THE ONE FREE AGENT EVERY NFL TEAM MUST SIGN IN 2019

With NFL free agency beginning in less than two weeks, here is one free-agent signing every team should make based on which players would be ideal fits for each franchise.

A team's projected cap space, needs and potential scheme fits were weighed. Some of these players could be slapped with the franchise tag before free agency begins. Ages for players are when the 2019 season begins.

AFC NORTH

Pittsburgh Steelers: LB Jordan Hicks

2018 team: Eagles | Age: 27

One of the more underrated players from the Eagles' Super Bowl run two seasons ago, Hicks is a sure tackler and a valuable pass-rusher on the blitz. His coverage skills and athleticism make up for any discrepancy in run defense, and over his career he has missed only 25 total tackles on 251 attempts. The Steelers' linebackers were a disastrous unit in 2018 in terms of overall performance, as no linebacker put forth plus grades in every defensive facet outside of L.J. Fort, who played only 305 snaps.

Baltimore Ravens: RB Le'Veon Bell

2018 team: Did not play | Age: 27

Whether carrying the ball, catching it out of the backfield, or even lining up wide, Bell is one of the best football players in the world. Obviously, he can add to the Ravens' run-heavy attack, but considering that the Ravens have let go of Michael Crabtree and have unproven talent at wide receiver, adding Bell would also help the Ravens' passing attack. He caught 30 first downs in 2017, ranking fifth among running backs. Bell also forced 44 missed tackles in his last season, which was the fourth most among running backs, and his 33 runs of 10-plus yards also ranked fourth. There's no telling what quarterback Lamar Jackson can do with a weapon like Bell.

Cincinnati Bengals: OT Daryl Williams

2018 team: Panthers | Age: 27

The Bengals haven't had consistent play at the tackle position since Andrew Whitworth left for Los Angeles, and the team's replacements since then have each failed to earn an overall grade above 70.0 -- a mark that we consider to be average-level play. Williams showed his upside in 2017, when he earned a pass-blocking grade of 78.0 and gave up only 39 pressures on 651 pass-blocking snaps. He would serve as an immediate upgrade if he can return from the injury that kept him sidelined in 2018.

Cleveland Browns: Edge Frank Clark

2018 team: Seahawks | Age: 26

They've found their quarterback. They've built one of the better offensive lines in football. They drafted Denzel Ward to solidify the secondary and have former first-pick Myles Garrett performing up to expectations on the right side of the defensive line. A consistent pass-rusher to complement Garrett could be one of the final building blocks needed for the Browns to become competitive on a weekly basis. In signing Clark, the Browns would get one of the most productive young pass-rushers in the game; he has three straight seasons with 10-plus sacks and didn't have a game this past season with fewer than two pressures.

AFC EAST

Buffalo Bills: OT Trent Brown

2018 team: Patriots | Age: 26

Over the past two seasons, at right tackle for the 49ers in 2017 and at left tackle for the Patriots in 2018, Brown has given up only 51 total pressures on 995 pass-blocking snaps. That pressure rate of 5.1 percent not only puts him among the top 20 tackles in that span, but it's tied with Andrew Whitworth and Bryan Bulaga, who are two of the league's best at the position. With Jordan Mills set to face free agency, Brown has the potential to shore things up on the Bills' offensive line.

Miami Dolphins: QB Teddy Bridgewater

2018 team: Saints | Age: 26

Bridgewater didn't get any real playing time in the 2018 regular season, but he did light up the preseason to the tune of an 80.9 overall grade, which ranked eighth out of 94 qualifying quarterbacks. He showed enough to prove that he's over his leg injury and can still become a great quarterback in the NFL. The last time he had significant regular-season action was in 2015, when he finished with the 12th-best passer rating when kept clean (102.5) out of 38 qualifying quarterbacks. If he can reach his pre-injury form, the Dolphins would have a quarterback with loads of potential.

New England Patriots: WR Golden Tate

2018 team: Eagles | Age: 31

Chris Hogan should be gone and Julian Edelman and Rob Gronkowski are aging in New England -- if the latter even decides to play next season. Although Tate isn't getting any younger himself, he proved in 2018 that he could still make defenders miss, no matter whom he was playing for. His 23 total missed tackles forced after the catch were the most among all receivers last season, as he forced 13 in seven games with the Lions and another 10 in eight games with the Eagles. Tate with the ball in space is a dangerous thing, and he'd add a reliable target for New England's evolving underneath passing attack.

New York Jets: CB Ronald Darby

2018 team: Eagles | Age: 25

Although New York is set at safety for a long time, its cornerbacks did not live up to any of their previous billings a season ago. Therefore, a free-agent signing of Darby and a draft pickup of one of the top college options should not be off the table. Darby will head into the 2019 season off an injury that sidelined him after Week 10, but he still flashed the moments that saw him become one of the league's better cover corners in 2017. For his career, Darby has limited quarterbacks to a completion percentage of just over 50 percent, and he has tightened up his tackling in the past two seasons, missing only nine tackles on 101 attempts since 2017.

