The start of the 2020 free agency period is about a week away. There are a whole bunch of stars and even more solid starters potentially hitting the market this offseason, which could lead to a huge amount of change for the league. With that in mind, we're going to spend this week walking through the types of moves each and every team can make. But rather than go by division or conference, we're going through the list in order of potential spending power.We began by digging into the teams with, allowing them to be the most active squads when the market opens next week. On Wednesday we covered the , each of whom has $45-60 million in cap room. Below, we'll continue with the seven teams that have a moderate amount of space, ranging from $20-45 million. ($44 million)Key Free Agents: , , , , , , , , Pre sing Needs: WR, TE, OLMinor Needs: EDGE, LBIt's likely that about a quarter of the league will be depending on what happens with the Patriots. I have been firmly in the camp that believes Tom Brady will play for a non-Patriots team when I see him on an NFL field in a real NFL game in a non-Patriots jersey and not a moment sooner, and the most recent reporting surrounding this situation indicates that's the right camp to be in. If he actually makes it to the open market, though, it's considerably more likely that he does leave because the Pats would have to pay both a dead-money charge and his 2020 salary to keep him. Still, the most likely outcome is that he signs a new deal prior to March 18 and the team promises to upgrade the infrastructure around him.Doing that will mean making some hard choices regarding important players like Thuney, McCourty, Collins, and Van Noy. It's unlikely they can retain all four of those players and give Brady
Early Wynn Jersey a better group of pa s-catchers to work with. The most likely of that group to leave is probably Thuney, even if only because the Patriots already paid their other star guard () big money. With Dante Scarnecchia retiring again there could be some worry about the offensive line falling off even farther than it did last season, though, so the Patriots need to make sure to find a suitable replacement if they do let Thuney walk.Some of the skill position improvement could come from players like and simply playing better than they did last year, but the Pats also just have to upgrade their talent base. A.J. Green and have been rumored targets, and each of those players makes sense. If the and place the franchise tag on those players, then chasing after guys like (who has drawn strong interest from New England before) and is a good backup plan.New England has never been known to shell out big money for edge rushers or their versatile linebacker types, but needs to put a priority on retaining at least two of Collins, Van Noy, and Elandon Roberts in order to ensure that they don't experience too much of a drop-off defensively. The Pats are always looking to revitalize the careers of older players who are coming off uncharacteristically poor seasons and/or young guys who didn't live up to their pedigree in their first NFL stop, so players like and could make a good deal of sense. Bill Belichick also loves acquiring smart players who can fill a specific role, so if the fail to retain , it would not be surprising if the Pats had interest as a replacement for whichever of their three linebackers leaves town. ($39 million)Key Free Agents: , , A.Q. Shipley, , , , Pre sing Needs: WR, TE, OL, DBMinor Needs: EDGE, IDLPutting in the best po sible position to succeed is the only thing that matters for the Cardinals over the next few years. He was working with
Avisail Garcia Jersey one of the worst combinations of offensive line and pa s-catchers in the NFL last season, and the Cards should be interested in dramatically upgrading both of those units. Doing so likely means letting Drake walk, which the team should be just fine with but is instead publicly balking at.The very fact that Drake -- who washed out of Miami -- was so succe sful in Arizona is an argument for not paying him. Go find the next Drake. It's not that difficult. They literally just did it, at an incredibly low cost. It's far more important for the Cardinals to give Murray some better targets on the perimeter, where they struggled to test defenses for much of last season. This team is my favorite potential fit for wideout , who is a deep threat that would both fit well with Murray's ability to drop the ball in the bucket down the field and help take the top off the defense to give and more room to work underneath.Even more important than giving Murray some better pa s-catchers, though, is making sure he has significantly better pa s protection than he did last year. They don't have a lot of cap room to sign multiple players, but they can create a bit more by cutting players like and , and redistributing that extra money to the line. Potential solid but low-to-mid-cost options include , , Ron Leary, , , and more.Arizona also needs to give , , and some help in the secondary, though it may be wiser for them to do so in the draft given how many holes the team needs to fill on offense simply to boost Murray's chances of succe s. ($38 million)Key Free Agents: , , , , , , , , Pernell McPheePre sing Needs: WR, EDGEMinor Needs: IDL, LBThe dared Baltimore's receivers to beat them in the divisional round of the playoffs, and they couldn't do it. is a wonderful big-play threat but hasn't shown the ability to be more than that yet, and coming into next year with as the No. 2 wideout
