The idea for this project came up this offseason when I was working on my article on how Ndamukong Suh was the best free agent to hit the open market since Reggie White. I labeled him a "32-team free agent" -- a player any team in the league would want to have on its roster -- because of his talent, durability, youth and versatility.
That led to the inevitable question: How many 32-team free agents are there in the NFL right now?
To make my list, players had to meet the following criteria:
Every team in the league would likely consider signing them at the rate they would command on the open market. That's why there are no quarterbacks on this list. Sure, the Packers would love to sign Andrew Luck to back up Aaron Rodgers. But they're not going to pay two players franchise-QB money.
They can't have any major durability or character red flags that would cause one or more teams to rule them out. That's why I reluctantly left Rob Gronkowski off this list. He plays as hard off the field as he does on it, and after watching him hobble around the field in the Super Bowl as much as he did, I have a hard time thinking every team in the league would be lining up to sign him to the kind of money he'd command on the open market.
They have to be able to play in any team's scheme. Aaron Donald is a rising star in the Rams' defense (and he might deserve to be on this list next year), but I don't know that teams with 3-4 defenses would be as interested in signing him, given that his best fit is as a disruptive 3-technique defensive tackle in a 4-3 alignment.
This made for a tough task, and I'm still not sure I made the right call in leaving off guys such as Ryan Kerrigan and T.Y. Hilton, but I'm confident these 24 players belong here. (Note: I didn't include any rookies, as we haven't yet seen them on an NFL field.)
Here are my 32-team NFL free agents, listed by division:
NFC East
Tyron Smith, OT, Dallas Cowboys: He's a dominant tackle with an elite combination of power and athleticism who can play on either the left or right side.