The Best Player Every NFL Team Regrets Letting Go in 2026 FA (You’ll Disagree)
This article was originally published on Total Pro Sports.
Free agency is a tricky time of year… it is challenging for front offices when their hopes meet reality, and they need to find a way to fill all the holes on their NFL teams and keep their current talent in place.
So every offseason we see good players leave, at times, good teams, for one reason or another—and in some cases, they end up being the kind of moves that haunt a front office for years.
Let’s run through all 32 teams and break down the players that they absolutely shouldn’t have let walk in the 2026 free agency period.
Which players for each NFL team should have stayed in free agency?
Arizona Cardinals: Calais Campbell, DL
Campbell is 39 years old and came back to Arizona in 2025 to finish his career where it started… And the man was still producing at a rotational level most 30-year-olds would envy.
His contract expired, and while retirement remains on the table, most analysts around the league expect him to lace them up for another year… but Arizona missed the boat on bringing him back.
Which is a shame because he could have been a big piece for them in the rebuild post Kyler Murray.
Atlanta Falcons: Leonard Floyd, Edge
Floyd was a reliable edge presence for the Falcons—a veteran who could set the edge, generate a pass rush, and give a young defense the structure it needed.
And it is safe to assume that his downturn in production was a result of the Falcons’ team struggles more than anything.
Letting a veteran edge rusher of his caliber leave when your NFL team is still trying to establish an identity is a bigger mistake than it looks.
Baltimore Ravens: Tyler Linderbaum, C
This one still stings… Linderbaum made three straight Pro Bowls, anchoring the Ravens’ interior line, and Baltimore declined his fifth-year option rather than pay him market rate because of the myth of positional value.
The Raiders blew the entire center market apart with a three-year, $81 million deal—$27 million per year, nine million more annually than the previous record. The Ravens reportedly offered $22 million annually…
Which is… just $1million more.
Considering the window that they are trying to capitalize on, maybe they should have exercised the option and tried to figure out the long-term deal down the road!
Buffalo Bills: Tre’Davious White, CB
White posted 40 tackles and a team-high 10 passes defensed, his best mark since 2020, and by the back half of the season, analysts were noting he resembled the cornerback who was one of the best in football before his ACL tear.
The Bills are already thin in the secondary after losing Taron Johnson, Darius Slay, and Jordan Poyer this offseason… maybe they should’ve tried to bring the vet back into the fold for one more year instead of asking a group of unproven corners to hold up behind a defense that needs to be elite if this NFL team is going to finally get over the hump.
Carolina Panthers: Rico Dowdle, RB
Dowdle finished 2025 with 1,076 yards on the ground and was the engine that kept the offense moving and this team relevant in the back half of the year. His production gave Bryce Young a legitimate running game to lean on, and when you have a young quarterback still finding his footing, a ball carrier who takes pressure off your passing game is worth more than the raw stats suggest.
Chicago Bears: Nahshon Wright, CB
Wright picked off five passes in 2025. He’s 26 years old. And the Bears just let him walk to the Jets on a one-year, $5.5 million deal. That’s not a market-breaking number — that’s a number that his NFL team could have matched without blinking.
Have to wonder what they were thinking on this one.
Cincinnati Bengals: Joseph Ossai, DE
Ossai joined the Jets on a three-year, $36 million contract, meaning Cincinnati is now rolling with Boye Mafe, Myles Murphy, and Shemar Stewart at defensive end. Mafe is the only proven one in that group, and he’s never cracked six sacks in a season.
Not exactly a group that instills hope that a defensive revival is in the making.
Cleveland Browns: Devin Bush, LB
Bush came to Cleveland on cheap one-year prove-it deals two straight years and turned his career completely around. In 2025, he started all 17 games, posted a career-high 125 tackles, two sacks, two forced fumbles, and three interceptions.
That’s not a depth piece. That’s an NFL starter playing at an All-Pro level for a team that was paying him almost nothing. Chicago saw it, signed him to a three-year, $30 million deal with $21 million guaranteed, and now Cleveland is starting over at the position.
Dallas Cowboys: Jadeveon Clowney, DE
Say what you will about Jadeveon Clowney, but he still led the Cowboys with 8.5 sacks in 2025 at age 32.
Now he’s expected to leave as a free agent, and Dallas hasn’t replaced him with anyone. Here’s the thing about Clowney — everybody forgets about him in March, and then he goes out and puts up numbers every year.
