The 5 o’clock club aims to provide a forum for reader-driven discussion at a time of day when there isn’t much NFL news being published. Feel free to introduce topics that interest you in the comments below.

This ain’t mock drafting

In an effort to help readers be better prepared for the free agency period that will be upon us next week, the 5 o’clock club has been featuring free agent profiles for every position except Offensive Tackle, Quarterback, and special teams specialists.

Since early January, we have profiled 78 players who were potential free agents. Some remain under contract (Dez Bryant), some have been franchise-tagged (Jarvis Landry), and some are probably going to be re-signed by their 2017 club, but all of them seemed worthy of consideration as part of the free agent frenzy that has a ‘soft opening’ on 12 March, and is set to explode at 4 p.m. EST on 14 March 2018.

The Redskins (currrent, but not for long) very own Kirk Cousins is this year’s #1 rated free agent. You don’t have to take my word for that. Basically, everyone in the known universe who creates a top-10, top-20, top-50 or top-100 free agent list has Kirk Cousins sitting at the top of it.

Keeping track of the frenzy

To help you keep track of what’s going on with free agent signings, I have printed two lists below.

The first list is from NFL.com — their list of the top 101 free agents of 2018. I have listed each of the top 53 free agents, although there are 10 without profiles — specifically, the quarterbacks, offensive tackles, Josh Sitton and Le’Veon Bell.

Beyond the top-53, I have listed only the players that do have a 5 o’clock club profile. There are 16 players in that part of the list, ranging from #56 (Tre Boston) to #97 (Junior Galette).

The second list is the full list of 78 players who have been profiled on the 5 o’clock club in 2018, broken up by position.

There are 13 wide receiver profiles, 6 TE, 7 RB, and 14 for Guards & Centers, making a total of 40 offensive position profiles.

On the defensive side, there are 38 total profiles: 5 Defensive Linemen, 8 Edge Rushers, 10 LB, 10 CB and 5 safeties.

I hope that the two lists, in different formats, will help you make sense of, and keep track of, free agency next week.

The NFL.com list of the top 100 free agents of 2018

1. Kirk Cousins - QB - no 5 o’clock club profile
2. Drew Brees - QB - no 5 o’clock club profile
3. Le’Veon Bell - RB - no 5 o’clock club profile - Note: Bell was franchise-tagged by the Steelers
4. Demarcus Lawrence - EDGE- 5 o’clock club profile Note: Lawrence was tagged by the Cowboys
5. Allen Robinson - WR - 5 o’clock club profile
6. Sheldon Richardson - DL - 5 o’clock club profile
7. Sammy Watkins - WR - Profile 1, Profile 2, Profile 3
8. Andrew Norwell - G - 5 o’clock club profile
9. Kyle Fuller - CB - 5 o’clock club profile Note: Kyle Fuller was transition tagged by the Bears
10. Case Keenum - QB - no 5 o’clock club profile
11. Malcolm Butler - CB - 5 o’clock club profile
12. Trumaine Johnson - CB - 5 o’clock club profile
13. Lemarcus Joyner - DB - 5 o’clock club profile Note: Joyner was tagged by the Rams
14. Teddy Bridgewater - QB - no 5 o’clock club profile
15. Sam Bradford - QB - no 5 o’clock club profile
16. Bashaud Breeland - CB - 5 o’clock club profile
17. Nate Solder - OT - no 5 o’clock club profile
18. Dontari Poe - DL - 5 o’clock club profile
19. Justin Pugh - G - 5 o’clock club profile
20. Zach Brown - LB - 5 o’clock club profile, Article
21. Muhammad Wilkerson - DL - 5 o’clock club profile
22. Carlos Hyde - RB - 5 o’clock club profile
23. Jimmy Graham - TE - 5 o’clock club profile
24. Kenny Vaccaro - S - 5 o’clock club profile
25. Eric Reid - S - 5 o’clock club profile
26. Nigel Bradham - LB - 5 o’clock club profile
27. Avery Williamson - LB - 5 o’clock club profile
28. Morgan Burnett - S - 5 o’clock club profile
29. Dion Lewis - RB - 5 o’clock club profile
30. Star Lotulelei - DT - 5 o’clock club profile
31. Weston Richburg - C - 5 o’clock club profile
32. Terrelle Pryor - WR - Article
33. E.J. Gaines - CB - 5 o’clock club profile
34. A.J. McCarron - QB - no 5 o’clock club profile
35. Trey Burton - TE - Profile 1, Profile 2
36. Jack Mewhort - G - 5 o’clock club profile
37. Tyler Eifert - TE - 5 o’clock club profile
38. Jordan Matthews - WR - 5 o’clock club profile
39. DaQuan Jones - DL - 5 o’clock club profile
40. Julius Peppers - EDGE - 5 o’clock club profile
41. Tahir Whitehead - LB - 5 o’clock club profile
42. Brent Grimes - CB - 5 o’clock club profile
43. Paul Richardson - WR - 5 o’clock club profile
44. Morris Claiborne - CB - 5 o’clock club profile
45. Marqise Lee - WR - 5 o’clock club profile
46. Ryan Jensen - C - 5 o’clock club profile
47. Prince Amukamara - CB - 5 o’clock club profile
48. Josh McCown - QB - no 5 o’clock club profile
49. Preston Brown - LB - 5 o’clock club profile
50. Josh Sitton - G - no 5 o’clock club profile
51. John Brown - WR - 5 o’clock club profile
52. Anthony Hitchens - LB - 5 o’clock club profile
53. Jerick McKinnon - RB - 5 o’clock club profile

