Free Agency Preview 2024: Linebackers

February 9, 2024

by Alex Zeese

To cover all the free-agent linebacker options in a single post will be a rather difficult task, in large part because the Commanders are in desperate need of help across the second tier of the defense. Everyone within a 200-mile radius of Washington D.C. knows how little former coaches Ron Rivera and Jack Del Rio valued the position over the last 4 seasons. How their weird obsession with Buffalo nickel packages resulted in them frequently going into the season with subpar starting linebackers and little to no backup depth.

There are far too many free-agent linebackers for us to give a full breakdown of the entire class. Instead, I will focus on a few major names who are currently projected to be free agents. But this year there are a ton of talented free agents overall at the position.

Bobby Wagner: let’s start with the seasoned vet, a rock star in Seattle coming off his 9th Pro Bowl. Wagner says he wants to keep playing, but with the changes in Seattle’s coaching staff, one has to question if there will be as much mutual interest for him to stay and finish out his career in the city where he spent 12 of his 13 NFL seasons. Reuniting with Dan Quinn in DC for a final year or two could be a great fit for a team in desperate need of a true middle linebacker. I realize that at 33 he wouldn’t be a long-term answer for the position, but if he could finally provide some stability and leadership at the outset of Quinn’s coaching tenure, and give the team more time to find someone in the draft for the long term.

Patrick Queen: If the Ravens are foolish enough to let a 24 year old superstar like him walk, he will be the top name in this draft class, and he should be.  He’s a tackling machine and has had a lot of success in Baltimore. In my opinion, Queen can play any of the linebacker positions. He has averaged over 100 tackles a year, and had 133 tackles last season, including 84 solo, in 2023. The pro bowler has been as solid as they come and has not missed a game in his career.

Similar to Queen is Devin White of the Buccaneers. He’s 25, and Pro Bowl-caliber player who can regularly get you 100 tackles each year. The only real difference is that in his 5 seasons, he missed a handful of games, including 3 last season, one in 2020, and 3 in his 2019 rookie season.

Azeez Al-Shaair is another player to watch out for. While he may not be as big a name as the previous three, he had a very productive season in Tennessee last year after going under the radar a bit with the 49ers. He ended up playing 1102 snaps on defense and is a very good shallow zone linebacker when it comes to the passing game. The Titans only gave him a 1 year deal. He will be turning 27 next season.

Lastly, an honorable mention goes to Isaiah Simmons. He has always been a linebacker we’ve liked here on our show, and there are plenty of young reclamation project types like him in this class. He was with Kingsbury in Arizona.

Here are the top 10 most productive linebackers last season when it comes to tackles:

The interesting thing about Quinn’s defenses in the past is that he loves playing the 4-3 under and having one linebacker on his defense whose job is to be a pass rusher, more like a 3-4 edge rusher than a 4-3 outside linebacker.

There’s some thought that Jamin Davis could fill that role, as he’s shown the ability to bring good pressure from the middle, but if the team were to look towards free agency, there are four linebackers who are potential free agents this year that have put up double-digit sacks. Josh Allen had 18 for the Jaguars, Danielle Hunter had 17 in Minnesota, Leonard Floyd had 11 with the Bills, and Bryce Huff had 10 with the Jets. I would have no problem if the Commanders invested heavily in the linebacker spot this offseason particularly finding that rushing linebacker will be key given the loss of Sweat and Young (I’m joking) at the end positions. While I don’t see Allen leaving the Jags, if one of these others is available it would more than make up for the loss of Sweat. Here are the linebackers who had the most sacks last year.