DD.comment: Obviously, we considered a players potential going forward, injury history and 2009 age when doing these lists, which explains why we ranked several bigger name players in their mid 30's (or older) lower than their current talent level should warrant -- examples include Jeff Garcia, Lawyer Milloy and Brian Dawkins. Finally, we did list players that were under contract for 2009, but were cut due to salary reasons (i.e Gibril Wilson).

Defensive Ends
Rank	Name	Current Team	Current Status
1.	Julius Peppers	Carolina	The Panthers placed the franchise tag on Peppers
2.	Terrell Suggs	Baltimore	The Ravens placed the franchise tag on Suggs
3.	Igor Olshansky	San Diego	Signed by Dallas
4.	Chris Canty	Dallas	Signed by N.Y. Giants
5.	Antonio Smith	Arizona	Signed by Houston
6.	Michael Montgomery	Green Bay	Re-signed by Green Bay
7.	Chauncey Davis	Atlanta	Re-signed by Atlanta
8.	Demetric Evans	Washington	Signed by San Francisco
9.	Bertrand Berry	Arizona	Re-signed by Arizona
10.	Jason Taylor	Washington	Salary Cut
11.	Jason Babin	Kansas City
12.	Josh Thomas	Indianapolis
13.	Ebenezer Ekuban	Denver
14.	Darrell Reid	Indianapolis	Defensive Tackle/Signed by Denver
15.	Vonnie Holliday	Miami	Salary Cut
16.	Kalimba Edwards	Oakland
17.	Kevin Carter	Tampa Bay
18.	Marques Douglas	Baltimore	Signed by N.Y. Jets
19.	John Engelberger	Denver	Salary Cut
20.	Eric Moore	St. Louis	Re-signed by St. Louis
21.	David Bowens	New York Jets	Signed by Cleveland
22.	Jerome McDougle	New York Giants
23.	Kenechi Udeze	Minnesota	Non-football Illness
Key Restricted Free Agents
Rank	Name	Current Team	Current Status
-	Victor Adeyanju	St. Louis
-	Earl Cochran	Houston
-	Jason Hunter	Green Bay
-	Stephen Bowen	Dallas	Re-signed by Dallas
-	Otis Grigsby	Minnesota	Re-signed by Minnesota
Defensive Tackles
Rank	Name	Current Team	Current Status
1.	Albert Haynesworth	Tennessee	Signed by Washington
2.	Rocky Bernard	Seattle	Signed by N.Y. Giants
3.	Jonathan Babineaux	Atlanta	Signed Contract Extension
4.	Jovan Haye	Tampa Bay	Signed by Tennessee
5.	Mike Wright	New England	Re-signed by New England
6.	Tank Johnson	Dallas	Signed by Cincinnati
7.	Shaun Cody	Detriot	Signed by Houston
8.	Colin Cole	Green Bay	Signed by Seattle
9.	C.J. Mosley	New York Jets	Signed by Cleveland
10.	John Thornton	Cincinnati
11.	Grady Jackson	Atlanta	Signed by Detroit
12.	Dewayne Robertson	Denver	Salary Cut
13.	Ryan Sims	Tampa Bay	Re-signed by Tampa Bay
14.	Howard Green	Seattle	Signed by New York Jets
15.	Ronald Fields	San Francisco	Signed by Denver
16.	Anthony Weaver	Houston	Salary Cut
17.	Kenny Peterson	Denver	Re-signed by Denver
18.	Jason Jefferson	Atlanta	Re-signed by Atlanta
19.	Dwan Edwards	Baltimore	Re-signed by Baltimore
20.	Ellis Wyms	Minnesota
21.	Antwan Lake	New Orleans
22.	La'Roi Glover	St. Louis
23.	Darwin Walker	Carolina
24.	William Joseph	Oakland	Re-signed by Oakland
25.	Jeff Zgonina	Houston
Key Restricted Free Agents
Rank	Name	Current Team	Current Status
-	Kedric Golston	Washington
-	Gabe Watson	Arizona	Re-signed by Arizona
-	Anthony Montgomery	Washington	Re-signed by Washington
-	Gary Gibson	Carolina
-	Fred Evans	Minnesota	Re-signed by Minnesota
-	Kevin Vickerson	Tennessee
-	Brandon McKinney	Baltimore	Re-signed by Baltimore
Linebackers
Rank	Name	Current Team	Current Status
