Free Again: 5 NFL Free Agents Who Will Need A New Home Once The Lockout Ends
That’s when the NFL lockout is supposed to end. After hearing late last week that it could be over Friday, the NFL players and owners took a recess over the weekend and are planning to return to the bargaining table later this week. The lockout should hopefully be lifted by then, but there are still a few things that the two sides need to iron out before that happens.
In the meantime, we’re already looking forward to getting back to talking football! Specifically, we’re excited to see where a few of the league’s superstar players land once the lockout is over. And we’re sure they’re excited to see which team they’ll be suiting up for next season, too. So to get you thinking about the gridiron again, we put together a list of the five NFL free agents we’re most excited to talk about once the lockout ends and free agency begins. Hey, guys: We are definitely ready for some football!
His Former Team: Washington Redskins
Where He Could End Up: At this point, it’s still hard to say. Conventional wisdom says the Minnesota Vikings could use McNabb, provided he’s willing to take a back seat to rookie QB/future of the franchise Christian Ponder at some point. But we think you’re going to see McNabb land somewhere that you might not expect—Oakland? Seattle? Tennessee?—when it’s all said and done.
His Former Team: Oakland Raiders
Where He Could End Up: Ideally, we’d like to see Asomugha (yes, it’s spelled properly—we checked!) end up back in the black-and-silver. He was paid handsomely last time he signed a deal and that shouldn’t go unrewarded. But realistically, we see him landing in either Philly or Baltimore. He’s a player who deserves to play with a contender before his career comes to an end and, unfortunately, that’s not happening as long as he’s still settled in Oak-Town.
His Former Team: Tennessee Titans
Where He Could End Up: Really, he should still be with the Titans. They’re going to have a rookie quarterback in Jake Locker steering the ship this year and they could use a veteran presence—any veteran presence—in their corner this year. However, they’re not going to go in that direction, so we think Young ends up either in Miami, where he’ll compete for the starting gig, or in someplace like Houston, where he’ll assume the backup role and take a few snaps here and then. But like McNabb, we wouldn’t discount the idea of seeing him headed somewhere that’s completely off the radar right now.
His Former Team: Cincinnati Bengals
Where He Could End Up: Right back in Cincinnati. Thanks to his recent arrest after he allegedly assaulted an old college roommate, Benson’s options may be severely limited this offseason. That should bode particularly well for the Bengals, who are still not sure whether or not they’ll have Carson Palmer back at quarterback next season, which makes signing their best running back all the more important in the coming weeks.
His Former Team: New York Jets
Where He Could End Up: If you’re a Jets fans, you’re definitely hoping the Jets! They need either him or fellow Jets wide receiver/free agent Braylon Edwards to resign with the team this offseason or they’ll risk entering the season without any real weapons for their third-year quarterback Mark Sanchez. We have a hunch that they’ll keep the deep-threat abilities of Edwards and allow Holmes to look elsewhere—we’ve got him going to the Redskins if that happens—but they should probably think about keeping both if they want to make another run to the AFC Championship Game. However, much like the rest of the players on this list, we’re pretty sure they won’t have any trouble finding a new home if the Jets decide not to make them an offer.
















