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Ideal Free Agent Landing Spots (Fantasy Football)

Ideal Free Agent Landing Spots (Fantasy Football)

While caught up in the middle of NFL Draft coverage, it’s easy to forget that free agency is upon us in less than a month’s time. We’ve been looking at each team closely, seeing what needs they should be addressing in the draft, as well as free agency.

While doing that, we started to dream about which team the top free agents would sign with. So, this is for us fantasy football dreamers. Here are the ideal landing spots for each of the top free agents, along with a backup team that wouldn’t be a bad fallback option.

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Quarterbacks

Kirk Cousins
There are a lot of teams that need a starting quarterback, but when thinking of the ideal situation, you’d want him with a semi-decent offensive line and a solid corps of receivers. Because of that, the Vikings are a team that should be atop the wish list of fantasy footballers. With Stefon Diggs, Adam Thielen, and Kyle Rudolph available to him, Cousins would be a no-brainer QB1. Alternate option: Broncos

Drew Brees
Let’s just be real about this one – he’s staying with the Saints, and it’s the best thing for both sides.

Case Keenum
In an ideal world, Keenum would follow his former offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur to the Giants. He knows the system very well, and it appears that Eli Manning (37) is on the downturn of his career. Not only do the Giants have one of the best group of pass-catchers in Odell Beckham Jr., Sterling Shepard, and Evan Engram, but by signing Keenum, it would allow them to trade back out of the No. 2 slot and select left tackle Mike McGlinchey with their first-round pick (can’t move back too far), while getting more value elsewhere (another pick). Alternate option: Cardinals

Running Backs

Le’Veon Bell
We’re often left dreaming of what a player would do if in the correct offense, but with Bell, we know what that looks like. It’s also why his ideal landing spot is re-signing with the Steelers. As for a backup plan, the Ravens should be a team interested in signing him. Their offensive line played extremely well last year, and Flacco is known for utilizing his running backs in the passing game. It’d also be a slap in the face to the Steelers, should he sign with them.

Carlos Hyde
While Hyde’s stats were solid under Kyle Shanahan’s running back-friendly offense, he really isn’t suited to be the primary pass-catcher out of the backfield. In a move that would make fantasy players everywhere smile, the Patriots would be the ideal landing spot. They don’t use their 1-2 down back in the passing game very often, making Hyde a realistic target for them, especially when you consider this may be his final contract. Alternate option: Seahawks

Dion Lewis
We won’t go the boring route and say the Patriots, even though that is the best possible landing spot for him. Instead, we’ll say the Colts. We still don’t have too much clarity on Andrew Luck, and the Colts have too many spots to fill in the draft to take a running back early. Pairing Lewis with Marlon Mack would likely be a better duo than most think. Alternate option: Titans

Jerick McKinnon
McKinnon himself said that he’d like to be more of the focal point in an offense, and because of that, he may have to go to a lesser team who is without a starting running back. The Jets are likely to release Matt Forte, so that would give him the big role he desires. Another potential landing spot if he’s willing to share a workload is with Derrick Henry and the Titans, as those two would compliment each other perfectly.

Wide Receivers

Allen Robinson
It’s rumored that Robinson may receive the franchise tag from the Jaguars, but before that happens, let’s dream. One place we’d love to see him go is to the Bears, who brought in offensive-minded head coach Matt Nagy to pair with second-year quarterback Mitch Trubisky, and he’d clearly be the No. 1 target in the offense. Another landing spot could be the Chiefs, who just cleared up a bunch of cap space with the trade of Alex Smith, and fellow second-year quarterback Patrick Mahomes could use a true No. 1 wide receiver he can throw it up to when in trouble. I’m sorry, Tyreek Hill fans, he’s not Antonio Brown.

Sammy Watkins
I think it’s a guarantee that the Cardinals take a quarterback in the first round of the draft this year, right? If that’s the case, he’s going to need some weapons to throw to. Sure, Larry Fitzgerald is coming back for another year, but Jaron Brown and John Brown are free agents. Lock up Watkins for five years, and you’ve crossed off one of the biggest needs on your team. As said with Robinson above, the Bears would be an ideal landing spot for Watkins if he wants targets (he was reportedly frustrated with the lack of them in the Rams offense).

Marqise Lee
After staying healthy for a majority of the year, Lee is hitting free agency. While he showed he was capable of handling 8-10 targets per game, no team is going to want to rely on him as their No. 1 receiver. The Cowboys desperately need someone to play opposite of Dez Bryant, and Lee can fill that role nicely. He wouldn’t become obsolete from a fantasy perspective, either, considering Dak Prescott is more than competent. Alternate option: Redskins

Tight Ends

Jimmy Graham
Is this one obvious or what? The Saints have had a massive hole at tight end since losing Graham, so it’s only natural to tie the dots back to them. While this may not happen, it’s ideal from a fantasy perspective. Another team that could use him is the Jaguars, especially if they lose a few wide receivers in free agency. Not only would Graham fill their tight end void, but he’d also add contributions as a wide receiver.

Tyler Eifert
Another player rumored to get the franchise tag is Eifert, though nothing is set in stone. Joe Flacco has always targeted his tight ends on a regular basis, but they’ve always had issues scoring touchdowns. Fortunately, that’s where Eifert excels. It’d be a great match for both sides. As an alternate option, Eifert could potentially go to the Seahawks and replace Jimmy Graham. Both Luke Willson and Graham are free agents, so the Seahawks do have a depth issue, regardless.

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Mike Tagliere is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Mike, check out his archive and follow him @MikeTagliereNFL.

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