1.	Ray Lewis	Baltimore	Re-signed by Baltimore
2.	Karlos Dansby	Arizona	Re-signed by Arizona
3.	Leroy Hill	Seattle	The Seahawks placed the franchise tag on Hill
4.	Jonathan Vilma	New Orleans	Re-signed by New Orleans
5.	Channing Crowder	Miami	Re-signed by Miami
6.	Bart Scott	Baltimore	Signed by N.Y. Jets
7.	Andra Davis	Cleveland	Signed by Denver
8.	Michael Boley	Atlanta	Signed by N.Y. Giants
9.	Takeo Spikes	San Francisco	Re-signed by San Francisco
10.	Angelo Crowell	Buffalo	Signed by Tampa Bay
11.	Marques Harris	San Diego
12.	Derrick Brooks	Tampa Bay	Salary Cut
13.	Keith Brooking	Atlanta	Signed by Dallas
14.	Mike Peterson	Jacksonville	Signed by Atlanta
15.	Eric Barton	New York Jets	Signed by Cleveland
16.	Rocky Boiman	Kansas City
17.	Cato June	Tampa Bay	Signed by Houston
18.	Coy Wire	Atlanta	Re-signed by Atlanta
19.	Kevin Burnett	Dallas	Re-signed by San Diego
20.	Nate Webster	Denver
21.	Marcus Washington	Washington	Salary Cut
22.	Tyjuan Hagler	Indianapolis	Re-signed by Indianapolis
23.	Morlon Greenwood	Houston	Salary Cut
24.	Tully Banta-Cain	San Francisco	Signed by New England
25.	Patrick Thomas	Kansas City	Signed by Buffalo
26.	Monty Beisel	Arizona	Signed by Kansas City
27.	Cody Spencer	New York Jets	Signed by Detroit
28.	Clark Haggans	Arizona	Re-signed by Arizona
29.	D.D. Lewis	Seattle	Re-signed by Seattle
30.	Jamie Winborn	Denver	Salary Cut
31.	Adam Seward	Carolina	Signed by Indianapolis
32.	Darryl Blackstock	Cincinnati
33.	Niko Koutouvides	Denver	Signed by Tampa Bay
34.	Ryan Nece	Detroit
35.	Heath Farwell	Minnesota	Re-signed by Minnesota
36.	Nick Griesen	Baltimore	Salary Cut
37.	Sam Williams	Oakland	Re-signed by Oakland
38.	Roderick Green	San Francisco
39.	Paris Lenon	Detroit
40.	Troy Evans	New Orleans	Re-signed by New Orleans
41.	Napoleon Harris	Minnesota
42.	Larry Izzo	New England	Signed by New York Jets
43.	Willie McGinest	Cleveland	Might Retire?
44.	Donnie Edwards	Kansas City	Salary Cut/Might Retire?
Key Restricted Free Agents
Rank	Name	Current Team	Current Status
-	Freddie Keiaho	Indianapolis	No Offer From Colts/Unrestricted Free Agent
-	Rashad Jeanty	Cincinnati
-	Ricky Brown	Oakland	Re-signed by Oakland
-	Keith Ellison	Buffalo	Re-signed by Buffalo
-	Pierre Woods	New England
-	John Digiorgio	Buffalo	Re-signed by Buffalo
-	Brian Iwuh	Jacksonville	Re-signed by Jacksonville
-	Jon Alston	Oakland	Re-signed by Oakland
Cornerbacks
Rank	Name	Current Team	Current Status
1.	Nnamdi Asomugha	Oakland	Re-signed by Oakland
2.	Chris Gamble	Carolina	Signed Contract Extension
3.	Corey Webster	New York Giants	Signed Contract Extension
4.	Kelvin Hayden	Indianapolis	Re-signed by Indianapolis
5.	Ronald Bartell	St. Louis	Re-signed by St. Louis
6.	Dunta Robinson	Houston	The Texans placed the franchise tag on Robinson
7.	Andre' Goodman	Miami	Signed by Denver
8.	Bryant McFadden	Pittsburgh	Signed by Arizona
9.	Phillip Buchanon	Tampa Bay	Signed by Detroit
10.	Domonique Foxworth	Atlanta	Signed by Baltimore
11.	DeAngelo Hall	Washington	Re-signed by Washington
12.	Leigh Bodden	Detroit	Signed by New England
13.	Ken Lucas	Carolina	Salary Cut
14.	Jabari Greer	Buffalo	Signed by New Orleans
15.	Eric Green	Arizona	Signed by Miami
16.	Samari Rolle	Baltimore	Re-signed by Baltimore
17.	Drayton Florence	Jacksonville	Signed by Buffalo
18.	Chris Carr	Tennessee	Signed by Baltimore
