10 NFL free agents who paid off this season (and 10 who didn't)

Technically, the Saints re-signed Bridgewater and didn't "add" him in free agency, but his impact was so great that he had to be on this list. Bridgewater went 5-0 as a starter filling in when a thumb injury sidelined Drew Brees early this season and has thrown for nine touchdowns with just two interceptions in 2019. Without Bridgewater, the Saints wouldn't be vying for postseason home-field advantage in these last two weeks of the regular season.

The 29-year-old running back was the perfect addition for what the Ravens wanted to do on offense this year with Lamar Jackson. Ingram's punishing style is a fantastic complement to Jackson's speed and quickness, so it's no surprise he's having perhaps his best season. Ingram has 963 rushing yards with 10 touchdowns while averaging a career-high 5.0 yards per carry this season.

There was a little bit of a slow start to the year, but Crowder has become one of second-year quarterback Sam Darnold's favorite targets. He has at least 75 receiving yards in four of the last seven games, and during that stretch Crowder has scored five touchdowns. If he has decent showings in the last two weeks, Crowder could post career highs across the board. He has 66 receptions for 707 yards and five touchdowns so far this season.

Coming off his best NFL season with the Raiders in 2018, it's no surprise that the veteran tight end is having a tremendous year with Brees and the Saints. Cook has more than one fewer target-per-game this season, but he's nearly averaging a career-best 15.2 yards per catch. As a result, he has 577 receiving yards and six touchdowns with 38 catches this season.

The Titans have made numerous changes to their offense, which have yielded positive results, but establishing Saffold at left guard was one of Tennessee's biggest victories of the offseason. With the help of Saffold, the Titans have improved from sixth in rushing yards per attempt and 29th in passing last season to fifth in yards per carry and 20th in passing yards this year.

There was a shallow pool of defensive tackles in free agency this past offseason, and Suh has been fairly productive during his first year with the Buccaneers. He has recorded 34 combined tackles with 2.5 sacks and 13 quarterback hits. Suh also has four fumble recoveries, including two he returned for touchdowns.

Houston has proved this season that he has plenty still left in the tank. In his first year with the Colts, Houston leads the team with 9.0 sacks, 12 tackles for loss and 16 quarterback hits. He also has one forced fumble and three fumble recoveries this season.

The 27-year-old had trouble staying healthy in four years with the Eagles but always showcased a lot of potential. Hicks is reaching his potential this season as one of the top tackles in the NFL. He has 131 combined tackles, including 82 solos, with nine tackles for loss and six quarterback hits. All of those numbers are already career highs. Plus, he has three interceptions and 1.5 sacks.

Had this list not been divided by position, there could have been four or five defensive backs on it. Particularly at safety, Tyrann Mathieu, Eric Weddle and Thomas were all top free agents and have made terrific impacts for their teams this season. With 45 combined tackles, five quarterback hits, 1.5 sacks and two interceptions, Thomas is our choice for the list. He is heading back to the Pro Bowl for the seventh time in his career.

Myers converted a career-high 91.7 percent of his field goals and made his first Pro Bowl with the Jets last season. That landed him a new contract with the Seahawks this fall and while he's returned to making about 80 percent of his field goals, his numbers are in the same neighborhood as retired Seahawks kicker Sebastian Janikowski's from last season. 

Foles' season started on the wrong note immediately when he broke his collarbone in Week 1. He returned in Week 11 but after playing poorly for about two-and-a-half games, he lost his job to Gardner Minshew. What the Jaguars do at quarterback will be one of the biggest questions this offseason. Foles still has three years left on his $88 million contract.

Other than his bowling flu incident, to Bell's credit, he hasn't been a distraction for the Jets this season as he was in Pittsburgh. Even in a losing season and disappointing personal year, Bell appears to have been a good teammate. However, his production is severely lacking. He has 1,080 yards from scrimmage and four total touchdowns with a career-worst 3.3 yards per carry average this year.

With the Titans continuing to mirror the New England Patriots, Humphries was expected to be "the Julian Edelman" for the Tennessee offense. That simply hasn't happened, as Humphries has just 37 receptions for 374 yards and two touchdowns this year. After 105 targets last season, he has just 47 in 12 games this year. 

Antonio Brown gave Humphries a real run for his money for this spot, though, as Brown played well for the Patriots but dressed for only one game after his New England tenure came to a controversial end.

Signing James to a four-year contract and then drafting T.J. Hockenson in the first round was a bit odd, and this is why: James hasn't received enough targets to make the same impact in Detroit as he did in Pittsburgh. But even without Hockenson, who's on IR with an ankle injury to end the season, James hasn't been much of a receiving threat. He has 13 catches for 125 yards and zero touchdowns this season.

The Falcons signed a pair of offensive guards and drafted two more first-round offensive linemen to fix their front. It hasn't worked for various reasons, and Brown is among the most disappointing offensive line free agent signings from 2019. He's started nine games this year but hasn't even been active the last two weeks because of ineffective play.

The individual numbers suggest Richardson is having a fine season. He has 56 combined tackles, four tackles for loss, five quarterback hits and 3.0 sacks. But with him manning the middle of the defensive line, the Browns are no better in run defense than they were a year ago. They have gone from 28th in run defense to 27th this season with Richardson, but Cleveland is allowing more yards per carry this year.

The Seahawks traded away Frank Clark, and while he isn't having the best of seasons in Kansas City, Ansah has been a bigger disappointment in Seattle. Health was a problem for Ansah last season, and it has been again this year, as he's played in only nine games. He has 15 combined tackles with eight quarterback hits and only 2.5 sacks.

Suggs wasn't having a bad season, but the Cardinals unexpectedly released the veteran linebacker last week. That's just admitting that things didn't work out. Suggs, who was picked up by Kansas City, will get another chance to win the Super Bowl, and perhaps face his former team (Baltimore) in the playoffs, with the Chiefs. He has 5.5 sacks and 37 combined tackles this season.

Similar to Richardson, Coleman doesn't have bad individual numbers, but as a starter for his new team, the Lions, he hasn't provided much improvement in their passing defense. Last season Detroit was 25th in net passing yards allowed, and this year the Lions have fallen to 29th in that stat. They have also gone from eighth in passing yards allowed to 31st. Coleman has 46 combined tackles, 13 pass defenses and one interception.

The Jets signed Catanzaro to replace Jason Myers, but he retired in August. Without Catanzaro, the Jets have made 66.7 percent of their field goals this season. The Jets will definitely be in the market for another kicker this offseason.