2012 NFL Free Agents: Surprising Teams That Will Dominate Free-Agent Period

With the start of the NFL free-agency period looming, there are tons of teams that could stand to make big improvements. While there are four teams currently over the salary cap, there are plenty with a great deal of cap space that could make a lot of noise next month.

While the usual players are sure to be involved, there are several lower-level teams who will have a huge amount of money to spend if they so choose. The salary-cap floor doesn't kick in until 2013 so these teams could choose to hoard the cap space, but that won't be the case for everyone.

Here are three surprising teams that will make big splashes in free agency.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

After a 10-6 season in 2010, there were very high expectations for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers heading into the 2011 season. The wheels completely fell off, however, as the Bucs went 4-12, resulting in the firing of head coach Raheem Morris.

The team has since hired Greg Schiano and will be looking to bounce back in a big way. Tampa has a ton of holes, but with over $60 million in cap space, they can be major players in free agency.

Tampa Bay needs to make improvements on both sides of the ball, so it will likely hit the market hard. The biggest needs reside in the secondary and linebacker corps on defense, and at wide receiver offensively.

It's tough to say who the Bucs may be targeting for sure, but a haul of cornerback Brandon Carr, linebacker Stephen Tulloch and wide receiver Mario Manningham is within reason, and it would make them significantly better.

Kansas City Chiefs

The Kansas City Chiefs enter 2012 in a very advantageous position. They fared quite well last season despite key injuries to the likes of Eric Berry, Jamaal Charles, Tony Moeaki and Matt Cassel.

Not only will all of them be back this season, but the Chiefs have more cap space than anyone at nearly $63 million. With that much money to spend, the Chiefs stand a great chance of returning to their form from 2010, when they reached the playoffs.

Kansas City honestly doesn't have a ton of holes, but quarterback is one position at which it can improve. Talk is heating up regarding Indianapolis Colts signal caller Peyton Manning, and it seems as though the Chiefs are emerging at a favorite.

Bringing him in would be akin to what they did with Joe Montana in the early 1990s.

Aside from that, the Chiefs could use a right tackle and some help on the defensive line. Demetrius Bell and Antonio Garay are two underrated fits who wouldn't use up all of their cap space, either.

San Francisco 49ers

It's quite rare for a team that fell just short of the Super Bowl to enter a season with a great deal of cap space, but that is the case for the San Francisco 49ers.

The Niners already have perhaps the best defense in the league, but they have nearly $40 million to make sweeping improvements. Their obviously isn't a ton that needs to be done, but with some smart spending San Francisco can become a Super Bowl favorite.

A decent amount of the cap space should be used to re-sign unrestricted free agents like Alex Smith, Carlos Rogers and Ahmad Brooks. Once that is done, however, the Niners should still have cash to burn.

A speedy wide receiver across from Michael Crabtree is a must, so Manningham is an option, as is Pierre Garcon. Then the only other big need would be a right guard, making Evan Mathis or Ben Grubbs possibilities.

If the Niners can achieve all of that, then they'll be sitting pretty in 2012.