a starting job somewhere.
***Baker has found his new home for 2024. He has signed a one-year, $7 million contract with the Seattle Seahawks. The linebacker room was pretty bare with the departures of Wagner and Brooks, so Baker took this opportunity to join fellow free agent, Dodson, and form the new duo for the Seahawks defense. The tackles will be plenty available for him to take advantage of. He should definitely move up the rankings of the LB position in scoring.
16) Drue Tranquill – 28 Years Old
Tranquill had a 146-tackle season in 2022 with the Chargers, so we know what his ceiling could be. Last year, he played on a one-year contract with the Chiefs and posted 78 tackles on just 53% of the snaps. If he signs with a team that has the opportunity available, he could be a steal. Definitely watch his landing spot.
***The Kansas City Chiefs have re-signed Tranquill to a three-year, $19 Million contract. This is significant as it seems Willy Gay will not return and the starting job will be Tranquill’s job to lose. This moves him to an add for your IDP squads. Try and get him before the other owners in your league learn this information.
17) Tyrel Dodson – 25 Years Old
Dodson has shown flashes, but never really put it all together. He would post 8 tackles on 51% of the snaps and then follow that up with 3 tackles on 80% of the snaps. He has games of real relevancy, so a new home could unlock his talent and create more consistency.
***Dodson lands in a great spot with the Seattle Seahawks. Both of the starting Seahawk off ball linebackers are gone with Wagner going to the Commanders and Brooks going to the Dolphins. Their top backup in Devin Bush signed with the Cleveland Browns. Dodson has the opportunity for 100+ tackles immediately in his new home and turn his one-year contract into a multi-year deal.
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Thank you for checking out my 2024 top Free Agent Linebackers article! You can read all of my articles on my IDP Guys author page. Be sure to follow me on Twitter at @OldMan_FF and @IDPGuys (we have offense, too), and please consider becoming a subscriber!