AFC SOUTH

Houston Texans: S Adrian Amos

2018 team: Bears | Age: 26

The Texans are likely to let Tyrann Mathieu walk, and who better to sign than the league's eighth-highest-graded safety from a season ago? Amos was a revelation for the Bears, finishing with the league's No. 8 grade in coverage at safety while adding a much-needed presence in run defense. His 17 defensive stops ranked in the top 30, and his solid tackling also saw him finish among the top half of safeties last season.

Indianapolis Colts: Edge DeMarcus Lawrence

2018 team: Cowboys | Age: 27

The Colts' pass-rushing unit fell off a cliff after Jabaal Sheard in 2018, with no other Indianapolis edge defender ranking in the top 40 in terms of total pressures. Kemoko Turay has a ways to go as a pass-rusher and as a run defender, so adding the value Indy could with a splash signing in Lawrence would be tremendous the defensive line. Lawrence proved he wasn't just a contract-year wonder, adding a second consecutive season of strong grades in 2018. He racked up 66 pressures on 537 pass rushes after bringing in 79 total QB pressures a season earlier. His plus grades in run defense in every year of his career round out the type of three-down player he could be for the Colts if Dallas lets him go.

Jacksonville Jaguars: QB Nick Foles

2018 team: Eagles | Age: 30

Foles is coming off another good postseason for the Eagles, as he finished with the fifth-best overall grade (75.3) out of 12 qualifying quarterbacks in the playoffs. When pressured in 2018 (including playoffs), Foles completed 44 of 73 attempts for 566 yards, with three touchdowns, two interceptions and a passer rating of 86.9, ranking first out of 39 qualifying quarterbacks. Foles would be an automatic upgrade over the Jaguars' current quarterback situation and would bring Super Bowl experience to a team that got so close just a year ago.

Tennessee Titans: Edge Preston Smith

2018 team: Redskins | Age: 26

The Titans lacked a true edge rushing force outside of Harold Landry with Brian Orakpo aging. Landry was impressive when rushing the passer in Year 1 but suspect elsewhere, and could benefit from the addition of Smith. During his time in Washington, Smith played nearly 3,000 snaps and brought down 164 QB pressures. He enters free agency on the heels of a career year in which he put forth career-best grades in run defense, pass rush and coverage.

AFC WEST

Denver Broncos: LB C.J. Mosley

2018 team: Ravens | Age: 27

The Broncos have struggled to be relevant since their Super Bowl 50 victory three years ago. Much of that is because of quarterback play, but the Broncos have also struggled at linebacker since Danny Trevathan departed. Enter Mosley, who has had five solid seasons with the Ravens and will turn 27 this offseason. Mosley is an above-average run defender and finished with a run-defense grade of 75.4 last season, ranking 17th out of 96 qualifying linebackers. With 30 run stops on 275 run-defense snaps, Mosley had the seventh-best run-stop percentage (10.9 percent) at the position last season. He has yet to reach his full potential, and the Broncos should want him on their roster when that happens.

Kansas City Chiefs: CB Bradley Roby

2018 team: Broncos | Age: 27

Roby is coming off a down year in which he earned a 59.8 overall grade, ranking 102nd out of 131 qualifying cornerbacks. However, Roby will be only 27 this offseason and has proved that he can play at a high level in the NFL. In fact, in the 2017 season, his overall grade of 78.3 ranked 23rd out of 126 cornerbacks, showing that he has the potential to be great. The Chiefs could use a cornerback like Roby, who has the speed and athleticism to match up with some of the best wide receivers in the NFL.

Los Angeles Chargers: OG Rodger Saffold

2018 team: Rams | Age: 31

Saffold was one of the major reasons the Rams saw the success they did on the ground in 2018. In fact, he finished with the league's fourth-highest run-blocking grade among guards, and by switching allegiances to the other L.A. team; he would instantly become the best run-blocker on the Chargers. Michael Schofield III and Dan Feeney ranked 56th and 76th, respectively, in terms of guard run-blocking grades last season.

Oakland Raiders: Edge Za'Darius Smith

2018 team: Ravens | Age: 27

Jon Gruden infamously said it best, and it rang true in 2018: It's hard to find good pass-rushers in the NFL. No Raiders edge defender secured more than 31 QB pressures, and Arden Key, who led the Oakland edge defenders, missed 10 tackles on only 38 attempts. Smith is one of the more underrated pass-rushers in the league, registering 60 total QB pressures, impressive compared with the Oakland edge rushing foursome's 64.

