Colts’ updated needs after early free agency moves

An updated look at the Colts’ needs following their moves in early free agency.

The Indianapolis Colts have gotten through the first week of the legal tampering period and opening wave of free agency.

In a mildly surprising turn, the Colts were pretty active during the first week. While they saw two of their more important free agents leave for other teams, general manager Chris Ballard and the front office made some big moves early.

Keep up to date with the latest news, signings and rumors through our free agency tracker for the Colts.

With those big moves out of the way, and before others come in, here is an updated look at the team’s needs following the early free agency transactions:

Exploring the Colts’ biggest offseason needs in 2023

Taking a look at the biggest offseason needs for the Colts in 2023.

The Indianapolis Colts face an offseason of uncertainty following a disastrous campaign. Re-evaluating the roster and its needs will be among the top priorities for the 2023 offseason.

Some of the needs are easy to see. Others may take some creative work to figure out while others may not even be addressed this offseason. Then, as every season comes and goes, the Colts will wind up having a new position pop up on the list.

Unlike recent offseasons, the Colts don’t have an abundance of salary-cap space. They can make some moves to free up some money, which would include trading and/or cutting some big names from the roster.

The Colts also have eight picks in the 2023 NFL draft, starting with the No. 4 overall selection. But if they want to trade up to No. 1 overall, they will need to add in some extra picks and possibly a player to go to Chicago.

Before the new league year arrives and we dig into specific players to target, let’s take a look at the biggest offseason needs for the Colts entering 2023:

Ranking the Rams’ 7 biggest needs this offseason

The Rams could use some help at these seven positions, including quarterback.

The Los Angeles Rams are facing a difficult offseason in 2021, seeing several of their starters hitting free agency while likely being over the cap at the same time. Re-signing players will be a challenge, as will bringing in marquee free agents when the market opens in March.

Fortunately, the Rams don’t have many pressing needs on their roster heading into next season. There are still holes to fill, of course, but several positions are set up nicely for the immediate future.

Here are their seven biggest needs this offseason, ranked in order of importance.

Ranking the top needs for Washington to address in 2021 offseason

Washington could potentially build a championship-contending team over the next several months if they address these needs in the offseason.

Now that the 2020 season has officially ended for the Washington Football Team, the offseason can get underway. Every year this is a major time for teams to address their needs and figure out how they can better their roster, and for Washington, this may be one of the most important offseasons they’ve had in years.

The current iteration of the roster is talented, there’s no denying that. The players in Washington know how to win, and they have a desire to be one of the best teams in the NFL. However, this team is about 1-2 pieces short of being a playoff contender, and maybe 3-4 pieces short of being a real Super Bowl threat. The core is there, but a few major holes need to be filled. Here are the top things for Washington to take care of and address over the next several months.

Pro Football Focus identifies Saints’ top three offseason needs

Pro Football Focus named the three biggest offseason needs for the New Orleans Saints in 2020, which include quarterback and wide receiver.

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The New Orleans Saints aren’t exactly in an enviable position. With free agency on the horizon, they have to work quickly to figure out what to do with all three of their quarterbacks in addition to seven or eight other starting spots on their roster (ranging from two-time Pro Bowl left guard Andrus Peat to defensive tackle David Onyemata, safety Vonn Bell, and linebacker A.J. Klein). They don’t have much salary cap space to work with, and previous moves limit them to just five selections in the 2020 NFL Draft. That’s not great.

Fortunately, they’ve managed worse situations before. This won’t be the first time Saints coach Sean Payton, general manager Mickey Loomis, and assistant general manager Jeff Ireland must work together to identify their team’s biggest offseason needs and work to address them. The added pressure of a closing Super Bowl window with Drew Brees at quarterback and limited resources isn’t exactly a new challenge for them. The Saints always work to maximize their assets, and 2020 should prove no different.

The analysts at Pro Football Focus named their top three offseason needs for the Saints, and the headliner is clear: find some help for Michael Thomas at wide receiver. Here’s what PFF writer Ben Linsey had to say about where the Saints stand at wideout:

Michael Thomas is awesome. He just had one of the best wide receiver seasons that we’ve ever seen, hauling in an NFL record 149 passes for 1,725 yards and nine touchdowns this season. As his Twitter handle says, you can’t guard Mike. Life would be easier for him, though, if the Saints added a second wide receiver who could lighten the load. No wide receiver besides Thomas registered over 1.00 yards per route run for the Saints this season. Ted Ginn Jr. and Tre’Quan Smith were two of just 15 wide receivers with 250 or more routes run and less than one yard per route run. Improving that situation would go a long way to improving the offense.

There’s no arguing with that. While Thomas did his best Atlas impression by putting the rest of the offense on his back, he shouldn’t be asked to do that every year. It’s imperative that the Saints find ways to stock up the receiving corps with legitimate weapons who can make life easier for everyone.

Additionally, Linsey pointed to two other positions as secondary needs: quarterback and cornerback. With no passers under contract for 2020 just yet (even if returns for Brees and third-stringer Taysom Hill feel likely), it’s important that the Saints get a handle on that situation. The circumstances at corner are also a concern; just three players are under contract there in Marshon Lattimore, Janoris Jenkins, and Patrick Robinson, and either Jenkins or Robinson could be salary cap casualties:

The person distributing the football to the receiving options in 2020 is still up in the air. Drew Brees and Teddy Bridgewater are both entering free agency this offseason, so the Saints have a decision to make as to which direction they want to take at the quarterback position. Similarly, they have a decision to make at cornerback, where Eli Apple will be a free agent. Marshon Lattimore’s job is secure at one of the outside cornerbacks, and rookie Chauncey Gardner-Johnson was fantastic in the slot, but the other outside cornerback position will be up for grabs heading into 2020.

