2025 NFL free agency: How 10 teams with least amount of cap space can help themselves through key moves

We’re now in the final stretch of days heading into the 2025 NFL free agency period. It’s not necessarily considered a good free-agency class, but teams still have needs to be filled, so there are going to be a whole bunch of guys who get paid a whole lot of money.

For the most part, we know who will be hitting the market, and which teams will have money to spend — and which don’t. We’re here today to talk about the teams that don’t have all that much money in their pockets. Some of them are even over the salary cap at the moment. 

We want to identify a move or two (or three) they can make to help themselves create a bit more financial wiggle room, and then pinpoint the areas of the roster that they need help. We’ll be taking a look at the 10 teams with the least amount of cap space (according to Over the Cap), and trying to figure out the best path forward for them when next week rolls around.

The Saints are talking as though Derek Carr will be their starting quarterback next season, but the biggest thing they can do to help themselves, finance-wise, is to designate the veteran a post-June 1 release. That’ll save them $30 million against the salary cap. They’re still $39 million over, as of this writing, and they have a ton of work to do to get cap compliant ahead of the new league year — and even more to do if they want to actually fill the numerous holes on their roster. 

And there are plenty of needs for them to fill. They could use some help in the receiver room, at tight end, on the interior of the offensive line, in their pass rush and, especially if Paulson Adebo leaves, in the secondary.

Buffalo was only around $8 million over the cap, and it will dip back under after signing Greg Rousseau to an extension on Saturday. The Bills can easily add even more room with a Josh Allen restructure. He’s currently set to count for $44.7 million on the Bills’ books, and that number would drop to around $33.6 million with a restructure. If the Bills want to also cut ties with Von Miller, they could add another $8.4 million to $17.4 million, depending on whether they release him outright or designate him a post-June 1 release.

Buffalo did well enough last season with the wide receiver room that didn’t have a true No. 1 type of guy, but could definitely still use somebody at the top of the depth chart there. The Bills will need to find replacements for Damar Hamlin and Rasul Douglas in the secondary. The safety spot was a problem last season compared with what it was while the Bills had Jordan Poyer and Micah Hyde, so it’d be interesting to see if they try to make a significant move there. Oh, and they could use a true difference-maker along the defensive line, and they will especially need pass-rush help if they cut Miller.

Restructuring Chris Lindstrom would save around $10 million and get the Falcons under the cap. The single-best thing they could do for their finances would be to find a way to trade Kirk Cousins after June 1, so they can absorb only a $27.5 million dead cap hit rather than the $40 million hit they’d take by designating him a post-June 1 release.

Atlanta might need to replace Drew Dalman at center, probably need some depth at wide receiver, need to add cornerbacks across from A.J. Terrell, will have to find a safety to pair with Jessie Bates III and, once again, desperately need to find someone who can rush the passer.

Signing Trey Smith to a long-term deal instead of keeping him on the franchise tag would drop his cap hit pretty significantly. Patrick Mahomes has a whole bunch of money that could be spread out over the remaining years of his deal in the form of his base salary and a roster bonus, and the Chiefs could save as much as $39 million by doing that restructure.

It would not be surprising to see them move Kingsley Suamataia to guard and try to find a new left tackle in free agency. Especially if DeAndre Hopkins and Hollywood Brown leave, they’ll need depth at wide receiver. (Rashee Rice is coming back from a major injury and might get suspended.) They could also lose Tershawn Wharton, and they have a ton of other defensive linemen who are hitting free agency. They seem unlikely to retain Nick Bolton or Justin Reid, so linebacker and safety are needs as well.

The Bucs do have around $5 million in cap room so they don’t need to do anything to be cap compliant, but restructuring Tristan Wirfs would give them a whole lot more breathing room. If they can reach a new deal with Chris Godwin and avoid the $18.8 million dead-money charge, that would also help.

Tampa Bay will need an interior offensive lineman, and it has basically its entire pass-rush depth chart hitting free agency except for Yaya Diaby, so that’ll be a spot to watch on the free-agent market.

Designating Shaq Mason a post-June 1 release seems like the most likely avenue for financial wiggle room. Maybe there’s something to be done with Tytus Howard or (more likely) Denico Autry, but Howard played fairly well last year and there’s already a ton of work to do on the offensive line. 

The Texans also have a ton of depth players hitting free agency in the secondary, so they’ll need to add some depth there.

Lamar Jackson is set to count for $43.7 million against the cap, but the Ravens could save around $15.8 million with a restructure. They don’t necessarily need to do it, but it’d give them more room to do something like retain Ronnie Stanley. The Ravens still need to add some depth at receiver to help out Zay Flowers, and they could also have a need at guard if Patrick Mekari leaves. 

There are a bunch of defensive backs hitting free agency as well, but the Ravens tend to print DBs on an assembly line so unless there’s someone who they can sign without affecting the compensatory pick formula, they might settle for developing their younger guys.

Pray.

But in all seriousness, Cleveland can restructure Denzel Ward and/or extend Greg Newsome to free up some additional cap room. A Myles Garrett trade actually adds to the Browns’ cap issues unless it happens after June 1, which might be at least part of the reason they’re posturing as though they won’t do it. As for their needs, well, they’re pretty much everywhere — including the offensive line, which has long been a strength.

The Eagles already designated Darius Slay a post-June 1 release. That saves some money. Doing the same with Dallas Goedert does as well, but he’s an important piece of the offense so that seems pretty unlikely. 

The Eagles don’t have a ton of obvious needs, but they’ll likely need to replace Milton Williams and potentially Josh Sweat, so defensive line is, as usual, an area to watch.

Extending Jaycee Horn would create some more cap room, as would releasing Jadeveon Clowney. The former seems more likely than the latter. Clowney played pretty well and the Panthers have enough needs to worry about on defense without creating another. The Panthers could probably use a center, and they might need to replace their tight ends as both Tommy Tremble and Ian Thomas are hitting free agency. 

Linebacker is a need, and both safety and cornerback are as well. The secondary, in particular, seems like an area to focus on.