NFL free agency: Ranking top 100 available players after franchise tag deadline

Trey Hendrickson bid farewell to the Bengals, and Kyler Murray is set for a split with the Cardinals. Here's where this year's top free agents rank.

INDIANAPOLIS – The last significant hurdle for NFL players hoping to reach unfettered free agency was cleared – by most – at 4 p.m. ET on March 3, the deadline for teams to apply franchise and transition tags in bids to restrict the movement of stars on expiring contracts.

Now it’s full steam ahead to free agency, its official negotiating window opening at noon ET on March 9, when pending free agents can begin negotiating with teams aside from their own. In the meantime, clubs can continue trying to hammer out extensions exclusively with their own players while agreeing to trade others – though such deals can’t become official until 4 p.m. ET on March 11, when the new league year begins and free agents can also enter into binding contracts with other teams.

But make no mistake, plenty of transactional wheels were greased during the annual scouting combine, where teams often talk football business among themselves in addition to evaluating the upcoming draft’s prospects.

“The combine's become a little bit more about,” said Seattle Seahawks GM John Schneider, “what the free agency and trades, and what's the spring gonna look like.

“Yeah, honestly, it's like a reset. Like, ‘Alright, here we go. We're moving,’ you know?”