La Canfora - NFL team needs: Top offseason priorities for all 32 franchises

boozeman

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Jason La Canfora
CBS Sports NFL Insider




NFL team needs: Top offseason priorities for all 32 franchises
February 15, 2015 4:31 pm ET



The NFL offseason has officially begun. Club officials from across the country are on their way to Indianapolis for the annual scouting combine, which is where the foundation for each team's offseason work begins in earnest.

The Super Bowl hangover is over. Real work is being done again to solidify budgets and salary cap maneuvering. The jostling for potential free agents gets under way this week. Every agent, coach and team executive will be in tiny downtown Indianapolis for close to a week. You can call it tampering or skirting the rules, but by next week teams and players will have a much better understanding of where they stand. The groundwork, if not the framework, of contracts and trades and other transactions will be hashed out in hotel suites and backrooms of fancy restaurants into the weekend, with clubs more secure on who they will be able to retain, who they are willing to release and who no longer fits into the business model because of price tag and other market forces.

With that in mind, I started thinking about what I believe should be the first order of business for every NFL club on the eve of the combine. You will find a few common themes -- quarterback issues and/or big contracts -- but then again that's how it goes in this league. If you don't have a legit passer, and/or you are weighed down by bloated contracts and a bad cap situation, well, good luck winning football games.

Arizona Cardinals: The obvious answer is to continue to try to figure out if there is some lower figure that gets Larry Fitzgerald to stay, because his $23.6M cap number is insane and paying him top dollar at this stage of his career could prove problematic. More to the point, however, is getting those extensions done for GM Steve Keim and coach Bruce Arians ASAP. No one has done a better job the last few years, and they deserve to be rewarded as such. They made the key decisions. Further empower them.

Atlanta Falcons: This team needs to accrue draft picks. The Falcons aren't as close to winning as they thought the past few years. With Julio Jones in need of being paid, and in a shallow free-agent wide receiver market, is there any interest in Roddy White? Jones' extension is imperative. I'd go ahead and let Steven Jackson walk right away, taking that $3.75M base salary with him.

Baltimore Ravens: They can't have Haloti Ngata count $16M against their cap since they are already tight against it. Is he worth $10M a year at this stage? I suspect other teams believe so, and finding a two- or three-year deal that keeps him in Baltimore will be the focus at the combine. Losing him, Pernell McPhee and maybe releasing Chris Canty would be a big blow to that defensive line.

Buffalo Bills: Go ahead and let Jerry Hughes see what the market will bear for him, but get Marcell Dareus off that fifth-year option and into a long-term deal. Yes, I still have off-field concerns with him as well but this CBA protects teams pretty well in that regard and this dude was a monster last season. With Kyle Williams aging and a year-to-year proposition, Dareus is vital.

Carolina Panthers: Get Cam Newton off the fifth-year option. Turn him into a fixed cost over the next five years and determine what money and cap space you have for everything else. He is the franchise. Yes, he needs more weapons around him. But it all starts right here. It's going to cost upward of $20M a year. Deal with it.

Chicago Bears: I'm open for business on Brandon Marshall. And, just like when Chicago bought relatively low on him a few years back, I'm not looking for a ton in return. Moving that $7.5M a year would be big, creating some distance from all the issues of a year ago is necessary (and by no means was Marshall a primary culprit, but change is often good in this league for all parties). Alshon Jeffery will be making real money soon enough. You have a running back and tight end already. Get a pick or two and invest into the defense.

Cincinnati Bengals: I'm going to go ahead and cut my losses with Andre Smith and re-invest some of that money into an extension for A.J. Green. Get him off the fifth-year option. And I would look around a little and see if, in a year with only a small handful of corners worth signing, if there is a suitor out there for Leon Hall. Not saying I'd definitely deal him, but I'd get a sense of how robust a hypothetical market for him might be.

Cleveland Browns: The cynic in me would say make sure everyone in the front office has his story straight when it comes to the illegal game-day electronic investigation, and figure out the fall guy, but then again they probably already beat me to the punch. So, just for the heck of it, I'll go with scheduling a meeting with Brian Hoyer's agent on the off chance the franchise has interest in any sort of veteran presence on the roster at quarterback next season.

Dallas Cowboys: Dez Bryant is headed for the franchise tag, it certainly appears, so I'm doing all I can to figure out if there is a team willing to give DeMarco Murray a Shady McCoy-type contract? If not, I'll offer him what Marshawn Lynch is making and push toward $6M a year. At the same time I would try to gauge the likelihood that Adrian Peterson is reinstated in April, and what it might take to entice the Vikings to trade him your way.


Denver Broncos: It's all about Peyton Manning. Pending his physical, we all figure he's going to want to play. I'm not wild about giving him $19M a year to do so. Is there some middle ground you can find with agent Tom Condon to create some cap relief? Peyton has generally been all about being the NFL's top paid player, but coming off the second half of last season and the injury woes, if ever there was a time to play ball on the business side of things, this is it.

