With Black Friday underway, millions of people are shopping for the best holiday gift deals. This usually results in discounts on high-priced items, but every once in a while, you’ll find a diamond in the rough that you didn’t even know you needed.
The same can be said for NFL teams in free agency. In the middle of the regular season, the free agency pool doesn’t consist of the biggest names or the most reliable producers. That said, teams entering a playoff race can look to the open market to find contributors when their current group at a particular position isn’t getting the job done. Heading into the start of December, these are the ten best remaining NFL free agents in 2025.
10) WR Odell Beckham Jr.
At 33 years old, Odell Beckham Jr.’s best days are behind him. That’s nothing for him to be ashamed of, as he’s a three-time Pro Bowler and a Super Bowl champion. Many players would kill to have a resume as strong as his. Though age and injuries have taken away some of his explosiveness, he can still contribute to an NFL offense.
Most notably, OBJ had 35 catches for 565 yards and three touchdowns with the Baltimore Ravens in 2023. His average of 16.1 yards per reception was not only impressive for a wide receiver past 30 years of age, but it was also the highest single-season average he’s had in his entire NFL career. At the very least, he can provide veteran leadership to young wide receivers, having been to the mountaintop before.
9) S Marcus Maye
In a similar vein to Beckham, Marcus Maye is another accomplished veteran whose best days are admittedly behind him. He isn’t the lockdown safety he was alongside Jamal Adams for the New York Jets in the late 2010s, but he started in four games in 2024 between stints with the Miami Dolphins and Los Angeles Chargers.
In those 15 games played and four starts, Maye had an interception and tallied 42 tackles and three pass deflections. He fared surprisingly well last year in coverage, allowing a targeted passer rating of just 61.2 all season. He would be a good veteran addition to an NFL secondary in need of some safety depth going into the postseason.
8) S Vonn Bell
An experienced starter with stints as a contributor in New Orleans, Cincinnati, and Carolina, Vonn Bell has started in 117 total games over the course of his NFL career since 2016. Most recently, he started in 11 games last season for the Bengals, finishing with 55 tackles and an interception.
Admittedly, Bell didn’t exactly light it up in Cincinnati’s secondary in 2024, but very few on that defense did that year. The most important thing is that he’s proven he can still take on a full-time starting workload and hold his own, which is more than most safety signings off the street can say this late in the year.
7) CB James Bradberry
Of the free agents on this list, James Bradberry might be the biggest question mark of the bunch. He hasn’t taken an NFL snap since 2023, having been out of football for the entire 2024 season and missing the whole 2025 season due to an Achilles tear he suffered in practice. His 2023 season wasn’t great, as he gave up a whopping ten touchdowns in coverage.
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That said, Bradberry was a second-team All-Pro in 2022, tallying three interceptions and 17 pass deflections for the Philadelphia Eagles. He’s surpassed double-digit pass deflections in every NFL season he’s played thus far, as well. Expecting him to return to that level at 32 years old wouldn’t be wise, but you could certainly do worse than him for a late-season pickup.
6) OT Jedrick Wills Jr.
Over the course of his five seasons with the Cleveland Browns, Jedrick Wills Jr. started in all but one of the games he played. Things looked promising for him early in his NFL career, but he missed a total of 21 games in the last two seasons he’s played due to injury.
Wills hasn’t signed with a team in 2025, though reports before the season indicated he would miss most or all of the season recovering from a knee injury. He’s stayed true to that word so far, but a return near the end of the season was never explicitly ruled out. At 26 years old, he brings far more long-term potential than your average midseason free agent signing.
5) S Justin Simmons
Given how recently Justin Simmons was playing at an All-Pro level, it’s confusing that an NFL team hasn’t given him a shot on its roster this season. A first-team All-Pro for the Denver Broncos in 2023, Simmons spent 2024 with the Atlanta Falcons but has been out of football for all of this season.
Over the course of his NFL career, Simmons has been a two-time Pro Bowler and a four-time All-Pro. He’s tallied 32 interceptions over the course of his nine years in the league, recently adding two picks to that total with his season in Atlanta last year. He took a step back athletically with the Falcons, but his instincts and ball skills in coverage remain top-notch.
4) LB Eric Kendricks
Eric Kendricks is a former All-Pro linebacker with 1,174 total tackles over the ten seasons he’s played in the NFL. He hasn’t yet suited up for what would be his 11th year in 2025, though he’s had interest in the open market. The Ravens offered him a spot on their practice squad, though he ended up declining the offer.
Though Kendricks is 33 years old, it’s a little bit surprising he’s still available on the open market. He started 15 games for the Dallas Cowboys in 2024, tallying 138 tackles, 2 interceptions, and 3 sacks. He’s surpassed 100 total tackles in all but one season since entering the NFL in 2015, and while he wouldn’t reach that mark this year if he signed with a team this late, he could still make an impact.
3) CB Stephon Gilmore
Even as he turned 34 years old last season with the Minnesota Vikings, Stephon Gilmore was still a respectable starting NFL cornerback. Nobody would mistake him for the Defensive Player of the Year he was back in 2019, but since 2021, he had bounced around the league as a stopgap starter for hire, playing for a new team every year.
Gilmore is now 35 and hasn’t signed with a team for the 2025 season, but he hasn’t officially retired, either. The five-time Pro Bowler has had a remarkable NFL career, but he still produced fairly well for the Vikings in 2024. He ended the year with an interception, nine pass deflections, and a 99.8 allowed passer rating in 15 starts.
2) CB Kendall Fuller
One of the top slot cornerbacks in the NFL early in his career, Kendall Fuller kicked outside as his career progressed and has been a quality starter throughout the entirety of his time in the league. As recently as 2023, he was still a high-quality starter for the Washington Commanders with an 80.6 CBi grade.
Fuller did take a slight step back with the Dolphins in 2024, but with a 76.5 CBi grade that ranked 44th in the NFL, he still made him an average starting cornerback last year. He hasn’t signed with anyone in 2025, and at 30, he’s younger than some of the other top cornerbacks on the open market. It wouldn’t be surprising if somebody gave him a shot before the season ends.
1) DT Christian Wilkins
The fall from grace was a swift one for Christian Wilkins. In March of 2024, he signed a four-year, $110 million deal with the Las Vegas Raiders after a stellar tenure in Miami. A little over a year later, he was released, and he has yet to sign a new contract with an NFL team.
Wilkins suffered a foot injury in 2024 and declined surgery, causing friction with the Raiders’ front office. He also generated headlines for controversial locker room behavior. Still, there’s no denying how good a player he was and how recently he played at that level.
In 2023, Wilkins ranked No. 14 among defensive tackles with a DTi score of 85.4. He finished with nine sacks along the interior that year, which is an unusually high number for most defensive tackles. There are certainly questions surrounding him as a potential signing, but he’s arguably the only remaining free agent who might still be able to play at a Pro Bowl level.