19.	Chris McAlister	Baltimore	Salary Cut
20.	Joselio Hanson	Philadelphia	Re-signed by Philadelphia
21.	Karl Paymah	Denver	Signed by Minnesota
22.	Dre' Bly	Denver	Salary Cut
23.	Keiwan Ratliff	Indianapolis
24.	Chris Johnson	Oakland	Re-signed by Oakland
25.	Leigh Torrence	New Orleans
26.	Ralph Brown	Arizona	Re-signed by Arizona
27.	Hank Poteat	New York Jets	Signed by Cleveland
28.	Allen Rossum	San Francisco	Re-signed by San Francisco
29.	DeMarcus Faggins	Houston	Signed by Tennessee
30.	Corey Ivy	Baltimore	Signed by Cleveland
31.	Fakhir Brown	St. Louis
32.	Travis Daniels	Cleveland	Signed by Kansas City
33.	Benny Sapp	Minnesota	Re-signed by Minnesota
34.	Deltha O'Neal	New England
35.	William James	Jacksonville
36.	Patrick Surtain	Kansas City	Salary Cut
37.	Ty Law	New York Jets
38.	Daven Holly	Cleveland	Injured Reserve
39.	Stanley Wilson	Detroit	Injured Reserve
40.	David Barrett	New York Jets	Salary Cut
Key Restricted Free Agents
Rank	Name	Current Team	Current Status
-	Kevin Dockery	N.Y. Giants
-	Derrick Martin	Baltimore	Re-signed by Baltimore
-	Jarrett Bush	Green Bay	Packers Match Offer Sheet by Tennessee
-	Charles Gordon	Minnesota	Re-signed by Minnesota
-	Cletis Gordon	San Diego
Safeties
Rank	Name	Current Team	Current Status
1.	Oshiomogho Atogwe	St. Louis	The Rams placed the franchise tag on Atogwe
2.	Gerald Sensabaugh	Jacksonville	Signed by Dallas
3.	Sean Jones	Cleveland	Signed by Philadelphia
4.	Yeremiah Bell	Miami	Re-signed by Miami
5.	Jim Leonhard	Baltimore	Signed by New York Jets
6.	Jermaine Phillips	Tampa Bay	Re-signed by Tampa Bay
7.	James Sanders	New England	Re-signed by New England
8.	Gibril Wilson	Oakland	Signed by Miami
9.	James Butler	New York Giants	Signed by St. Louis
10.	Renaldo Hill	Miami	Signed by Denver
11.	Brian Dawkins	Philadelphia	Signed by Denver
12.	Eugene Wilson	Houston	Re-signed by Houston
13.	Darren Sharper	Minnesota	Signed by New Orleans
14.	Roy L. Williams	Dallas	Salary Cut
15.	Sean Considine	Philadelphia	Signed by Jacksonville
16.	Matt Giordano	Indianapolis
17.	Vincent Fuller	Tennessee	Re-signed by Tennessee
18.	Mike Brown	Chicago
19.	Mike Adams	Cleveland	Re-signed by Cleveland
20.	Josh Bullocks	New Orleans	Signed by Chicago
21.	Marlon McCree	Denver
22.	C.C. Brown	Houston	Signed by N.Y. Giants
23.	Will Allen	Tampa Bay	Re-signed by Tampa Bay
24.	Jon McGraw	Kansas City	Re-signed by Kansas City
25.	Marquand Manuel	Denver	Salary Cut
26.	Dwight Smith	Detroit	Salary Cut
27.	Keith Lewis	San Francisco	Signed by Arizona
28.	Corey Chavous	St. Louis	Salary Cut
29.	Lawyer Milloy	Atlanta
30.	Nick Ferguson	Houston	Re-signed by Houston
31.	Pierson Prioleau	Jacksonville	Signed by New Orleans
32.	Rashad Baker	Oakland	Signed by Philadelphia
33.	Will Demps	Houston	Salary Cut
34.	Chris Crocker	Cincinnati	Re-signed by Cincinnati
35.	Rodney Harrison	New England	Injured Reserve/Retirement?
32.	Keith Davis	Dallas
Key Restricted Free Agents
Rank	Name	Current Team	Current Status
-	Jarrad Page	Kansas City
-	Atari Bigby	Green Bay
-	Abram Elam	New York Jets	Jets Matched Offer Sheet By Cleveland
-	Reed Doughty	Washington	Re-signed by Washington
-	Dawan Landry	Baltimore	Re-signed by Baltimore
-	George Wilson	Buffalo	Re-signed by Buffalo
-	John Busing	Cincinnati
Also See: 2009 NFL Free Agents: Offense