NFC EAST

Dallas Cowboys: S Earl Thomas

2018 team: Seahawks | Age: 30

Thomas is coming off a broken leg but was the best safety in the NFL before his injury last season. If we count only the weeks in which Thomas played (Weeks 1-4), he would've finished with the best overall grade (91.3) among all safeties. He also grabbed three interceptions and allowed a passer rating of just 73.6 in that span. He has range, can cover, is willing to stop the run and can tackle, and the Cowboys need a game-changing safety like Thomas if they want to reach the next level. Despite nearing the age of 30, Thomas is coming off his best two-year stretch in terms of PFF grading, having finished each of the past two seasons with 90-plus overall grades.

New York Giants: LB Anthony Barr

2018 team: Vikings | Age: 27

Barr's best days might already be gone, but he's best suited to land on a team that utilizes him correctly. He's a dropback linebacker who excels at rushing the passer. If he can replicate his sophomore campaign of 2015, in which he finished with elite grades in coverage while also bringing down a career-high 27 QB pressures, he becomes the perfect addition to a Giants linebacking corps that lacks playmakers.

Philadelphia Eagles: QB Ryan Fitzpatrick

2018 team: Buccaneers | Age: 36

Fitzpatrick started the 2018 season in a magical way, earning 96-plus overall grades in each of the first two weeks. His gunslinger mentality paid off early, but his magic fizzled later in the season. However, he still did enough to earn an overall grade of 84.4, which ranked 10th out of 39 qualifying quarterbacks last season. When kept clean, Fitzpatrick completed 121 of 172 attempts for 1,824 yards, nine touchdowns, five interceptions, and a passer rating of 110.2, ranking 10th in the NFL. Fitzpatrick is 36 and would merely be an insurance policy in case Carson Wentz gets injured again.

Washington Redskins: CB Bryce Callahan

2017 team: Bears | Age: 27

Callahan is one of the league's top cornerbacks in the slot, a position increasing in value in today's NFL. Overall, he finished as the 11th-highest-graded cornerback last season, giving up no reception longer than 29 yards and limiting quarterbacks to an 80.5 passer rating when targeted. The Redskins have not gotten what they hoped for out of the Josh Norman signing and saw rookie CB Greg Stroman finish as the team's highest-graded cornerback. Still, each Redskins cornerback allowed a passer rating of at least 105.8, and both Fabian Moreau and Stroman struggled in slot coverage, where Callahan shines. Callahan also chipped in with a ridiculous 13 pressures on only 24 blitzes a year ago for the Bears.

NFC NORTH

Chicago Bears: CB Steven Nelson

2018 team: Chiefs | Age: 26

With both Bryce Callahan and Adrian Amos set to hit free agency, the Bears could very well need to bolster a secondary that developed into one of the best playmaking units in the NFL last year. Nelson turned into a playmaker himself in 2018, logging 10 pass breakups and four interceptions while allowing a catch rate of only 53.1 percent in his coverage.

Detroit Lions: S Tyrann Mathieu

2018 team: Texans | Age: 27

It's no secret the Lions' secondary has struggled. After all, it's a unit that allowed Teez Tabor to play 176 snaps in coverage before pulling him from the lineup. Tabor finished the season having allowed a perfect passer rating into his coverage as well as 22 receptions on only 28 targets for 371 yards and four touchdowns. The problems weren't confined to Tabor, as the highest-graded full-time player in the secondary was Darius Slay (the No. 23 CB), while their highest-graded safety, Quandre Diggs, was just the No. 35-rated player at the position. Mathieu has a lot of football left in him and has been an ironman over the past two seasons. He has had plus grades in every season of his career and played over 1,000 snaps in the secondary in the past two. That kind of longevity, as well as his playmaking presence, would go a long way in Detroit.

Green Bay Packers: Edge Trey Flowers

2018 team: Patriots | Age: 26

Flowers is coming off a career-high 90.4 overall grade in the regular season, ranking third out of 113 qualifying edge defenders. He was a menace against the run, logging 25 run stops on 237 run-defense snaps, good for the No. 7 run-stop percentage (10.5 percent) at the position. He was also great against the pass, having generated 64 total pressures (43 hurries, 12 hits, nine sacks) and earning the 13th-best pass-rush productivity rating (8.3) among edge defenders. With a couple of Super Bowl victories to his credit, Flowers could bring skill and experience to the Packers.

Minnesota Vikings: C Mitch Morse

2018 team: Chiefs | Age: 27

The current holder of the longest streak without giving up a sack at the center position, Morse is a dominant pass-blocker and would anchor a Vikings offensive line that lacks strong pass-protecting linemen. Current Minnesota center Pat Elflein gave up 33 total QB pressures a season ago, which happened to be the third most at the position. In fact, Morse gave up only four total pressures in 2018, and Elflein gave up four sacks.