Detroit Lions: Ndamakung Suh has at least one foot, if not both, out the door. He's going to get crazy money on the open market and I have too many big contracts as it is. So let me take a decent run at getting Nick Fairley signed now (wish I'd have picked up that fifth-year option), and go ahead and convert a bunch of Matt Stafford and Calvin Johnson base salaries into bonuses to add more cap wiggle room.

Green Bay Packers: The money will probably get out of hand for impending free agent Randall Cobb, so I'll focus on Bryan Bulaga and my offensive line for now. And I would expect the proactive Packers to try to get something done sooner rather than later with Mike Daniels and Casey Hayward, too.

Houston Texans: Anyone, anyone, want to give me something for Andre Johnson? I can't pay him $10.5M at this stage of his career and I know the return might be scant, but I'm finding out (notice a trend here with older receivers on big contracts?). It's better than having to let him go, though that has to be a real consideration as well. I want to get QB Ryan Mallett back in the fold prior to the start of free agency. He merits a longer look as my potential quarterback.


Indianapolis Colts: Let's see how many of our stellar 2012 draft class we can get re-signed. Spending big money on outside free agents hasn't worked well for the Colts, so it's time to find out how much Andrew Luck, T.Y. Hilton and Dwayne Allen are going to cost me for the foreseeable future. Oh, and I'm watching that Ngata situation closely -- with coach Chuck Pagano having coached him in Baltimore and my run defense still poor.

Jacksonville Jaguars: The Jags are going to be spending money. We know that much. They have cash and cap space to burn. What's essential for them is to figure out a top target or two, and make it count. Is it Suh? Do they go back to the Seattle well with corner Byron Maxwell as well? Once they part with Marcedes Lewis and Paul Posluszny cap space will runneth over even more. It's essential, in year three of the Gus Bradley/Dave Caldwell era they get this right and win more games, and I suspect they'll be one of the more active teams in free agency.

Kansas City Chiefs: Let the bloodletting begin. The Chiefs are over the cap and might as well start parting with Dwayne Bowe, Donnie Avery and Mike DeVito, for starters, to clear out some space to try to have the wherewithal to put that franchise tag on Justin Houston. And with a $2M roster bonus looming for Tamba Hali, it might be the end of his long and prosperous tenure in Kansas City.

Miami Dolphins: Forget the meeting with Mike Wallace and all of that baloney and start getting out from under the array of horrible contracts this team has with its 2013 free agents. The Dolphins have no cap wiggle room as it stands and parting with Wallace, Dannell Ellerbe, Randy Starks, Brandon Gibson and Brian Hartline would create some room to operate this offseason. Cortland Finnegan would be gone as well, for me, and I'm going to shop Cameron Wake again, with this team having to pour more money into the front seven the next few years and pass rushers always at a premium.


Minnesota Vikings: Everything is on hold until Adrian Peterson's situation is resolved. There is no way, at all, I am paying him $13M to play next season. Not even close. In fact, I'm trying like heck to establish a trade value for him at the combine if I can find teams willing to pay him. Now, the Vikings claim they want him back, but it would be ridiculous to do so with his outsized contract as is. We almost went .500 with a rookie quarterback without Peterson last year. I'm trying like hell to get a trade worked out pending his potential reinstatement in April.

New England Patriots: Everything else is a subplot at best until/unless I get Darrelle Revis re-signed. No way am I picking up that second year of his contract, which was put in place only for 2014 cap purposes anyway. But getting him extended, on a 2- or 3- year deal, before the start of free agency is my priority, far and away. Bob Kraft can make it happen. If it takes $14M a year for two years, let's do it. Revis is willing to go year-to-year with massive base salaries and the Patriots have the cap and cash ability to do it. Maybe we add a fake year or two to this deal as well for cap purposes, and continue with Revis' mandate for no franchise or transition tags.

New York Giants: Go ahead and give Eli Manning his $20M a year. That's what it takes. That's how it goes. He is going to continue to excel in Ben McAdoo's system -- and maybe, just maybe, McAdoo is the guy who eventually replaces Tom Coughlin for me. Yeah, he throws too many picks every other year, but this looks like an offense ready to explode in 2015. I want to try to get Manning's deal done before Ben Roethlisberger, Philip Rivers, Newton, Luck and Russell Wilson get their deals done.

New York Jets: I'm going to put a nice, strong offer in front of Mo Wilkerson on the first day of the combine. Let me get with his agent and make it clear there is a new regime in charge and we're not going to botch this negotiation the way John Idzik did throughout the 2014 season. I'm going to offer him 75 percent to 80 percent of what J.J. Watt is making because he is the second-best 3-4 DE/DT in the NFL and he's my best player and it's time to send a message to my locker room about the way the Jets are going to proceed from here on out. Oh, and Percy Harvin is gone.

New Orleans Saints: It's time for a purge. Goodbye, Jahri Evans, Marques Colston, Curtis Lofton, David Hawthorne, Brodrick Bunkley and Ben Watson. The Saints have the worst cap situation in the NFL, by far, and before they can think about anyone of significance from the outside they need to deconstruct the existing roster first. And if it's me I'm trying to work a two-year extension with Drew Brees with huge base salaries and the least amount of guaranteed money possible. Wishful thinking, I'm sure, but I need to get Brees in a more manageable cap situation.