56. Trey Boston - S - 5 o’clock club profile

57. Austin Seferian-Jenkins - TE - 5 o’clock club profile

58. Donte Moncrief - WR - 5 o’clock club profile

59. Adrian Clayborn - EDGE - 5 o’clock club profile

61. Aaron Colvin - CB - 5 o’clock club profile

68. Josh Kline - G - 5 o’clock club profile

69. Taylor Gabriel - WR - 5 o’clock club profile

70. Isaiah Crowell - RB - 5 o’clock club profile

74. John Sullivan - C - 5 o’clock club profile

75. Trent Murphy - EDGE - 5 o’clock club profile

76. Todd Davis - LB - 5 o’clock club profile

83. Jeremy Hill - RB - 5 o’clock club profile

84. Eric Decker - WR - 5 o’clock club profile

86. Pernell McPhee - EDGE - 5 o’clock club profile

89. Alex Okafor - EDGE - 5 o’clock club profile

97. Junior Galette - EDGE - 5 o’clock club profile

Comprehensive List of 5 o’clock club profiles

Here’s a handy list of all the free agent profiles & articles that have appeared on the 5 o’clock club in 2018, separated by position. Click on the links to read the profiles:

Wide Receiver (13)

• Sammy Watkins - Profile 1, Profile 2, Profile 3
• Jarvis Landry, Allen Robinson, Jordan Matthews, Paul Richardson, John Brown, Dontae Moncrief, Albert Wilson, Taylor Gabriel - Profile
• Dez Byrant, Eric Decker - Profile
• Ryan Grant - Article
• Marquise Lee - 5 o’clock club profile

Tight Ends (6)

• Trey Burton - Profile 1, Profile 2
• Virgil Green, Crockett Gilmore - Profile
• Jimmy Graham, Tyler Eifert, Austin Seferian-Jenkins - 5 o’clock club profile

Running Backs (7)

• Isaiah Crowell - Profile
• Carlos Hyde, Dion Lewis, Jerick McKinnon, Jeremy Hill, Orleans Darkwa, Terrance West - Profile

Interior Offensive Linemen - G & C (14)

• Jackl Mewhort, Chris Hubbard, Andrew Norwell - Profile
• DJ Fluker, Matt Slauson, Alex Boon - Profile
• Josh Kline, Kevin Pamphile, Weston Richburg, Zach Fulton, Spencer Long, John Sullivan - Profile
• Justin Pugh, Ryan Jensen - 5 o’clock club profile

Interior Defensive Line (5)

• Sheldon Richardson, Star Lotulelei, Dontari Poe - Profile
• Muhammad Wilkerson, DaQuan Jones - 5 o’clock club profile

Edge Rushers (8)

• Demarcus Lawrence, Julius Peppers, Adrian Clayborn, Pernell McPhee, Alex Okafor, Connor Barwin, Trent Murphy, Junior Galette - Profile

Linebackers (10)

• Zach Brown, Kevin Minter, Nigel Bradham, Anthony Hitchens, Tahir Whitehead - Profile
• Avery Williamson, Christian Jones, Josh Bynes - Profile
• Todd Davis - Profile
• Preston Brown - 5 o’clock club profile

Cornerbacks (10)

• Trumaine Johnson, Malcolm Butler, Aaron Colvin, Kyle Fuller, Nevin Lawson, Bashaud Breeland - Profile
• E.J. Gaines, Brent Grimes, Morris Claiborne, Prince Amukamara - 5 o’clock club profile

Safeties (5)

• Tre Boston - Profile
• Lamarcus Joyner, Eric Reid, Morgan Burnett, Kenny Vaccarro - Profile

Today’s poll questions

There’s probably no fan base anywhere that is more familiar with a player contract and its potential than the Redskins with the Kirk Cousins situation. We have all become experts in Kirk’s market value, the workings of the franchise tag, tag & trade scenarios, compensatory picks, guarantees, APY, cap hits, and so on.

Now the rubber meets the road. Kirk will be the “first domino to fall” in the quarterback part of free agency (second, if you count Alex Smith; third, if you count Blake Bortles).

It’s time to put our collective expertise to the test. We’ve been studying Kirk and his contract situation for three years -- here’s the final exam.

If you want to, after answering the poll questions, you can put your projected Kirk contract into the comments section, looking something like this:

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• Vikings
• 3 years, $28m APY
• 90% guarantee
• signing bonus of less than $20m

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