Ivan Nova Jersey is something the Ravens just can't afford to do.If they end up franchising Judon there will not be much money left over to add perimeter receiving talent, but the good news is they don't nece sarily need to break the bank for a No. 1 wideout. The bad news is there's really nobody available in free agency that gives them what they need, unle s the Cowboys somehow fail to retain . They might be better served looking for a wideout early in the draft again, and using free agency to add another edge rusher opposite Judon and find replacements for whichever of Smith, Pierce, and Onwuasor they don't retain. ($34 million)Key Free Agents: , , Pre sing Needs: TE, OL, IDL, DBMinor Needs: QB, LBIt's a shame the Jaguars won't be able to take advantage of absurdly cheap contract for at least another year. Perhaps they find a way to dump on some other team, but even if they do, they'll be left with $18,750,000 of dead money and only $3,125,000 of cap savings.So, there's a tight budget for the Jags to fill a bunch of holes. It gets even tighter if they use the franchise tag on Yannick Ngakoue, as has been rumored of late. Ngakoue has already said publicly that he has no interest in remaining in Jacksonville, but perhaps the Jags can work out a tag-and-trade situation where they can pick up some additional a sets, whether in the form of hole-filling players or draft capital that would allow them to add talent on the cheap.One area of immediate and obvious need is the secondary, where it's almost hard to believe how much talent the Jaguars have shed over the past couple years. and A.J. Bouye are gone. and are gone. is gone. That group formed arguably the best secondary in the league as recently as two years ago. and D.J. Hayden are the team's top corners now, and Jarrad Wilson looks like the safety opposite second-year man . Again, this unit needs an upgrade.If they're looking for low-cost options, both and had strong seasons last year on pretty cheap contracts, and don't seem all that likely to get paid big money on the market. At safety, a solid veteran like or could make sense, as could a younger player who may be tough for his team to retain, like safety . (The Broncos are likely to franchise-tag fellow safety , and have bigger needs elsewhere.) ($25 million)Key Free Agents: , , , , , , Ro s Cockrell, , , , Pre sing Needs: TE, OL, EDGE, IDL, LB, DBMinor Needs: QB, WRThe most likely scenario involves the Panthers largely sitting out big-money free agency and trying to create more cap room a year or two down the line. Hiring Matt Rhule and giving him a seven-year deal to lead
Lucas Giolito Jersey the team, then trading away , gives you a pretty good idea that this is going to be a long-term rebuilding project in Carolina. There's some disagreement within the organization whether that's the case, but actions speak pretty loudly here. Still, losing Bradberry in free agency would hurt, given that he has blo somed into a shutdown No. 1 corner over the past few years. If the Panthers can retain him, they should. ($25 million)Key Free Agents: , , HaHa Clinton-Dix, , , , , , Pre sing Needs: QB, WR, TE, OLMinor Needs: DBNothing matters here beyond whether the team still views as its definitive long-term starter at quarterback. They probably shouldn't, but they also probably do anyway. Will they try to go the route by bringing in a veteran to be the presumptive backup but who can become the starter if and when Trubisky struggles again? and have both been rumored targets for that type of role, and both of them make sense.Whoever is under center, though, it would be nice if the Bears afforded them some more quality targets beyond . was better over the second half of the season than the first, but the team still needs more than just those two guys. And they probably need somebody beyond at the tight end spot, though it's po sible they still think will turn into the guy they need. ($24 million)Key Free Agents: , , Dante Fowler Jr., , , , Pre
Welington Castillo Jersey sing Needs: OL, LB, DBMinor Needs: EDGEThe Rams have four important defensive free agents to retain, and can probably only bring back two of them unle s they restructure contract and/or sign Jalen Ramsey to an extension that lowers his 2020 cap hit from its current number. There have been rumors that they'll use the franchise tag on linebacker Cory Littleton -- an extremely underrated player and one of the best coverage linebackers in the NFL. If they do that, though, it might mean losing Fowler and opening up a major need on the edge, losing Robey-Coleman and opening up a need in the slot, and/or losing Brockers and opening up a need next to Donald on the interior. And with the retirement of , there's also a need at safety next to .Lurking in the background of all this are the Rams' needs along the offensive line. One of the best groups in the NFL took a major step backward in 2019, and though they seemed to get back on track late in the season, there is still a need for a talent influx here. The Rams likely cannot spend big money on fixing that i sue ... but they also don't have the draft capital to addre s it in April. They're going to be one of the most fascinating teams to watch this offseason simply because they have a bunch of holes and not much ammo with which to fill them.