The franchise tag deadline has now passed and we’re now mere days away from the official start of 2025 NFL free agency. All 32 teams are gearing up and getting ready to dole out some cash (or not) to improve their teams in the first phase of the offseason player-acquisition process with the NFL Draft looming just over a month away. 

For the most part, we know what each team in the league needs. We watched them during the 2024 season, and we know where they were deficient. We also know which players are about to hit the market. But there’s another thing we need to know: Who actually has the spending power to make moves, and who needs to do some work in order to get there? 

That’s what we’re here to take a look at today.

Cap Crunch (Over the Cap)

Obviously, these teams will have to get under the cap by the start of the new league year. The Saints, unsurprisingly, have an absolute ton of work to do to get there, as they currently sit more than $47 million over the cap. The Falcons will only have to clear around $5.3 million off their books, so they’re in significantly better shape. The expected restructures on Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen’s contracts will get the Chiefs and Bills, respectively, cap compliant. But it doesn’t look like any of these teams have a viable path to being big spenders in free agency.

Not Much to Work With ($0-20M)

The Dolphins are only a few hundred thousand dollars under the cap line. They can create around $30 million in additional room by restructuring Tua Tagovailoa and Bradley Chubb’s deals, but neither of those seems particularly advisable. The Texans can do some work with Laremy Tunsil, Danielle Hunter and Nico Collins‘ contracts, whether with restructures or adding void years, in order to create some more space. The base salaries for Tristan Wirfs ($26 million) and Antoine Winfield Jr. ($21 million) seem like they were designed to be restructured this year. The Bucs need to clear space to re-sign Chris Godwin, otherwise he can hit unrestricted free agency.

The Ravens can save $11 million by cutting ties with Mark Andrews, as has been speculated, but that would remove one of Lamar Jackson’s best pass-catchers from the equation. It seems likely that the Ravens will let another batch of free agents walk and pick up some more compensatory selections for next year. We certainly have to watch what happens with Geno Smith, DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett. There is a lot of financial maneuverability there. Noah Fant seems like a cap casualty possibility as well, given that Seattle can save $8.9 million by releasing him. Dallas will almost certainly restructure Dak Prescott’s deal after doing the same with CeeDee Lamb’s. And if the Cowboys do that and then actually do their work early for once and extend Micah Parsons ahead of free agency, they can get up near $60-70 million in cap room.

Some Maneuverability ($20-40M)

Take a look at Philly’s cap sheet at Over the Cap. The Eagles are already restructured up the wazoo. It’s kind of hilarious. But Howie Roseman will figure out a way to squeeze some more dollars out of this offseason. He always does. The Panthers can extend Jaycee Horn and create some more space, while Taylor Moton, Robert Hunt and Damien Lewis all have sizable base salaries that can be restructured.

Once you get past Carolina, these teams actually have $30 million or more in cap room and can do some shopping. The Niners may not be done making changes, though, as they prepare to pay Brock Purdy a whole lot of money. It wouldn’t be surprising to see some big names come off the books this year or next. The free agent crop isn’t great, but the Colts have some needs in the secondary and apparently will be in the market for a quarterback to compete with Anthony Richardson. 

The Jags have a decent amount of space, and reportedly could create even more by cutting ties with Christian Kirk, Evan Engram or both, which could clear anywhere between $16-31 million, depending on timing. Moving off either of those pass catchers would create a need in that area, and Jacksonville already has plenty of needs even before doing something like that.

Plenty of Cap Space ($40-60M)

Once you get into this group, you’re talking about teams without many limitations if they want to go shopping in free agency. They may not get in at the very top of the market, but they have the money to make a few signings and even break the bank a little bit if they want to.

We could see the Giants, Titans, Jets and/or Steelers get involved in the quarterback market, whether for Sam Darnold, Aaron Rodgers, Kirk Cousins, Justin Fields or Russell Wilson. Even if one or two of those teams ends up with Cam Ward or Shedeur Sanders, it wouldn’t be surprising to see one of the vets land there as well. They all have other needs, obviously, but when you have an opening at the game’s most important position, that takes precedence. 

Denver needs pass-catching help and desperately needs to find a way to run the ball with any success at all — even if only to provide a change-up to the short-pass-based attack Sean Payton has built around Bo Nix. The Packers still have one of the youngest rosters in the NFL, and they have the ammo to add help where they need it. Even Josh Jacobs thinks they could use a No. 1 wideout, and if Josh Myers leaves they’ll need a replacement at center.

The Bengals franchise-tagged Tee Higgins. They could lower his cap hit and create even more space by signing him to a long term deal (and doing the same with Ja’Marr Chase), but that involves a financial outlay they’re probably not willing to make. After retaining Matthew Stafford, the Rams are still expected to cut ties with Cooper Kupp. They’ll need another receiver, and they need to continue to fortify their young defense.

Possible Big Spenders ($60-100M)

Will the Vikings bring Sam Darnold back? It would be somewhat strange, given the plan they sketched out to transition from Darnold to J.J. McCarthy, which was designed to get them onto the rookie-scale QB contract timeline. But Darnold did play well for most of the year, so you never know. Either way, there are a bunch of defenders hitting free agency and the Vikes could use a running back if they don’t bring back Aaron Jones.

Washington already used some of its cap space to bring in Deebo Samuel, but the Commies shouldn’t be done. They still need more pass catchers, they should still upgrade their offensive line and they could really use a spending spree to infuse talent to all three levels of the defense. 

We know the needs for the Chargers (pass catchers, interior offensive line, pass rush) and Bears (OFFENSIVE LINE PLEASE OFFENSIVE LINE), and we know they have the ammo to fix them. The Cardinals need a lot of help on defense, still, and could use some fortification along the offensive line. The Raiders basically only have answers at tight end, a few spots on the offensive line and on the defensive interior, so they could go in any number of directions with their dollars.

Pot-Splashers ($127M)

The Patriots can do pretty much whatever they want in free agency. There should be no limit to the lengths they go to make the offensive ecosystem more advantageous for Drake Maye, but there’s also plenty of room here to splash the pot for a difference-making defender, if they so choose.