Thanks to strong performances in Super Bowl LIX, players like Philadelphia’s Josh Sweat and Milton Williams are about to receive big contracts when free agency begins on March 12. But there are plenty of lesser-known talents in the NFC East set to hit the market.
Oren Burks | LB | Philadelphia Eagles
Burks was a third-round pick of the Packers in 2018 and spent four years in Green Bay before joining San Francisco in 2022. He signed a one-year, $1.1M contract with Philadelphia last offseason and spent most of 2024 as a backup to third-year linebacker Nakobe Dean.
Fans worried when Dean went down with a torn patellar tendon against the Commanders in Week 16, but Burks stepped up to make 29 tackles with a forced fumble in the team’s last three regular season games. He also had 25 tackles, a sack and another forced fumble in the playoffs.
Considering Dean is expected to miss at least some of the 2025 regular season, Burks’ return could actually be a top priority for general manager Howie Roseman.
Rico Dowdle | RB | Dallas Cowboys
Taking over for running back Tony Pollard, who signed with the Titans last offseason, Dowdle got off to a slow start by averaging 33.5 yards per contest in the team’s first four games. But thanks to four 100-yard performances in his last six games, Dowdle was able to give Dallas a 1,000-yard rusher for the seventh-straight year.
Ironically, Dowdle finished the season with 1,079 yards, the exact same yardage Pollard put up for the Titans. But while Pollard is scheduled to make $8.5M next season, spotrac.com believes Dowdle should expect to see a one-year, $6.6M contract next year.
Isaiah Simmons | LB | New York Giants
Simmons was drafted eighth overall by the Arizona Cardinals in the 2020 NFL Draft and spent three seasons with the team before being traded to the Giants for a seventh-round pick in 2023.
That year, Simmons posted 50 tackles (33 solo) with one forced fumble, one fumble recovery and a 54-yard pick-six against the Commanders in Week 11. The team brought him back on a one-year, $2M deal last season but used him in more of a rotational role.
At 6-foot-4 and 238 pounds, Simmons can play many positions thanks to his 4.39 speed. In 2024, he played linebacker, backup cornerback, backup safety and even blocked a field goal to beat the Seahawks in Week 5 as one of the Giants’ core special teams players.
He may never live up to his draft status, but players with Simmons’ versatility are hard to find. Keeping him won’t excite most Giants fans, but another one-year deal won’t hurt the Giants’ depth chart either.
Tress Way | P | Washington Commanders
Way has been one of the NFL’s best punters since joining the Commanders as an undrafted free agent in 2011 and is currently the longest-tenured player on the team. The 34-year-old punter matched his career average of 46.9 yards per punt last season with 44% of his kicks landing inside the opponent’s 20-yard line.
Opposing teams also managed just 6.2 yards per return on Way’s kicks, the second best number in the league behind Houston’s Tommy Townsend. Way signed a four-year, $15M contract extension in 2019 but at his age, a one-year, $3M deal should suffice and with $78M in cap space available, Washington can afford to keep him around.