Insider free agency preview:
Top 50 free agents | Best fits for top FAs | Riskiest FAs | Best values | Five teams for Mario Williams | Vincent Jackson | Six teams in danger in FA
Free agency is almost here in the NFL, and during the next few weeks we will see a flurry of activity, as players either change teams or re-sign with their current squads. Managing the salary cap is a major challenge for every team -- it went up barely a quarter of a million dollars for 2012 -- and some teams will enter free agency with very little money to spend. However, the teams that will be hit the hardest are the ones with multiple key free agents hitting the market whom they can't afford to re-sign.
Let's look at six teams that could really be hit hard in free agency in 2012:
1. New Orleans Saints
These are not the best of times in New Orleans on a lot of fronts, and in the midst of all the Saints' problems is a salary-cap situation that is almost impossible to solve. Some key losses coming could be guard Carl Nicks, wide receivers Marques Colston and Robert Meachem and cornerback Tracy Porter, all key parts of this team's recent success. When you add a quarterback in Drew Brees, who appears to be incensed at getting the franchise tag, you have a salary cap/free-agent situation that may be starting to unravel. The Saints can ill afford to lose Nicks and Colston, but it's unlikely that New Orleans will have the ability to compete with the money other teams will offer them.
2. San Diego Chargers
For a long time this has been a roster perceived as one of the most talented in the NFL, but this team now has a lot more needs than you might think, and not enough cap space to fix all those weaknesses via free agency. The challenges start with wideout Vincent Jackson, who will hit the open market because the Chargers decided not to give him the franchise tag, and his expected loss will really hurt this passing game. The Chargers will make some cuts to ease their problems, but they have more free agents that they need to retain than any other team in the NFL and on the surface, looking outside their own team for every fix seems impossible. With the immediate pressure to win, will they roll the dice and make some risky financial decisions?
3. Oakland Raiders
In the latter years of the Al Davis regime, in an effort to put one more Super Bowl-caliber team together, he gave a lot of "name" players big contracts that would take them way over the salary cap, knowing that the Raiders could get under the new cap later with cuts and restructured contracts. Well, it has caught up to them now, and the new front office is forced to make tough decisions on personnel to get this team in a better fiscal situation. They will try to restructure some veteran contracts, but they will still likely lose some players like running back Michael Bush and QB Jason Campbell, and they could take some hits on defense with guys like LB Kamerion Wimbley on the bubble. They may make some small free-agent moves, but this roster will likely not improve in the next few weeks and Oakland's overall depth will be affected.
4. Pittsburgh Steelers
This hasn't been an easy time for this organization, with aging players retiring and a cap situation that has forced the release of several veteran leaders. Even though QB Ben Roethlisberger has restructured his contract to give the front office some relief, they still have a lot of challenges. Gone are WR Hines Ward, ILB James Farrior, G Chris Kemoeatu and DE Aaron Smith, and they gave the high RFA tender to WR Mike Wallace, though they have to worry about not having the ability to match another team's offer to Wallace. The Steelers would like to bring back UFAs CB William Gay, backup QB Byron Leftwich, WR Jerricho Cotchery and some other role players, but they also have RFA decisions to make on some key players. This is a team that may have gotten old in a hurry, and right now the depth is questionable. There doesn't look to be enough money available to fix every issue.
5. Houston Texans
Mario Williams is the best defensive free agent available and it looks certain that other teams will outbid the Texans for his services. Free agent C Chris Myers and RG Mike Brisiel are critical for the Texans to retain because they are so effective in their zone blocking run game, but it won't be easy. Houston would also like to retain backup tight end Joel Dreessen because he is such a good blocker in two-TE sets. This has the look of a Super Bowl roster with surprising depth. Ironically, the player they may be able to afford losing the most is their best player, Williams, because they have two young capable OLBs in Brooks Reed and Connor Barwin to replace his production.
6. Detroit Lions
While it's good to have marquee players, it's also costly, and that puts the Lions in a challenging salary-cap situation. The good news is they're already actively curing cap ills. Quarterback Matthew Stafford has already agreed to a restructured deal that could help keep the core together long-term. But they have work to do. Calvin Johnson, defensive end Kyle Vanden Bosch, defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh and now DE Cliff Avril account for a big chunk of the projected salary cap in 2012. Unless they can restructure one or two more deals, they will be hard-pressed to re-sign everyone, much less become active in the free-agent market. Johnson could be the next restructured contract target, which would help a little bit, but they must still work on a long-term deal for the franchised Avril. The Lions' biggest challenge will be to try to keep linebacker Stephen Tulloch, who will get a lot of attention on the open market. Detroit needs to keep this linebacker group together.