The Most Overrated 2021 NFL Free Agents Available

Hype has a way of spiraling out of control right before the doors to NFL free agency swing open. 

Much of that is simply because the offseason is a time of eternal optimism for each of the 32 fanbases, and the 24-hour news cycle on social media provides a big assist. 

But even certain names who were hyped a year ago have already faded quickly. Teddy Bridgewater, for example, wasn't the franchise savior for the Carolina Panthers, and Trae Waynes never even got on the field for the Cincinnati Bengals. After one year with the Miami Dolphins, Kyle Van Noy is already back on the market. 

The annual tradition will continue over the next year.

Past production that hints at an inability to match an inflated market price, shaky injury histories and potential departures from comfortable surroundings all help formulate the list of the most overrated remaining free agents on the 2021 market. 

Jadeveon Clowney hasn't done himself many favors over the last few years. 

After posting nine-plus sacks in two consecutive seasons with the Houston Texans, he joined the Seattle Seahawks and had three sacks in 2019. He then signed with the Tennessee Titans last offseason but managed no sacks over eight games. 

Clowney is still a massive name as 2014's first overall pick, and it will only take one team to give him a gigantic contract. He's also still a strong defender who posted a 74.9 PFF grade last year and an 87.3 the year prior.

But the ability to generate pressure is usually what generates top dollars on the open market. 

Teams looking for pressure will have to understand Clowney has mustered 48, 30 and 11 pressures over his last three seasons. He's a good all-around player, but teams striving to accelerate an opposing offense's clock and encourage mistakes should look elsewhere. 

Bud Dupree has the look of a classic free-agent risk. 

After several ho-hum years, he had a breakout that earned him a franchise tag and then suffered a season-ending ACL injury before heading to a market that could overpay him based on upside alone. 

Now 28 years old, Dupree erupted with 11.5 sacks in 2019, only to fall back to eight over 11 games in 2020. His PFF grade dipped from 77.7 during that breakout year to 60.2. It's also worth considering whether he will be able to excel as a primary pass-rusher instead of benefitting from the presence of a star like T.J. Watt elsewhere on the unit. 

With so many strong pass-rushing options headed to the market, Dupree is a buyer-beware candidate who could regress at great cost in new surroundings.

Gerald Everett looks like one of the top free-agent options at tight end. He will turn 27 over the summer, has good size (6'3", 240 lbs) and can play all over as a potential mismatch option.

But even with the Sean McVay-directed Los Angeles Rams, he has never mustered 500 yards in a season. He's averaged 10.9 yards per catch for his career and scored eight times but has just a single 100-yard performance in four years. 

Maybe the spread-it-around attack has limited Everett's numbers, but seven drops (11.3 percent of his targets) last year don't help his resume. While he's intriguing, he might not live up to whatever contract he ends up getting. 

Will Fuller V often gets cited as an example of why this year's free-agent class is so strong. 

But the Houston Texans wideout didn't receive the franchise tag despite his rebuilding team's dire need, and for good reason. While he's 26 and possesses elite speed, he has yet to break the 1,000-yard barrier in a season and has failed to play more than 11 games in each of the last four years. 

Fuller will also start 2021 on the wrong foot, finishing off the sixth game of his suspension in Week 1. His streak of shaky attendance will therefore continue, though this time with new surroundings. That could continue to hurt the production of a player who's also seen five interceptions recorded on passes targeting him over the last two seasons. 

The market doesn't help Fuller, either. A.J. Green, T.Y. Hilton, Larry Fitzgerald, Marvin Jones Jr., Emmanuel Sanders, Corey Davis and Kenny Golladay are just some of the names available this year. 

Hunter Henry once looked like he could reach the Rob Gronkowski tier of tight ends. 

Now that he's 26, that time appears long past. Henry missed the 2018 season with a torn ACL and hasn't looked the same since. While he's scored nine times over the last two seasons, he has averaged just 11.9 and 10.2 yards per catch, respectively, and failed to record more than 652 yards in either campaign. 

Last year, Henry needed 93 targets to reach 613 yards, catching just 60 of those for the lowest catch percentage (64.5) and yards per target (6.6) of his career. 

While teams might gobble him up and hope he breaks out away from the Los Angeles Changers, he already seems to have reached his peak. On a market that features Kyle Rudolph, Jonnu Smith and Jared Cook, Henry could end up underwhelming. 

It seems Matthew Judon wants to be the next big-name edge-rusher to strike it rich on the open market, and he might, given how desperate teams are to generate pressure in this era of the quarterback.

But the Baltimore Ravens' 2020 franchise-tag recipient managed just six sacks over 14 games last season, his lowest mark since his rookie season four years prior. That was also down from 9.5 in 2019, which partially explained the franchise tag in the first place. 

Along the way, Judon posted a 59.4 Pro Football Focus grade, generally struggling from an all-around standpoint compared to his 70.5 grade from 2019.

He could still upgrade a variety of defenses that are weak at his position, but the money it will cost could leave teams underwhelmed. 

JuJu Smith-Schuster is a huge name with a smooth, self-marketing game, but the hype might leave his eventual new team with regrets. 

While it's nice that he's still just 24 years old after four seasons in the league, he hasn't been able to come close to that elite 2018 campaign in which he posted 1,426 yards and seven touchdowns while playing alongside a prime Antonio Brown and inhaling 166 targets. 

Smith-Schuster managed just 552 yards over 12 games the year after. Last season, he needed 128 targets to reach 831 yards and nine scores, and his 8.6 yards per catch ranked 126th, including tight ends and running backs. 

Now three seasons removed from what seems like an anomaly, Smith-Schuster getting paid like a No. 1 could lead to one of the market's biggest flops.