2020 NFL free agency: Signing cornerback Logan Ryan may help put contender over the top

The best defensive free agent still on the market is three-time Pro Bowl defensive end Jadeveon Clowney. The former No. 1 overall pick is looking for $20 million per season and hasn't found a team ready to commit that yet, although SportsLine oddsmakers still favor Clowney to return to the Seattle Seahawks this season.

Easily the No. 2 defensive free agent out there and one who would cost WAY less than Clowney yet could make almost as big of an impact is cornerback Logan Ryan, and it's puzzling why Ryan was not signed in last week's first wave of free agency and remains available.

Last year, Ryan was an anchor on a very good Tennessee Titans defense with a career-high 113 tackles (a ton for a cornerback – many cornerbacks try to avoid tackling), 18 passes defensed (third in NFL), 4.5 sacks, four interceptions and four forced fumbles while playing all 16 games. Quarterback had only five TD passes and an 88.7 rating when they targeted Ryan.

Patriots fans certainly remember Ryan as the final pass Tom Brady ever threw with New England was an interception returned for a touchdown by Ryan in the final seconds of the Titans' AFC Wild-Card upset win in Foxborough. Ryan has 15 games of playoff experience and won two Super Bowls while with the Patriots, another benefit. Even better, Ryan is a class act off the field.

The 29-year-old former third-round pick out of Rutgers by the Patriots had a reasonable base salary of $9.5 million in 2019 with Tennessee. Reportedly, Ryan wants at least $10 million per season going forward. By comparison, Byron Jones – good but not that much better – got a five-year, $82.5 million free-agent deal last week with Miami that included $57 million guaranteed.

Teams mentioned as potential Ryan suitors are the Las Vegas Raiders, Detroit Lions (they traded top cornerback Darius Slay to Philadelphia), Atlanta Falcons (lost released Pro Bowl cornerback Desmond Trufant), the Dallas Cowboys (to replace Jones), New York Giants, Chicago Bears and Minnesota Vikings.  

If Ryan wants another Super Bowl ring, the Cowboys have the shortest odds of that group to win Super Bowl 55, priced +1200 at William Hill sportsbook.