Dallas is going to be hurting without him, as that defense really left a lot to be desired.
Denver Broncos: Dre Greenlaw, LB
Greenlaw was brought to Denver last offseason specifically to bring championship experience into that building… and now they were a healthy Bo Nix away from a Super Bowl in January…
That window is open right now—and you have to think this team will be kicking themselves come playoffs next year without an NFL player of his pedigree.
Detroit Lions: Alex Anzalone, LB
Tampa Bay signed Anzalone to a two-year, $17 million deal that Detroit apparently wasn’t interested in matching. The Lions are betting their younger linebackers can step up… and maybe they can.
But Anzalone was the guy who understood Dan Campbell’s defense from the inside, including the communication at the second level, the disguise work before the snap, and the situational awareness in late-game situations. That’s not something you replace by plugging in whoever is next on the depth chart.
Green Bay Packers: Romeo Doubs, WR
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Doubs signed with New England and now gives Drake Maye a legitimate option underneath… Good for the Patriots… But for the Packers, that’s a problem. Jordan Love needs weapons to throw the ball to, and instead of adding to their already thin wide receiver room, they are bleeding talent.
Houston Texans: Tim Settle, DT
Settle left for Washington on a three-year, $25.5 million deal, and to say that Houston will be missing him this year is an understatement.
Losing a proven interior piece on defense at the same time means this roster is in transition on both sides of the ball simultaneously. Settle wasn’t flashy. He ate blocks, stayed in his lane, and let Will Anderson and Danielle Hunter do their thing. That kind of player is harder to replace for an NFL team than the contract suggests.
Indianapolis Colts: Kwity Paye, DE
Paye signed with the Las Vegas Raiders on a three-year, $48 million deal after posting at least four sacks in each of his five NFL seasons, including two years over eight for his previous team. He was the best edge rusher on this roster, and Indianapolis let him walk.
The Colts are now piecing together a pass rush to forge their way back towards relevance.
Jacksonville Jaguars: Travis Etienne, RB
Etienne ran for over 1,000 yards in three of his four seasons in Jacksonville, set a career high with 13 touchdowns in 2025, and was the most complete offensive player on this roster. The Saints made him an offer Jacksonville couldn’t… or wouldn’t match.
Losing your best offensive weapon while the front office counts future draft slots isn’t the message you want to send to a locker room that already had questions about where this franchise is heading.
Kansas City Chiefs: Jawaan Taylor, OT
Taylor’s $27.3 million cap hit made this a financial necessity, and Kansas City released him on March 4 to clear the space. He was their starting right tackle for three seasons, including a Super Bowl run. Now he’s a free agent, while Patrick Mahomes is rehabbing a torn ACL, and the Chiefs are rebuilding almost every other position on the roster at the same time.
Not ideal!
Las Vegas Raiders: Jamal Adams, S
Adams hasn’t been the player he was in New York in years. Multiple knee surgeries, diminishing production — the Raiders knew what they were getting and made the bet anyway… and the output was better than expected.
It feels like a safe conclusion that Vegas could have brought him back on a modest 1- or 2-year deal and gotten a lot of value from his skill set and veteran presence.
Los Angeles Chargers: Odafe Oweh, Edge
Oweh broke out in the second half of 2025 and signed a four-year, $100 million deal with Washington. The Chargers watched that happen without matching it, and now they have a hole at edge rusher with no answer for it. Oweh is 26 years old and clearly figured out how to consistently win against NFL tackles, but now he’s going to hit his prime somewhere else.
Jim Harbaugh wants to go deep in the playoffs with Justin Herbert, but right now, that plan has a gap, as this NFL team still has some serious holes to plug.
Los Angeles Rams: Tutu Atwell, WR
While he never turned into the regular big play guy that Los Angeles was hoping… Tutu Atwell was a nice player for them and filled an important role in this NFL team.
The problem for the Rams is that they just lost the fastest receiver on their roster — the one guy who forced safeties to play deep.
Without Atwell running past defensive backs, coverage rotations get simpler, defenders crowd the short-to-intermediate game, and Matthew Stafford’s job gets harder.
Miami Dolphins: Tyreek Hill, WR
Hill tore his ACL in Week 4 last season and was done. Before that, the production had already started sliding. Now, the new front office looked at a $51 million cap hit, $16 million about to trigger in guaranteed money, a 32-year-old coming off a torn ACL… and made what was probably the financially correct decision.