What do you think? Is this an accurate assessment? The Saints have other needs, too — at guard, like we said, but also at linebacker and safety — but it’s tough to argue against these three positions being the highest priorities to target during the Saints offseason. We’ll find out in just a few short weeks whether the Saints’ brain trust agrees.

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11 positions of need for Broncos this offseason

The Broncos have 11 positions that should be upgraded during the NFL offseason.

Broncos general manager John Elway will have plenty of salary cap space and up to a dozen draft picks to work with this offseason. That’s good because Denver has plenty of positions that could use an upgrade.

Here’s a quick look at 11 positions the Broncos should target this offseason, starting with the offensive line.

1. Offensive tackle: Even if Denver plans to enter 2020 with Ja’Wuan James and Garett Bolles as starters, the Broncos need more depth at tackle. James has not proven he can stay healthy and Bolles has failed to live up to his first-round draft status.

2. Offensive guard: Dalton Risner is a gem but Denver needs a potential Ron Leary replacement at right guard. The Broncos could move on from Leary and save about $8.4 million in salary cap space this spring.

3. Cornerback: Chris Harris might be on his way out of Denver and even if the Broncos do re-sign Harris, the secondary will need more depth at cornerback. If healthy, Bryce Callahan could be one of the team’s top two cornerbacks but Vic Fangio’s defense will need at least one more.

4. Nose tackle: Shelby Harris is about to become a free agent and he’s best-suited to play defensive end, not nose tackle. One option for Denver would be to bring back true nose tackle Mike Purcell, who is about to become a restricted free agent.

5. Wide receiver: Courtland Sutton looked great this year but DaeSean Hamilton is yet to step up and prove he can be a No. 2 WR. Even if Hamilton does take a big leap in 2020, the Broncos will need more depth.

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What are the top needs for the Colts this offseason?

A look at some of the top needs for Indy.

Every team in the NFL has holes in their roster, some have more than others, and the Indianapolis Colts have their share of holes on the roster that could be addressed this offseason.

After coming off a rather disappointing finish to a 7-9 season, Chris Ballard and company will be looking to get the Colts back in the playoffs in 2020.

While the sudden retirement of Andrew Luck shocked the franchise, there was some silver lining. With a less-talented quarterback under center, the holes on the roster were exposed more, and now Ballard and his staff can go fix those holes this offseason.

Here are some of the bigger needs for Indianapolis heading into the offseason:

Finding the franchise QB

Ballard said in his end-of-season presser that “The jury is still out on Jacoby,” but he also said not to look at how Brissett finished the year and to also look at how he started the season. The Colts think they could get Brissett back to that level of play in 2020.

Ever since coming to Indianapolis, Ballard has preached competition and while as of now Brissett is the starter, there’s no real competition for his job with Brian Hoyer and Chad Kelly currently on the roster. This offseason would be a great opportunity to get some competition at that position.

The Colts could go after a veteran QB in free agency like Philip Rivers, Tom Brady, or Drew Brees. This seems the least likely to happen, mostly because Ballard doesn’t dabble in free agency and also because if Indianapolis were to sign a veteran, the expectation would be he’s now the starter.

Probably the most likely scenario is the Colts draft a quarterback. At pick 13, there are a few guys like Justin Herbert, Jordan Love, or Tua Tagovailoa. There are also QB at their 34th pick like Jacob Eason and Jake Fromm.

Most of these quarterbacks will be projects but they could provide a long-term answer at QB with Brissett playing on the final year of his two-year extension he signed last year.

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Assessing the Jags’ top-7 positional needs heading into 2020 offseason

The Jacksonville Jaguars have a lot of needs, but luckily they at least have the draft capital to make some progress on fixing the roster.

The Jacksonville Jaguars have made their decisions on moving forward with Doug Marrone and Dave Caldwell, which now means fans can now look forward to free-agency and the draft. If there was one thing that can be taken away from the 2019 season it’s the fact that the Jags have a ton of needs, and in all probability, they won’t be able to address all of them.

Regardless, we’ve decided to evaluate the Jags’ biggest needs based off how the Jags’ last season which resulted in a 6-10 record. Here’s how we rank each need at the moment:

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7. Wide receiver

Heading into the 2018 season I felt as though the Jags’ receiver corps was a strength of the Jags, but after watching the season unfold, there is room for improvement. Clearly, DJ Chark Jr. was the No. 1 player within the group and proved to be a stud, racking up 1,008 yards and eight touchdowns. His 2019 campaign made him the youngest receiver in franchise history to garner 1,000 receiving yards (alongside Allen Robinson) and the first receiver since 2015 to hit that mark (which was also held by Robinson).

Behind Chark, however, there are question marks. Dede Westbrook, who many (including myself) was high on, had a very average campaign in 2019 where drops were an issue for him. Chris Conley flashed on occasions and was the team’s No. 2 statistically (775 yards), but he too had some drops that were concerning.

All of that said, receiver isn’t a huge need for the Jags but with the strongest receiver class fans have seen in quite some time arriving in 2020, the Jags could have a grand opportunity to make their receivers group elite. If they truly use a best available player method in the first-round, their No. 9 overall pick looks like the sweet spot to land the No. 1 receiver in the class. Whether that’s Jerry Jeudy or CeeDee Lamb varies between draft pundits, but both are simply too good for a team lacking offensive fire power to pass on.

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