Dynasty IDP Free Agency Preview: Interior Defensive Linemen
With free agency looming, which IDL could be 2024's Justin Madubuike?
One thing is clear when giving the interior defensive line depth charts a good going over: there aren’t enough quality tackles to go around, and that has an impact on your fantasy leagues that require defensive tackle starters. Particular for any league that provides defensive tackle-premium scoring, the interior linemen are coveted commodities – just as they are when they reach the NFL’s open market.
In this free agency overview of the interior defensive linemen – my second article, and following up on the edge rusher free agency overview – we’ll tour each team’s depth chart for a look at returnees and their opportunity. Then we’ll round up at the end for some of the position’s top storylines through the lens of free agency.
Current Landscape
AFC East
Buffalo is one of the more popular mock draft spots for interior defensive linemen in the first couple of rounds of the NFL Draft, and it’s easy to see why. Outside of Ed Oliver, the Bills are barren at tackle, as deals are up for Jordan Phillips, Tim Settle, DaQuan Jones, Poona Ford, and Linval Joseph.
Miami was smart to extend Zach Sieler last August. Considering the state of the EDGE room (with Bradley Chubb and Jaelan Phillips coming off serious injuries), Sieler provides stability on a line that has Christian Wilkins, nose Raekwon Davis, and De’Shawn Hand entering free agency.
New England recently let go of veteran stalwart Lawrence Guy, who was the third piece of a three-man interior rotation in 2023. The Patriots would be smart to explore a long-term extension for Christian Barmore, who is coming to the end of his rookie deal. Otherwise, Davon Godchaux returns for one more season, and the rest of the room consists of seldom-used backups on short-term deals: Daniel Ekuale, Trysten Hill, Jeremiah Pharms, and Sam Roberts.
Quinnen Williams is around long-term to anchor the New York Jets’ interior group, but otherwise, the contributors – Quinton Jefferson, Solomon Thomas, Al Woods, and Jalyn Holmes – are all free agents.
AFC North
Baltimore, of course, has a tag decision on 2023 breakout Justin Madubuike, but otherwise, the room is fairly stable given work that’s already been done. Veteran Michael Pierce opened the new year with a two-year extension, and former Panther Bravvion Roy recently inked a futures contract. Former third-rounder Travis Jones has two years remaining on his rookie deal, while Broderick Washington will be back for at least two more years on the heels of an extension signed before the 2023 season kicked off. Underrated and underused veteran Brent Urban is a free agent.
Cincinnati will need to address its nose tackle spot as both D.J. Reader and Josh Tupou are entering free agency. B.J. Hill (one year) and Zach Carter (two years) return as the primary 3-techs.
Cleveland addressed a gaping hole at tackle last offseason with Dalvin Tomlinson, whose contract runs through 2026. The Browns drafted nose Siaki Ika in 2023, but otherwise, the team has work to do with contributors Shelby Harris, Jordan Elliott, and Maurice Hurst all hitting the open market.
In Pittsburgh, Black and Gold great Cameron Heyward enters the final year of his contract, and possibly of his career, in 2024. Veteran Larry Ogunjobi, coming off a disappointing campaign, also looks set to return for year two of a three-year contract signed last offseason. After whiffing on draft picks DeMarvin Leal (two years remaining) and Isaiahh Loudermilk (one year) in recent drafts, Steelers fans breathed a sigh of relief with Keeanu Benton's successful rookie campaign. Nose Montravius Adams and the versatile Armon Watts were contributors in 2023, and both are free agents.
AFC South
Houston seems likely to address the defensive tackle this offseason in order to upgrade its interior run defense. As the primary interior Maliek Collins (two years remaining) and free agent Sheldon Rankins were fine as pass rushers. Khalil Davis and nose Teair Tart are both free agents. Kurt Hinish returns for another season to provide depth.
Indianapolis has one of the best in the business, DeForest Buckner, back for another season – albeit the final one on his deal signed after his trade from the 49ers prior to the 2020 season. Nose tackle Grover Stewart and former first-round bust Taven Bryan are free agents, while intriguing second-year man Adetomiwa Adebawore and backup Eric Johnson return.
Jacksonville has invested money at defensive tackle over the past few years, but this is about as unexciting an interior room as you’ll find. Roy Robertson-Harris and nose Davon Hamilton are both under contract for the next three seasons. Adam Gotsis and Folo Fatukasi return for the final seasons of their current contracts. Tyler Lacy returns for a second season. Jeremiah Ledbetter may return as a restricted free agent, while Angelo Blackson hits the open market.