NFC SOUTH

Atlanta Falcons: CB Jason McCourty

2018 team: Patriots | Age: 32

The Falcons' best-performing cornerback in 2018 was Desmond Trufant, who managed to rank only 36th among players at the position in overall grade. Opposite him, Robert Alford saw a significant drop-off in play that saw his overall grade drop from a respectable 76.6 in 2017 to a disappointing 56.6 this past season. Collectively, Falcons cornerbacks managed to rank 19th in the league in terms of overall grade (73.4) and 29th in terms of passer rating allowed (104.2). Heading into free agency, the team needs someone it can trust on the back end of the defense, and McCourty fits that mold. He might be turning 32 in August, but McCourty is coming off the best season of his career, in which he earned a career-high overall grade and coverage grade, and his 94.5 passer rating allowed was lower than all of the Falcons' starters at the position.

Carolina Panthers: C Matt Paradis

2018 team: Broncos | Age: 29

Following the retirement of longtime Panther Ryan Kalil, Carolina has a void to fill at the center position for the first time in a long time. Paradis would be the obvious choice to fill that void, as he was a top-three-graded center in the NFL before going down because of a broken ankle midway through the 2018 campaign. Though he's coming off an injury, he has been one of the best centers in the NFL when on the field and never graded lower than 74.0 for any season in his career.

New Orleans Saints: TE Jared Cook

2018 team: Raiders | Age: 32

The Saints haven't had a big-time target at tight end since Jimmy Graham left, and Cook proved in 2018 that he still had speed to burn and the ability to move the chains almost at will despite living on a dying roster in Oakland. Cook's 361 yards after the catch were sixth best in the league, and he forced an additional seven missed tackles and moved the chains on 40 of his 68 receptions. He'd add a big body underneath for the Saints and Drew Brees, perhaps freeing Michael Thomas from double-teams more often in 2019.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers: S Landon Collins

2018 team: Giants | Age: 25

There is no shame in acknowledging your weaknesses from the previous season, and that is what head coach Bruce Arians should do this offseason. One of the biggest issues in Tampa is the secondary across the board, but the lackluster play of the box safeties has been more than apparent in recent seasons. Collins had a bit of a down year in 2018 yet still finished with significantly higher grades than any safety in a Bucs uniform. Collins' high-end play is among the best in the league, as he can move around and play as a run-stuffing linebacker, an edge-rushing blitzer or a free safety in coverage. He's a do-it-all safety whose signing would be more than welcome for Bucs fans.

NFC WEST

Arizona Cardinals: OT Ja'Wuan James

2018 team: Dolphins | Age: 27

A lot can be said about Josh Rosen's rookie campaign, but one thing is for sure: He was never put in a position to succeed behind his team's offensive line. In 16 regular-season games, the Cardinals' offensive line allowed a league-worst pressure rate of 38.6 percent, and Arizona's 435 total pressures allowed over the past two seasons are second to only the Texans. Simply put, the Cardinals need an answer at tackle, and James would be an instant upgrade. James' lowest pass-blocking grade over the past four seasons is 67.3, which is far from liability territory and much better than any mark put forth by any of Arizona's tackles in 2018.

Los Angeles Rams: Edge Brandon Graham

2018 team: Eagles | Age: 31

Though the Rams brought in Dante Fowler Jr. to help bolster the outside pass rush, he fizzled out down the stretch and seems to be on his way out of Los Angeles. Consistency is the name of Graham's game, as he has recorded at least 50 pressures in each of the past five seasons -- including at least 77 in each of the past three. He's a plus run defender and brings an outside pass-rushing skill set that would complement Aaron Donald perfectly.

San Francisco 49ers: S Ha Ha Clinton-Dix

2018 team: Redskins | Age: 26

Clinton-Dix bounced from the Packers to the Redskins in 2018 and finished the season strong for Washington over the last nine games. His release came on the heels of great performances in coverage and in run defense, as he was the league's 16th-highest-graded safety just from his time in Washington. Clinton-Dix has more than proved to be a movable chess piece across the defensive formation but does his best work at free safety. He would be an instant upgrade for the 49ers, who didn't have a safety finish with a top-50 grade at the position last season.

Seattle Seahawks: DT Ndamukong Suh

2018 team: Rams | Age: 33

Sacks are one thing, but pressures are another. One is an impact play that isn't predictable from one year to the next, and the other directly predicts future sack totals. Suh excelled in the latter category, as he didn't have quite the sack totals of previous seasons but still finished with the 12th-most pressures among interior defensive linemen. Suh's 20th-ranked run-defense grade proves he's no one-trick pony, and he would add a veteran presence to potentially mentor Poona Ford and add a mean streak to the Seahawks' defensive interior that it hasn't had in some time.