10 NFL Teams That Have to Ace Free Agency

NFL free agency officially gets underway on Wednesday at 4 p.m. ET, and the signings teams make starting then will shape their outlooks for seasons to come. No pressure.

Some teams have holes throughout their rosters. Those squads need to make smart signings to fix glaring weaknesses. Other teams are coming off strong seasons and either want to re-sign players who were major contributors or sign new players who will push them to the next level.

Free agency marks the beginning of the new league year, and it will either put teams on the path to success or doom them to failure.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at these teams that need to do well in free agency. Some of these squads need to be smart with their signings in order to maintain success, while others need to make a splash to get out of mediocrity.

Here are 10 teams that need to do well in free agency, along with the ideal moves for them to make.

Atlanta Falcons

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After surprising people with a 5-0 start last year, the Falcons sputtered to an 8-8 finish thanks to depth issues across the roster.

They’ll be looking to address those issues beginning in free agency. TheMMQB.com's Peter King said people around the NFL expect Atlanta to be “very aggressive” when free agency begins.

Atlanta has had awful offensive line play each of the past three seasons. Opposing defenses sacked Matt Ryan 44, 30 and 31 times, respectively, in each of the past three seasons. The team also ranked 32nd, 24th and 19th in rushing offense over those three years.

The Falcons have been searching for a center since the retirement of Todd McClure after the 2012 season. Free agent Alex Mack is one of the best centers in the league.

Signing him would solidify the middle of their offense for years to come, but the price may be too steep. Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com reported Mack is likely to earn $10 million per year, which would make him the highest-paid center in the league.

Pass rush has also been a concern for the Falcons, who were dead last in the league in sacks last year with 19. King said they could be after Bruce Irvin. The linebacker played under Atlanta head coach Dan Quinn when he was defensive coordinator in Seattle and would be comfortable in the Falcons scheme.

Danny Trevathan and James Laurinaitis could both be targets for Atlanta at linebacker. Laurinaitis had a visit to Atlanta scheduled for this week, per ESPN's Adam Schefter.

ESPN.com's Vaughn McClure said Trevathan “is high on the Falcons’ radar.” The linebacker turns 26 this month and led Denver in tackles with 109 in 2015. However, his price tag will probably be too high to get him and Irvin.

Ideal Moves: Sign Irvin and Laurinaitis

Carolina Panthers

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Carolina is coming off the best season in franchise history. The Panthers have plenty to be excited about after earning a 15-1 record and a trip to the Super Bowl.

This offseason is crucial, however, if Carolina wants to become one of the perennial contenders in the NFC. The Panthers only have a couple of major needs, and there are moves to be made in free agency that will help them maintain the momentum they created in 2015.

The loss to Denver in the Super Bowl exposed Carolina’s deficiencies on the offensive line. The Broncos harassed quarterback Cam Newton all night and made it clear the Panthers need an upgrade at left tackle. Russell Okung would be a great option there.

Carolina could also use a real No. 2 receiver. Kelvin Benjamin will return from injury this year, but Carolina’s receiving corps still lacks a reliable second option. Cincinnati has two hitting the free-agent market in Marvin Jones and Mohamed Sanu.

The Panthers don’t have many needs. Addressing the few they have with smart free-agent signings will ensure that last season wasn't a fluke, but rather the start of something bigger.

Ideal Moves: Sign Okung and Sanu

Cincinnati Bengals

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The Bengals are coming off a great season, going 12-4 and winning the AFC North. They could have gone on a nice playoff run had quarterback Andy Dalton not gotten injured in December.

Now Cincinnati’s job is to try to keep together the core that got it to a division title. That may be difficult. A lot of teams are going to be after free agents Marvin Jones, the Bengals’ second-leading receiver last year, and Mohamed Sanu.

All four members of Cincinnati’s starting secondary will be hitting free agency, too: Leon Hall, George Iloka, Adam Jones and Reggie Nelson. Offensive tackle Andre Smith will also be on the open market.