Tennessee will be searching for snaps to complement stud Jeffery Simmons, who is signed long-term. The Titans used big EDGE Denico Autry inside or at 4-tech on 35.5% of his snaps, so that usage will have to be replaced if Autry finds work elsewhere as a free agent. The other primary tackles, Kyle Peko and Jaleel Johnson, are both free agents. Depth options Quinton Bohanna, Keondre Coburn, and T.K. McLendon Jr. are all under contract for 2024, while 2020 second-round draft busts Marlon Davidson (exclusive right free agent) and Ross Blacklock (restricted free agent) could also be back.
AFC West
Denver welcomes back Zach Allen for another couple of years, but otherwise, there’s work to be done. D.J. Jones likely won’t see the final year of his contract, while Mike Purcell is a free agent and Jonathan Harris is a restricted free agent. 2023 rookie Matt Henningsen is back to provide depth.
In Kansas City, Chris Jones is arguably free agency’s biggest prize, but he’s not the only Chief hitting the open market. Complementary tackles Tershawn Wharton and Derrick Nnadi fit well here and could return. Otherwise, the back-to-back champs have practice squad types Matt Dickerson, Neil Farrell Jr., and Isaiah Buggs in tow for 2024.
Las Vegas also has that look of desperation at tackle with Jerry Tillery representing the only returnee with meaningful snaps to show. Primary contributors Bilal Nichols, John Jenkins, and Adam Butler (yawn) are all free agents. Rookie disappointment Byron Young – easily the second-best Byron Young in the league – may get a shot at meaningful snaps simply due to a lack of bodies ahead of him.
Count defensive tackle among the many needs to be addressed by the Los Angeles Chargers’ new regime. Austin Johnson and Nick Williams, both of whom saw more snaps than they deserved, are free agents. Along with Morgan Fox, depth pieces Otito Ogbonnia, Scott Matlock, and Chris Hinton all return.
NFC East
Osa Odighizuwa remains the lone IDP worth paying attention to on the Dallas defensive interior. He has one year remaining on his rookie deal. With both Johnathan Hankins and Neville Gallimore reaching free agency, the Cowboys have second-year nose Mazi Smith and the versatile Chauncey Golston as rotational pieces for 2024.
The New York Giants are set to lose A’Shawn Robinson, who logged 515 regular season snaps. Otherwise, stud Dexter Lawrence is secured long-term after signing an extension last offseason. Rakeem Nunez-Roches has another couple of years remaining on his deal and should slide in again as a heavy rotational contributor. D.J. Davidson, Jordon Riley, and Timmy Horne are under contract too, but none of them should be seeing much game-day work.
Was 2023 finally it for Fletcher Cox in Philadelphia? The one-year contract signed by the veteran last offseason reportedly includes four void years. Cox led Philadelphia interior defensive linemen in snaps last season and was still an effective player. The Eagles have invested heavily in the position in the draft, with first-rounders Jalen Carter (2023) and Jordan Davis (2022), and 2021 third-rounder Milton Williams anchoring the returnees. Marlon Tuipulotu and Moro Ojomo are back to provide depth.
For all the problems Washington at EDGE, the Commanders bring back snap hogs Jonathan Allen (two years) and Da’Ron Payne (three years), along with backups Phidarian Mathis and John Ridgeway. Of anyone else of consequence, only backup Abdullah Anderson is reaching free agency.
NFC North
Chicago double-dipped at defensive tackle in the 2023 NFL Draft, bringing in both Gervon Dexter and Zacch Pickens. Free agent Justin Jones and veteran nose Andrew Billings led the Bears in snaps. There’s literally no one else here, but big EDGE DeMarcus Walker does provide snaps inside.
Alim McNeill leads the interior group in Detroit but has just one year remaining on his rookie deal. Big Benito Jones (335) played big snaps (566), but he’s a free agent and would leave a gaping hole in the two-gap, run-stuffer role. The Lions drafted college nose Brodric Martin last year as a potential successor to Jones, but his rookie season didn’t inspire confidence that he’s ready for the role. Tyson Alualu is a free agent and is headed for retirement in all likelihood – this time for good. Former second-rounder Levi Onwuzurike returns for 2024 and is still trying to carve out a larger role. Starter John Cominsky, who mostly plays as an over-tackle 4-tech, also provides snaps inside and is under contract for next season, as well.
Green Bay mainstay Kenny Clark has one year remaining on his deal before it voids next offseason. It’s hard to see the Packers letting him get away, but the franchise had prepared for his potential departure in recent drafts with 2022 first-rounder Devonte Wyatt, and Karl Brooks and Colby Wooden in 2023. Run down snap hog Tedarrell Slaton has one year remaining on his contract. No one on the defensive line is scheduled to depart from Titletown this year.
Minnesota is devoid of interior disruptors. That said, they’re not wed to next season other than Harrison Phillips and Dean Lowry, both of whom have one year remaining on their contracts. Jonathan Bullard, Sheldon Day, and James Lynch are all free agents, and Khyiris Tonga is a restricted free agent. Intriguing rookie Jacquelin Roy returns and hopefully sees a larger snap share.