Oakland Raiders: Derek Carr needs help. He is the franchise. He has nothing around him. Randall Cobb and Julius Thomas are my top targets in free agency and I am going to the combine looking to let their agents know. If I can get two of the perhaps only impact skill players in this free agent class, then I have done my job. Sure, the defense needs help, too, but this roster is a joke right now. Oh, and Justin Tuck, LaMarr Woodley, Donald Penn, Matt Schaub and every other 2014 free agent mistake I can get rid of are gone.

Philadelphia Eagles: Letting DeSean Jackson walk a year ago will probably haunt Chip Kelly for a while. So now Jeremy Maclin has him over a barrel a year after the Eagles were able to re-sign him on the cheap while coming off an ACL injury. With the quarterback position unstable -- or at least unproven -- this team needs to keep skill players who fit and Maclin is the obvious starting point. If I can find a trade partner for Trent Cole, I'm doing it, and I am releasing Riley Cooper before his salary becomes guaranteed next month.

Pittsburgh Steelers: It's time to get Big Ben done and time to let Troy Polamalu go. That's where this offseason starts for the Steelers. Give Roethlisberger his $20M a year and, yeah, $60M will be guaranteed, and I'm totally fine with it. He's killing it in Todd Haley's system and he's got a good five years in him, at least. It's all about Ben.

San Diego Chargers: Ditto for Rivers. I'm a little more worried about his durability at this stage, given the lack of mobility and a questionable run game and offensive line. I'm looking at this more as a two- or three-year deal masked within a long-term contract, and I'm trying to keep it around $18M a year if I can, but in the end they have to pay this man and everyone knows it.

San Francisco 49ers: Which linebackers am I parting with? Given the cap and roster situations, with Chris Borland coming on, change is inevitable. Patrick Willis would clear out a ton of cap space if he is let go, and as much as he has meant to my team, it's a cruel business and he faced a tough injury but I can clear $7M in cap space by letting him go. Ahmad Brooks is out as well. And I'm letting Aldon Smith play out this fifth-year option before I put another dollar in front of him.


St. Louis Rams: Ain't no way I am paying Sam Bradford, off two ACL tears and with scant production in the interim, anything close to the $13M he is set to earn, especially not after already sinking $50M into him. But the sense I get is that this thing could get contentious and that some close to Bradford believe the market for him could be richer than others assume. In which case, you guessed it, I'm shopping the hell out of him with so many teams in need of quarterback help. If he's held in that kind of regard, let someone give me a pick for him.

Seattle Seahawks: Creativity should be the rule in the Russell Wilson contract, and with this kid such a team guy and with this front office very forward thinking, I feel like there is ample opportunity to get a deal done that allows for serious cap flexibility in the first three years of the deal and puts off some of the more difficult elements of any huge quarterback contract until then.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers: I'm going to spend as much time as I possibly can on finding out as much as I possibly can about Jameis Winston, because there is a very good chance I'm about to put my franchise in his hands. That's where I am looking with the first overall pick. And this selection will define the next decade of the Bucs. In the meantime I'm taking any sort of pick I can for Doug Martin and Dashon Goldson, and if I can get a solid mid-round pick for Vincent Jackson, I'm doing that, too.

Tennessee Titans: What's the second overall pick worth? Is there any chance at all the Titans can hook some team on the idea of grabbing one of the top two quarterbacks with that selection? Because as horrible as this roster is -- and it's the least talented in the NFL by some margin if you ask me -- I'm trying to load up on picks and go quantity over quality. I want to trade down, badly, and I'll gladly stick with Zach Mettenberger under center for another year and try to get someone -- Cleveland, Philly, whoever -- to clue me in on what they might be willing to give up to move way up and select the last remaining top quarterback with that No. 2 pick.

Washington Redskins: It's time for Robert Griffin III to go. If I can get a conditional third-round pick for him -- and I'm spending the combine finding out just how desperate some of these franchise are for a quarterback -- then I'll pull the trigger and move on. You can't get the ridiculous haul of picks traded for that quarterback back, and I'm ready to change the culture of my locker room right now. New GM Scot McCloughan loved Kirk Cousins coming out of college. All things being equal let me ride with him and Colt McCoy in what's bound to be a transition year anyway.
 

Clay_Allison

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Denver Broncos: It's all about Peyton Manning. Pending his physical, we all figure he's going to want to play. I'm not wild about giving him $19M a year to do so. Is there some middle ground you can find with agent Tom Condon to create some cap relief? Peyton has generally been all about being the NFL's top paid player, but coming off the second half of last season and the injury woes, if ever there was a time to play ball on the business side of things, this is it.
Manning is not going to win Denver a SB. They should cut him and see what they have in Osweiler.
 

townsend

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Manning is not going to win Denver a SB. They should cut him and see what they have in Osweiler.
They won't, but they might as well enjoy having a good QB and the acclaim that comes from that while they can. They spent a long time kissing frogs after Elway.
 
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