The Bengals have an estimated $38.7 million in cap space, according to Spotrac.com, but that won’t be enough to re-sign all of their key contributors. To come out of free agency feeling good, they need to keep the free agents who are most valuable to them on both sides of the ball: Marvin Jones and Iloka, both of whom are only 25 and will give the team more value over the life of their contracts.

Ideal Moves: Re-sign Marvin Jones and Iloka

Cleveland Browns

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Cleveland holds the No. 2 pick in the draft. Ironically, the roster deficiencies that allowed the Browns to get such a high pick mean they need to add starting talent long before the draft.

The Browns have desperate needs at multiple positions. They will likely address the hole at quarterback in the draft. Free agency will be about filling the needs elsewhere.

One of those needs is wide receiver. Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com reported the Browns are one of the teams in the market for Marvin Jones. New Browns head coach Hue Jackson coached Jones when he was the offensive coordinator in Cincinnati.

Josh Gordon may be reinstated by the league this year, but even if he is, there’s no guarantee the Browns will even take him back. They need depth and reliability at receiver. Jones can give them that.

They also need help at linebacker. Veteran stopgaps like DeMeco Ryans or Sean Weatherspoon would be affordable options. If they are willing to dip into some of their $45 million in cap space, they could make a pitch for Trevathan or Laurinaitis.

Ideal Moves: Sign Jones and Trevathan

Dallas Cowboys

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The Cowboys took a major step backward in 2015 after being a few plays away from the NFC Championship Game a year earlier.

Without quarterback Tony Romo and wide receiver Dez Bryant, who both missed significant time with injuries, the offense was a disaster. The Cowboys scored 17.2 points per game—second-fewest in the league. The absence of those two players showed just how many issues Dallas had on that side of the ball.

Running back is a major hole for the Cowboys. While they will likely go after one in the draft, a proven veteran like Matt Forte or Arian Foster would give them experience in the backfield. That would ease the offensive load both on a rookie back and on an aging Romo.

On defense, the Cowboys need a pass-rusher. The Greg Hardy experiment was a failure, and Randy Gregory is suspended for the first four games of 2016. Adrian Clayborn will likely be available for a reasonable price, and he would be a nice complement to Demarcus Lawrence.

The draft won’t matter much to the Cowboys if they don’t begin firming up their weaknesses with some veteran free agents. The right moves before the draft, however, will make it easier for the Cowboys to get back to their winning ways of 2014.

Ideal Moves: Sign Forte and Clayborn

Houston Texans

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The Texans snuck into the playoffs last year by winning the AFC South at 9-7. Their first-round loss to Kansas City, however, showed that Houston has the biggest problem any team can have: It doesn’t have an answer at quarterback.

The No. 22 pick in the first round will likely be too late to grab Jared Goff or Carson Wentz. Instead, the Texans will probably need to target a quarterback in free agency. They are interested in Brock Osweiler, according to ESPN's Tania Ganguli, who has the size and arm strength to succeed in their offense.

Another target could be Ryan Fitzpatrick, whom NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport said is far from a deal with the Jets.

Fitzpatrick played for the Texans in 2014 and posted a 95.3 quarterback rating with 17 touchdowns and eight interceptions while completing more than 63.1 percent of his passes.

Either he or Osweiler would likely be an upgrade over Brian Hoyer.

Houston needs to take advantage of a weak division while it can. Indianapolis should recover to some degree with quarterback Andrew Luck returning from injury, but Jacksonville and Tennessee are still rebuilding.

Filling these holes in free agency could widen the gap between Houston and the bottom of the division while closing the distance between the Texans and other playoff contenders.

Ideal Move: Sign Fitzpatrick

Jacksonville Jaguars

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With $82.2 million in cap space, the Jaguars have more money to spend this offseason than any other team in the league. According to Over the Cap, they have almost $20 million more in cap room than the next-closest team (San Francisco).

