With NFL free agency contract negotiation window opening March 9 at noon ET, CBS Sports is providing a position-by-position look at the free agent landscape. Interior defensive linemen may not get as much love or as large contracts as their edge defender counterparts, but the last few years have shown a disruptive interior can be just as valuable, if not more so. Look at the last two Super Bowl champions. The Seahawks (Leonard Williams, Byron Murphy II) and the Eagles (Jalen Carter, Milton Williams, Jordan Davis) had game-wrecking talent up front. Chris Jones made crucial play after crucial play for the Chiefs. Teams started noticing this trend — Milton Williams got a four-year, $104 million deal last offseason — but this year’s group doesn’t have a standout of that ilk.
Top five free agent defensive linemen
John Franklin-Myers
DEN • DE • #98
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2025 team: Broncos
2025 stats: 7.5 sacks, 25 tackles, PFF’s No. 55 IDL (21st in run defense, 36th in pass rush)
Age: 29
John Franklin-Myers’ career got off to an inauspicious start: cut by the Rams after one season and missed the entire 2019 season due to injury. All he’s done since then is become one of the game’s most solid interior defensive linemen. He’s had at least three sacks and at least 13 quarterback hits each of the last six seasons, and his 7.5 sacks in 2025 were a career high. His 10% pass rush win rate was eighth-best among all defensive tackles, per ESPN. He can move all around the defensive line, and at 29, he is young enough to earn another sizable contract.
David Onyemata
ATL • DT • #90
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2025 team: Falcons
2025 stats: 1 sack, 62 tackles, PFF’s No. 8 IDL (8th in run defense, 40th in pass rush)
Age: 33
Onyemata finished as a top 10 interior defensive lineman in PFF’s rankings for four of the last six seasons. Even though he had just one sack — his fewest since his rookie year — he was 17th in pass rush win rate among defensive tackles. He was also ninth in run stop win rate. His 53 tackles against the run were tied for fifth-most among interior defenders, and his strong 2025 should earn him a nice payday, even on a short deal.
Calais Campbell
ARI • DE • #93
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2025 team: Cardinals
2025 stats: 6.5 sacks, 43 tackles, PFF’s No. 23 IDL (14th in run defense, 51st in pass rush)
Age: 39
They say “Father Time is undefeated,” but Campbell is giving it a run for its money. Back in Arizona — where he started his career back in 2008 — Campbell registered 6.5 sacks. Only all-time sacks leader Bruce Smith has had more in his 18th season or beyond. Expect more of the same from Campbell in Year 19: He generated at least 30 pressures in five straight seasons, and he had the third-highest pass rush win rate among defensive tackles.
D.J. Reader
DET • DE • #98
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2025 team: Lions
2025 stats: 28 tackles, PFF’s No. 35 IDL (35th in run defense, 23rd in pass rush)
Age: 31
Reader isn’t the two-way disruptor he was at the height of his powers, but he’s still a sturdy defender against both the run and pass. He had 20 pressures, tied for seventh among all nose tackle. Another short-term deal, perhaps back in Detroit, is in order.
Sheldon Rankins
HOU • DT • #90
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2025 team: Texans
2025 stats: 3 sacks, 35 tackles, PFF’s No. 28 IDL (40th in run defense, 38th in pass rush)
Age: 31
Rankins provided two of the most surprising and delightful touchdowns of the NFL season with fumble return touchdowns against the Jagaurs in the regular season and the Steelers in the postseason. Rankins’ 38 pressures tied for 16th-most among full-time interior defenders, and though he isn’t always as impactful against the run, he’s no slouch in that department. The attention opponents had to pay to Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter certainly helped, but Rankins has been a solid interior presence for a long time.
One more to keep an eye on
Christian Wilkins
LV • DT • #94
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2025 team: None
2025 stats: None
Age: 30
Is Wilkins’ career over? If so, it’s one of the strangest and most sudden ends in recent memory. Coming off a nine-sack 2023 with the Dolphins, Wilkins got a four-year, $110 million deal from the Raiders. Roughly one year later, Las Vegas released him. There were multiple issues at hand, though the main one was that the team and Wilkins reportedly didn’t see eye-to-eye on how he rehabbed his foot injury. The team terminated his contract, voiding tens of millions of dollars. There was also a stated locker room incident in which Wilkins kissed a teammate on the forehead, and the teammate took issue.
This is not a great interior defensive lineman class, as the top five suggests. It’s mostly plug-and-play veterans. Wilkins would be a difference maker if he’s healthy and back to prior form. Those are two major “ifs” though.
Five teams to watch
- The Bengals desperately need to fix their defensive front if they want to have a viable defense to support their explosive offense.
- With Onyemata set for free agency, the Falcons need to either retain him or replace him. Atlanta struggled to defend the run last year even with Onyemata, and with two light pass rushers on the edge, it needs some beef in the middle.
- The Lions have not only Reader but also Roy Lopez headed for free agency. The Lions’ rush defense took a hit after being one of the NFL’s better units in 2024.
- The 49ers‘ defense to disrupt much of anything in 2025, finishing last in sack rate by a wide margin. The run defense was better, but it was still average at best. There are some young players here, and injuries devastated the defense in 2025, but adding a veteran or two to be a steadying presence could help.
- Rankins, Tim Settle and Folorunso Fatukasi are all set to hit free agency for the Texans.
One big question
Is there a younger difference maker with his best football ahead?
As the top five suggests, this class is more full of reliable guys than true difference makers. It’s going to mostly be smaller deals in terms of length, with Franklin-Myers potentially being the lone exception.
Is there a player coming off his rookie contract who could still have some undiscovered upside? Former No. 33 overall pick Logan Hall is an option to fit the bill. He improved every year. At 6-foot-6 and 283 pounds, he has the lengthy athleticism to drop back into coverage, making him a unicorn up front. Hall is only 25, he had a 5.5-sack season in 2024, and he can move all over. Throw 25-year-old Otito Ogbonnia into this group, too. He played in just nine games last year, but he had 14 pressures in 2024 and displayed some pass-rushing chops prior to that, too. Maybe he’s a low-cost steal.