But that doesn’t make it any less painful for the Dolphins fans.
Minnesota Vikings: Jalen Nailor, WR
Nailor signed with the Raiders for three years and $35 million with $25 million guaranteed after three years operating in the shadows of Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison, quietly doing the work — taking the tough assignments, winning on underneath routes, making third-down catches when the defense had the Vikings’ top options blanketed.
Casual NFL fans may not expect it, but this team will miss him big time next year.
New England Patriots: Stefon Diggs, WR
Diggs was a big part of a Super Bowl run in New England last year… but that didn’t stop Vrabel from releasing him this offseason. At 32, with a sizable cap hit and a history of making things difficult wherever he’s been, this wasn’t a shocking call.
But releasing a player of this caliber without a clear plan for who fills that role is the kind of move that could just show up on third and eight in November.
New Orleans Saints: Alontae Taylor, CB
The Saints are already in a difficult spot, and losing Taylor made it considerably more difficult. He signed with Tennessee for three years and $60 million — and this wasn’t a surprise departure; it was a talent drain for an NFL team that is desperate to be competitive again.
New York Giants: Wan’Dale Robinson, WR
Four years, $78 million with the Titans. Gone. Big Blue said that it didn’t fit the budget for a team still rebuilding, and the cap logic makes sense on paper.
The Giants have been reconstructing this receiver room for a decade without solving it. Nothing about this offseason suggests that’s about to change.
New York Jets: Quincy Williams, LB
2023 wasn’t that long ago… When Williams posted 139 tackles, 15 tackles for loss, and 10 passes defensed and was legitimately one of the best linebackers in football. Then 2025 happened. Shoulder injury, hand injury, a brief benching, his brother Quinnen traded to Dallas mid-season… the whole thing unraveled.
His coverage numbers were a disaster, and the Jets moved on. Cleveland saw a different story, though — two years, $17 million for a guy who, in the right scheme, has proven he can be an All-Pro for an NFL team.
New York may regret this one… but what else is new?!
Philadelphia Eagles: Jaelan Phillips, Edge
It feels like every offseason the Eagles roster gets picked apart, and this year was no different, as Philly lost their best pass rusher. Phillips signed the richest edge contract in the entire offseason — four years, $120 million with Carolina. Cap constraints are real, sure. So is the gap between Phillips and whoever lines up in his spot Week 1.
Pittsburgh Steelers: Isaac Seumalo, OG
Isaac Seumalo quietly anchored Pittsburgh’s offensive line through a season where protecting the quarterback position was an absolute must—and he did a heck of a job.
Pittsburgh has paid a lot of attention to its skill position players this offseason, but if the line in front of them is a real problem, none of those additions will matter.
San Francisco 49ers: Jauan Jennings, WR
In 2025, with the slew of injuries on the roster, Jennings was the 49ers’ offense. Fifty-five catches, 643 yards, nine touchdowns — team-high. And he did it playing through broken ribs and both high and low ankle sprains simultaneously.
Losing him is going to be a bigger problem for this NFL team than most people think.
Seattle Seahawks: Kenneth Walker III, RB
Well—this was an easy one… Seattle lost the Super Bowl LX MVP. Over 1,400 yards in 2025 and 5he engine of the entire offense on the biggest stage in the sport. And Seattle didn’t pay him.
Time will tell how big a mistake that was!
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Mike Evans, WR
Twelve seasons. Eleven straight 1,000-yard years — tied with Jerry Rice for the all-time record. The face of the franchise through everything that happened post-Brady. And Evans signed with San Francisco because he looked at this roster and decided Tampa wasn’t going to give him a real shot at a ring.
Ouch.
Tennessee Titans: L’Jarius Sneed, CB
Four years, $76.4 million. Two seasons. Zero interceptions. That’s what the Sneed experiment cost this franchise. He played 12 games, needed knee and quad surgeries, and the Titans released him to clear $11.4 million in cap space. Letting him go was the right call… There was nothing else to do… but it still hurts!
Washington Commanders: Deebo Samuel, WR
Last season was a disaster, and shockingly, Deebo was one of the few guys who showed up anyway, quietly putting up 72 catches, 727 yards, and five touchdowns.
That’s one of the steals of the 2025 offseason… and now the Commanders are letting him walk.