NFC South
Atlanta has a strong pair of 30-plus interior tackles in Grady Jarrett and David Onyemata, both of whom have two years remaining on their contracts. Given good health, the Falcons are strong inside. Kentavius Street showed well after coming over in a trade from San Francisco before a pectoral injury ended his season. He’s a free agent. Ta’Quon Graham is under contract for 2024, while Albert Huggins hits free agency.
Carolina can at least take solace that it has Derrick Brown, who enters the fifth and final year of his rookie contract. Shy Tuttle (one year remaining) played 547 snaps because someone had to. DeShawn Williams was the third defensive tackle for Carolina and was better than his one-sack stat line indicates. He's the top free agent in the room. The Panthers have already re-signed Nick Thurman and LaBryan Ray, both of whom eclipsed 350 snaps (this is the state of the franchise). Former Raven and Steeler Chris Wormley, and journeyman Henry Anderson, are free agents.
New Orleans was a four-man show on the interior in 2023, and the top three are all set to return for 2024 and beyond. Bryan Bresee looks to improve upon a promising rookie season and should see additional opportunity in year two. Nathan Shepherd and Khalen Saunders are both under contract for two additional seasons. Malcolm Roach is a free agent.
Tampa Bay scored with rookie Calijah Kancey, who was fast and disruptive. Kancey and Vita Vea (three years remaining) give the Buccaneers a formidable one-two punch moving forward. Logan Hall didn’t make a huge leap from rookie season to year two. Year three will be pivotal for him. Former Ram Greg Gaines disappointed in his one-year tryout with the Bucs. He’s headed to free agency along with 11-year veteran William Gholston, a lifelong Buc who I’d think will be back on a one-year deal. It sounds like he wants to keep playing. Mike Greene returns for 2024 as a depth option.
NFC West
Arizona really cobbled this position together in 2024. Rookie Dante Stills led the group in snaps and sacks, but there are no standouts. Jonathan Ledbetter is a restricted free agent and will likely return – hopefully on lighter volume than 511 snaps. Kevin Strong saw the third-most snaps on the interior but was waived prior to Arizona's season finale. Roy Lopez is under contract for 2024, as are reserves Naquan Jones, Ben Stille, and Phil Hoskins. Leki Fotu is hitting free agency along with Carlos Watkins and L.J. Collier. What a yucky mess.
Will 2024 be Aaron Donald’s last in the NFL? Los Angeles likely hopes to pair him with rookie surprise Kobie Turner for more than just two seasons. Half-time tackle Jonah Williams is a free agent along with Larrell Murchison. The intriguing and versatile Desjuan Johnson returns for year two, and Bobby Brown III is under contract for another season with the Rams.
The starters are set in San Francisco with Javon Hargrave (three years remaining) and Arik Armstead (final year of his contract) returning along with third-string backups Kalia Davis and T.Y. McGill. Behind Hargrave and Armstead, the 49ers are set to lose former first-round bust Javon Kinlaw, who started to show signs of life in his fourth season, plus late-season addition Sebastian Joseph-Day, and Kevin Givens.
Seattle surrendered its second-round pick in this year’s draft, plus a 2025 fifth-rounder, for Leonard Williams. Seahawks fans aren’t going to be happy if he departs as a free agent, but that’s a possibility given the turnover on the coaching staff. Two veteran signings from 2023, Dre’Mont Jones and Jarran Reed, are set to return along with rising sophomore Cameron Young and exclusive rights free agent Myles Adams. Mario Edwards Jr. is a free agent, and Bryan Mone, who missed the season recovering from a knee injury, looks like he’ll be a cap casualty.
Top Free Agency Storylines
Unlike other positions where there’s an interesting pool of players after even the first dozen or so free agents, the same can’t be said at defensive tackle. Of impending free agents, both Justin Madubuike (Baltimore) and Christian Wilkins (Miami) have a good shot at getting franchise tagged. If they avoid a tag, massive deals await on the open market. Chris Jones returned to Kansas City after playing hardball last offseason and watching the opener from a box. He boasted he’d return to the Chiefs during the post-Super Bowl euphoria, and he probably will, but he has three rings and if he does reach the soft start of free agency on March 11 without a deal, the money from another franchise may be too good to ignore. Check out Mike Woellert’s excellent free agency preview for more on these three, who, along with Leonard Williams, make up the de crème de la crème of this year’s crop of free agent defensive tackles.
For fantasy, I’d be out there looking to capitalize on the breakout season and offseason buzz on Madubuike. He’s good, so this is not a “sell low” or ship-him-away-at-all-costs recommendation, but given his snaps, and the number of quarterback hurries plus hits over sacks, Madubuike came in high over an anticipated number of sacks. Regression from 13 down to the 8-9 sack range is a safer expectation for 2024.