But winning free agency isn’t just about throwing more money at players than anyone else. They did that with Julius Thomas last year, signing him to a five-year, $46 million contract. And while he had a nice season, he didn’t affect Jacksonville’s performance as a team by that much.

The Jaguars need to do more than just give out big contracts this offseason. They need to give out the right ones to dramatically help the whole team.

Jacksonville needs pass-rushing help, and NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport said the team has agreed to a six-year, $90 million deal with former Broncos defensive end Malik Jackson.

That’s a lot of money in a defensive end. If Jackson pans out, however, Jacksonville will be glad to have made it.

ESPN's Mike DiRocco reported the Jaguars also will make a pitch to Chargers safety Eric Weddle, the top free-agent safety on the market.

The Jaguars have the ability to outbid anybody, but they need to make sure the money they spend actually translates to more wins instead of another top-10 pick.

Ideal Moves: Sign Jackson (already done) and Weddle

Oakland Raiders

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The Raiders have the third-most cap space of any team this offseason at $60 million, and they are expected to be quite active in free agency.

First, Oakland will be looking to give more weapons to quarterback Derek Carr. Marvin Jones would be the ideal choice there, but he probably doesn’t want to be the No. 3 wideout behind Amari Cooper and Michael Crabtree.

Instead, the Raiders will likely try to get a slot receiver who complements those two, like Percy Harvin or Travis Benjamin. Benjamin would be the smarter choice, since he doesn’t have a history of locker room issues like Harvin.

Oakland will also want to keep Carr protected. Donald Penn has been solid at left tackle for Oakland. Re-signing him—even if it’s a big contract—will ensure Carr has the time he needs to find those receivers.

The Raiders need this free-agency period to be a success because they have more reason for optimism now than at any point in recent history. They have young stars on both sides of the ball with Carr and Cooper on offense and Khalil Mack on defense.

Now they need to continue to build rather than invest a lot of money in bad contracts that restrict their ability to make moves later.

Ideal Moves: Sign Benjamin and re-sign Penn

New York Jets

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Despite the Patriots’ dominance in the AFC East, the Jets hung around in the wild-card race for much of the 2015 season under first-year head coach Todd Bowles.

Much of that success was due to quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick. The Jets were dead last in the league in passing offense in 2014. With Fitzpatrick at the helm, they were No. 13 last season.

That is what makes this offseason so crucial. Unlike most teams that need to do well in free agency, there’s really just one move the Jets have to make, and that’s re-sign Fitzpatrick.

The team seems to have moved on from Geno Smith but has yet to agree on a deal with Fitzpatrick. Teams like the Texans and Browns are looking for an answer under center and will be willing to pay a big price for Fitzpatrick. If he walks, the Jets may be left relying on second-year quarterback Bryce Petty.

The Jets showed a lot of promise this past season. Losing the most competent quarterback they have had in years could send things into a downward turn pretty quickly.

Ideal Move: Re-sign Fitzpatrick

San Francisco 49ers

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Jacksonville is the only team in the league with more cap space than San Francisco. And after the mass exodus of veterans from the defense before last season, the 49ers need an influx of talent.

Even more critical for San Francisco is setting the course for the start of Chip Kelly’s tenure as head coach.

Kelly got a lot of control over the roster in Philadelphia, and he set himself up for failure by signing DeMarco Murray and Byron Maxwell to huge contracts without putting them in situations to succeed on the field.

General manager Trent Baalke will make the personnel decisions for Kelly in San Francisco. He needs to find the right tools for Kelly’s offense to run smoothly. With Colin Kaepernick reportedly seeking a trade, bringing in a quarterback comfortable with the read-option like Robert Griffin III may be a smart choice.

The 49ers also need help on the offensive line. To run Kelly’s uptempo scheme, they’ll need young, athletic linemen. Brandon Brooks from Houston and Russell Okung from Seattle are players they should consider.

Ideal Moves: Sign Okung and Griffin