Believe it or not, it’s time to start thinking about Free Agency. The beginning of the Free Agent Signing Period starts at midnight on February 29th. These rankings were comprised regardless of free agent status (i.e. Restricted or Unrestricted) but the status is indicated as “RFA” for “Restricted Free Agent” and “UFA” for “Unrestricted Free Agent” to the right of the player name. The definitions of each are as follows:

UFA: A Player who has at least four years experience at the expiration of a contract can sign with any team with no compensation to his former club.

RFA: Restricted free agents have three years of experience at the end of their contracts and must be tendered an offer sheet before April 15. The player's current club has seven days to match the offer, or the player's rights revert to the team that tendered the sheet. Teams are awarded compensatory draft picks based on the quantity and quality of restricted free agents it loses to other squads in the previous year's free-agent period.

Top Five Free Agent Offensive Guards

1. Larry Allen- UFA- Possibly the strongest man in the NFL with a reported bench press of 700+ pounds and a squat total of over 900+ lbs. No wonder he has been to the Pro Bowl 11 times in 13 years, been named All-Pro seven times and has also won a Super Bowl with the Dallas Cowboys. Allegedly on the downside of his career, (he is 36 years old) Allen could be an ideal fit for a young team on the rise in need of veteran leadership. 

2. Alan Faneca- UFA- Faneca is every bit as talented as Allen and may be the most sought after guard on the market because of less mileage (31 years old). A Pro Bowl selection in each of the last seven seasons (01-07) he has made it abundantly clear since the beginning of training camp that he will not be returning to Pittsburgh next season. 

3. Jake Scott - UFA- The starting guard opposite Ryan Lilja, the 26 year old Scott has started all 16 games in each of the last three seasons, helping to anchor the Colts to five straight division titles and a Super Bowl victory over the Bears.

4. Ryan Lilja- UFA- An undrafted free agent out of K State in 2004, Lilja helped guide the Colts to the Super Bowl last season and was partly accountable for allowing Peyton Manning to be one of the least sacked QB’s over the last two years. Also only 26 years old.

5. Floyd Womack- UFA- Mostly a fill in because of injury last season, Womack was the primary back-up at both tackle and guard spots. When healthy Womack is capable of contributing. In 2006 the Seahawks were 7-2 in the nine games he started and averaged 141 yards rushing per game.

Best of the Rest:
6. Ruben Brown- UFA
7. Chris Liwienski- UFA
8. Rick DeMulling- UFA
9. Justin Smiley- UFA
10. Fred Weary- UFA