Keeping up with Jones
Everyone has their eyes on Chicago right now due to the quarterback question, but I’m low-key paying attention to Justin Jones’ landing spot. If Jones (740 defensive snaps) leaves the Windy City, Gervon Dexter – and Zacch Pickens, to an extent – have the opportunity for a massive bump in usage. Dexter is a good low-cost, high-upside buy right now based on a relatively strong rookie campaign. Even if Jones does return, Dexter is a good long-term investment. Pickens resides on waiver wires in a lot of leagues, and can probably stay there, but I’d be sure he’s rostered in 14- and 16-team leagues that require starters at defensive tackle.
Jones, for his part, is one of the best options available in the “next tier down” from Jones, Madubuike, Wilkins, and Williams. Jones' backfield disruption score, a measure of effectiveness at making plays behind the line of scrimmage based on quarterback hits and tackles-for-loss, ranked 14th among all interior defensive linemen with more than 575 snaps played. Jones' score of 3.65 is third best among free agent tackles, trailing only Madubuike (5.95) and Chris Jones (5.68) – the top two in the NFL.
Next year’s Madubuike is…
It’s no secret that impending free agency brings out the best in some players. Maybe they’re putting in extra work in the offseason or playing through pains that may limit availability in other seasons. I’m not saying that’s the case with anyone listed as a current free agent or anyone scheduled for it next offseason, but there’s no better time as a player to have a career year than the final year of a contract.
As mentioned above, Madubuike got fairly lucky with 13 sacks in his contract year. I’m not necessarily expecting anyone listed here to hit that number. Barring an extension or new contract though, I’m anticipating these tackles to be among those in next offseason’s top free agents listings, and therefore worth exploring as buys in the fantasy trade market.
1. Derrick Brown, CAR
Brown has plenty of name recognition as the seventh overall pick in the 2020 draft. In 2022, he was a solid, low-end DT2. He made the leap in 2023, leading all interior defensive linemen in total tackles with 103, and that fueled a top DT1 finish, which is pretty wild considering he only had two sacks. With 41 pressures and a solid backfield disruption score of 2.35, Brown should trend more toward seven or eight sacks next season. If his total tackles were to drop by 30 or 40, he’d still be among the upper half of fantasy DT1s. He’s hard to get but I don’t think he’s valued where he should be among fantasy DTs.
2. Christian Barmore, NE
Barmore endured a dreadful sophomore season but rebounded nicely in 2023. His 64 combined tackles were fifth best at the position, and his backfield disruption score ranked seventh among all tackles playing more than 280 snaps. It’s hard to expect more than the 8.5 sacks he produced, but it’s clear he’s an ascending asset and the memory of his 2022 season may still linger in the minds of some.
3. Kenny Clark, GB
Clark’s a stud but his numbers aren’t always among the league’s best. For fantasy, he’s pretty consistently among the low-end DT2s or high-end DT3s on the season. If he reaches free agency, he’ll get there just prior to turning 30. Typically talent will win out, and by this time next season, Clark could have a recent DT1 season under his belt. His pass rush win rate (12.8) and total wins (59) were right in line with Kobie Turner and Ed Oliver, two tackles with higher sack totals than Clark's 7.5.
4. Alim McNeill, DET
The Lions shifted McNeill off the nose late in the 2022 season, and according to the team’s website, the former N.C. State stud (and high school baseball star) dropped 22 pounds and 13% body fat leading up to 2023 in order to accommodate more one-gap work. PFF's sixth-highest graded interior defensive lineman, McNeill missed four games down the stretch with a knee sprain but still logged five sacks on 559 snaps with a healthy backfield disruption score of 2.86. He's not quite 24, so he'll have youth on his side if he reaches free agency.
5. Osa Odighizuwa, DAL
Odighizuwa was just as effective at impacting plays behind the line of scrimmage as Javon Hargrave and Kobie Turner, yet logged just three sacks last season. The numbers support a player who should be logging better numbers, but they just haven’t materialized so far in his career. He was likely fairly frustrating for anyone with shares last season, as he collected all three of his sacks within the first two weeks of the season. There’s no way I’m comfortable with him as anything more than a low-end DT2, but he’s in a good spot to produce in a contract year.
6. Milton Williams, PHI
He’s not going to suddenly overtake Jalen Carter or Jordan Davis for snaps, but Williams has always had a lot of potential given his athleticism. An opportunity that would present 700 or more snaps could catapult Williams into the DT2 conversation. I’d recommend circling back to Williams later in the 2024 season in your dynasty leagues. He’s a very small investment now that could increase substantially in value in a little more than one year.
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