The biggest winner in NFL free agency rarely wins the Super Bowl. However, while making the biggest splashes doesn’t guarantee success, it’s rarely a good sign when an NFL team gets worse in a year when the NFL salary cap explodes.
With the salary cap increasing by $30.6 million this year, every team had an opportunity to do something. Some were either quiet or overpaid. While it doesn’t mean these clubs are destined for failure in the fall, they didn’t make things any easier on themselves next season.
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Here are the 10 teams that did the worst in NFL free agency.
Buffalo Bills
The salary cap is real. Teams can kick the proverbial can down the road for a while, borrowing money from future seasons to extend the contention window a little longer. However, the grim reaper that is the hard cap always comes. The Buffalo Bills are paying that price in 2024. Curtis Samuel was the only player of significance they added in NFL free agency and while he’s a better offensive weapon than Gabe Davis, Buffalo lost starters Jordan Poyer, Mitch Morse and Tre’Davious White as cap casualties. That’s significant depth lost, for a team with a front office that doesn’t exactly have the best track record in the NFL Draft over the last four seasons. Josh Allen will keep this team’s Super Bowl window slightly open, but the margin for error in Buffalo is now razor-thin.
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Jacksonville Jaguars
Former Indianapolis Colts general manager Ryan Grigson might never get a shot to run his own team again because of how badly he failed Andrew Luck. We’re fairly confident the same will be said about Jacksonville Jaguars general manager Trent Baalke before long. Jacksonville lost Calvin Ridley to a division rival, the end result of a botched situation with edge rusher Josh Allen that will be even costlier long-term. The Jaguars also overpaid in their re-signing of guard Ezra Cleveland. As for the team’s Ridley replacement, Gabe Davis proved with an even better quarterback that he provides more frustration than big plays.
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Indianapolis Colts
It’s the same story with the Indianapolis Colts every year under general manager Chris Ballard. Everyone gets excited to see Indianapolis among the leaders in cap space heading into NFL free agency, inspiring confidence that they’ll make a big addition. Instead, Ballard largely just re-signs his own guys, maintains cap room for the following offseason and repeats the process over again. This isn’t to suggest that Michael Pittman Jr., Zaire Franklin, Grover Stewart and Kenny Moore II aren’t deserving of their deals, but repeating the same process every year and expecting even better results feels close to the definition of insanity.
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New Orleans Saints
It’s only going to get worse from here for the New Orleans Saints. We certainly don’t fault the team for releasing Michael Thomas and Marcus Maye, those moves had to be made just to get under the salary cap. However, all those extensions and contract restructures for everyone else come at a price. Specifically, the fact that New Orleans is already projected to be $60.5 million over the salary cap in 2025 and the Saints already have $225.75 million in total cap liabilities in 2026. The Saints roster is only getting older and they keep borrowing from the future. The big difference this time around, as opposed to previous years, the Saints’ ceiling on the field is almost non-existent.
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Arizona Cardinals
Everyone understands that the Arizona Cardinals are rebuilding and this is a multi-year process, so top talent wasn’t coming here without an overpay. With that said, the Cardinals just signed an offensive tackle that has allowed the most sacks in the NFL over the last two seasons to a contract worth $30 million total. Not only that, but neither cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting nor defensive tackle Justin Jones proved to be effective starters last season and they landed three-year contracts worth $51 million combined. Arizona spent plenty of money this offseason, but it’s hard to argue the Cardinals even made marginal improvements at some of their biggest positions of need.
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Denver Broncos
Sean Payton was always going to get his way, even if that meant the Denver Broncos owner had to cover the largest dead cap hit in NFL history ($85 million). Now, Denver is in a position where it either has to start Jarrett Stidham in 2024 or reach for Bo Nix in the first round. Either outcome could deliver worse quarterback play than the Broncos received from Russell Wilson. Plus, fan-favorite Justin Simmons was released. The Broncos are essentially entering a rebuilding, which is ironic considering Payton said a year ago he expected this to be a playoff team.
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Baltimore Ravens
We aren’t going to suggest the Baltimore Ravens are the biggest regression candidate in 2024. After all, quarterback Lamar Jackson elevated his game as a passer last season and with the addition of running back Derrick Henry, this offense will be even better. However, the loss of Ravens’ defensive coaches earlier this offseason was followed up by Patrick Queen, Ronald Darby and Geno Stone all leaving in NFL free agency. On top of that, Baltimore lost significant depth on the offensive line by trading Morgan Moses and losing John Simpson. The Ravens draft class in 2024 will need to be very strong to remain near the top of the AFC.
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Los Angeles Chargers
Because of bad decision-making by the last regime, it was always going to get worse before it got better for the Los Angeles Chargers. Fans felt elated when edge rushers Khalil Mack and Joey Bosa agreed to return on restructured contracts. Unfortunately, it came with a follow-up cost of losing Mike Williams and Keenan Allen. The Chargers now have the worst receiving corps in the NFL and while that can be addressed in the NFL Draft, this team still has glaring needs on the offensive line and at multiple levels defensively. ESPN’s Kevin Clark said it best, this is going to be the Chargers’ medicine year. Fortunately, the future is bright with Jim Harbaugh and Justin Herbert.
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San Francisco 49ers
Being listed among the worst NFL teams during the free agency period doesn’t mean the San Francisco 49ers aren’t Super Bowl contenders. They still have more talent offensively than anyone else in the NFL and as long as Kyle Shanahan is around, this offense will be close to unstoppable. Unfortunately, paying so many All-Pro players cost them Arik Armstead. While San Francisco did improve its depth at edge rusher by replacing Chase Young with Leonard Floyd and Yetur Gross-Matos, the holes at cornerback and on the right side of the offensive line are glaring. Plus, Brandon Aiyuk is still facing an uncertain future with the team.
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Dallas Cowboys
All in means something very different to Jerry Jones than it does for the rest of the sports world. When a majority of teams go all-in, like the Los Angeles Rams did a few years ago, they sacrifice the future to try and win a Super Bowl now. The Cowboys, on the other hand, got worse at offensive tackle, running back cornerback and lost depth in the trenches on both sides of the ball. Keep in mind, the Cowboys’ ceiling in the playoffs was already low to begin with. Now, instead of a Divisional Round loss, the new tradition in Dallas might be two-score defeats in the Wild Card Round. The fact of the matter is, that what truly matters to Jones is the Cowboys’ brand. Doing whatever it takes to win a Super Bowl is not of interest to him.
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