{"id":200688,"date":"2026-03-02T16:16:14","date_gmt":"2026-03-02T16:16:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/200688\/"},"modified":"2026-03-02T16:16:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-02T16:16:14","slug":"start-date-top-players-and-cap-space-for-2026-nbc-los-angeles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/200688\/","title":{"rendered":"Start date, top players and cap space for 2026 \u2013 NBC Los Angeles"},"content":{"rendered":"

The NFL offseason<\/a> is underway, and the most busy week of transactions is almost upon us.<\/p>\n

Free agency is one of the best ways for teams to improve from one year to another. Just look at the New England Patriots<\/a>, who paid up for Milton Williams<\/a>, Stefon Diggs<\/a> and Carlton Davis<\/a> last March and then made the Super Bowl<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Plenty of teams will be looking to replicate that model this year, but it’s not easy. Between early extensions and franchise tags, many of the best players have already been taken off the market before the legal tampering period even begins.<\/p>\n

Here’s what to know for free agency, including the start dates, top players available and teams with cap space.<\/p>\n

When does NFL free agency start?<\/p>\n

The legal tampering period<\/a> begins Monday, March 9, at 12 p.m. ET. This is when you’ll start to hear about players meeting with teams, and there will be reports of contract agreements.<\/p>\n

Players cannot officially sign with their new clubs until Wednesday, March 11, at 4 p.m. ET when the new league year begins. By this time, many of the top free agents will already have verbal agreements on their new contracts. So, expect all the significant action to happen from March 9-11.<\/p>\n

Who are the top NFL free agents available in 2026?<\/p>\n

There are plenty of intriguing players on the market<\/a> this year. Here are three key names at each position:<\/p>\n

Quarterbacks<\/p>\n

Malik Willis, Packers<\/p>\n

Daniel Jones, Colts<\/p>\n

Aaron Rodgers, Steelers<\/p>\n

Running backs<\/p>\n

Kenneth Walker III, Seahawks<\/p>\n

Travis Etienne, Jaguars<\/p>\n

Rico Dowdle, Panthers<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tKenneth Walker III powered the Seattle Seahawks to a Super Bowl LX championship and earned MVP honors with a dominant performance, becoming the first running back in nearly three decades to win the award.\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Wide receivers<\/p>\n

Tight ends<\/p>\n

Travis Kelce, Chiefs<\/a><\/p>\n

David Njoku, Browns<\/p>\n

Isaiah Likely, Ravens<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tHere are five things to know about Kansas City Chiefs All-Pro tight end Travis Kelce.\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Offensive linemen<\/p>\n

Tyler Linderbaum, Ravens (center)<\/p>\n

Rasheed Walker, Packers (tackle)<\/p>\n

David Edwards, Bills (guard)<\/p>\n

EDGE<\/p>\n

Trey Hendrickson, Bengals<\/p>\n

Odafe Oweh, Chargers<\/a><\/p>\n

Jaelan Phillips, Eagles<\/a><\/p>\n

Linebackers<\/p>\n

Devin Lloyd, Jaguars<\/p>\n

Kaden Elliss, Falcons<\/p>\n

Quincy Williams, Jets<\/a><\/p>\n

Cornerbacks<\/p>\n

Jaylen Watson, Chiefs<\/p>\n

Jamel Dean, Buccaneers<\/p>\n

Nahshon Wright, Bears<\/a><\/p>\n

Safeties<\/p>\n

Bryan Cook, Chiefs<\/p>\n

Coby Bryant, Seahawks<\/p>\n

Kamren Curl, Rams<\/a><\/p>\n

Which NFL teams have the most and least cap space in 2026?<\/p>\n

Cap space is constantly changing for teams, especially around this time of year. Every club has to get under the cap heading into the new league year. Some teams have plenty of room to work with, while others are going to have to cut players or restructure contracts just to get back to even.<\/p>\n

As of March 2, here are the teams with the most cap room<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Tennessee Titans: $94.8 million<\/p>\n

Las Vegas Raiders: $89.08 million<\/p>\n

New York Jets: $88.72 million<\/p>\n

Los Angeles Chargers: $85.45 million<\/p>\n

Washington Commanders: $71.28 million<\/p>\n

On the other end, 11 teams are currently over the cap and must cut salary before the new league year. Those clubs are the Green Bay Packers, Houston Texans, Kansas City Chiefs, Buffalo Bills, Chicago Bears, New Orleans Saints, Detroit Lions, Jacksonville Jaguars, Cleveland Browns, Minnesota Vikings and Dallas Cowboys.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The NFL offseason is underway, and the most busy week of transactions is almost upon us. Free agency…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":200689,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[48,52,51,47,50,49,752],"class_list":{"0":"post-200688","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-la","9":"tag-la-headlines","10":"tag-la-news","11":"tag-los-angeles","12":"tag-los-angeles-headlines","13":"tag-los-angeles-news","14":"tag-nfl"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200688","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=200688"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200688\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/200689"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=200688"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=200688"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=200688"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}