Atlanta Falcons: Ted Karras, C/G (New England Patriots)
The Atlanta Falcons might be limited in what they can accomplish in free agency, given that they currently have just $4.3 million available under the 2020 salary cap. They have needs on the defensive side of the football, with cornerback and pass rush looming, but they might need to address those via the draft. Players such as K’Lavon Chaisson, A.J. Epenesa, Jeffrey Okudah and CJ Henderson are commonly linked to the Falcons.
Another area of quiet need is the interior offensive line. Last year the Falcons used two early draft picks on the OL, drafting both right tackle Kaleb McGary and guard Chris Lindstrom in the first round. McGary struggled at times while Lindstrom battled injuries through the season. In addition, while center Alex Mack remains a steady option in the middle, he is entering the final year of his current contract.
To be sure, Ted Karras is not the sexiest name in free agency, nor is he the most enticing New England Patriot on the OL to be testing the open waters this off-season, as that would be guard Joe Thuney. But Karras has been a steady presence in the New England offensive line room for a few seasons now. He has started for them at guard, and last year when David Andrews was lost for the year with health concerns he stepped into a critical spot and performed very well. He would provide depth at both guard and center, and could even be looked at as a potential starter at left guard coming out of training camp. With limited financial resources, the Falcons could still acquire an immediate contributor up front to protect Matt Ryan and help both Lindstrom and McGary develop. This would be a schematic fit as well, as Karras showed good footwork in New England’s zone designs, as well as some strength at the point of attack when the Patriots employed more gap/power schemes.
Carolina Panthers: Teddy Bridgewater, QB (New Orleans Saints)
Bridgewater joins Tom Brady as just the second quarterback on this list, and similar to Brady the reasons are schematic. The Carolina Panthers currently have a full quarterback room, with Cam Newton, Will Grier and Kyle Allen in place. (On Tuesday the Panthers announced a new contract for Allen). However, nothing beyond Allen’s new deal is set in stone given the new regime in town. While new head coach Matt Rhule has said all the right things about the trio of passers, new offensive coordinator Joe Brady might have his own ideas about the right quarterback to run his offense.
That might just be a quarterback who will be very familiar with his playbook.
Bridgewater and Brady were together for a period of time with the Saints, and the run/pass option offense rooted in West Coast concepts will be almost an ideal schematic fit for Bridgewater. When he was pressed into action last season when Drew Brees suffered a thumb injury, Bridgewater showed the ability to make quick decisions and involve the running backs in the passing game. That makes him a great choice to run Brady’s offense.
Acquiring Bridgewater might not foreclose the option of bringing Newton back to Carolina. The Panthers might look at Newton’s injury history and believe that if nothing else, an improvement behind Newton is a solid investment. Or, the team could turn the keys over to Bridgewater and still look to acquire a rookie in this draft class. Or, they could give Bridgewater a shot in 2020 and then reassess the position prior to 2021. Either way, Bridgewater fits the Brady offense and would give Rhule more flexibility at the position going forward.
New Orleans Saints: Emmanuel Sanders, WR (San Francisco 49ers)
With Drew Brees returning to the fold for one last run at a Super Bowl, the New Orleans Saints desperately need to find him another target in the passing game, one that can serve as a running mate for Michael Thomas. Sanders, coming off a run to a Super Bowl of his own – one which fell short – could be the perfect complement to Thomas.
Thomas is perhaps the league’s most dangerous slot receiver, and Sanders has also seen a lot of time in the slot, but both players have also seen a lot of time aligned on the outside. In 2019 Thomas actually saw the bulk of his snaps, 33.4%, aligned along the boundary to the left, and 20% of his snaps along the boundary to the right. That means the majority of his snaps were as an outside receiver. Thomas also had 77 receptions from the outside, with 71 coming from the slot.
For his part, Sanders was used more from the slot last year, and the bulk of his production came from that inside alignment. Sanders had 49 receptions from the slot, against just 18 coming from other alignments. But he was still used on the outside, with 27.9% of his snaps coming as a boundary receiver.
With these two receivers on the roster, Sean Payton would have a ton of flexibility with how he aligns the offense. He could use them out of stack slot alignments, use one in the slot and one on the outside, and come up with a number of different ways to attack a secondary. Then he could use Ted Ginn and/or Tre’Quan Smith in more of an X receiver role, and such a trio of receivers would be difficult to cover. Additionally, Payton could use some more isolated formations with Thomas as a single receiver to one side with running back Alvin Kamara staggered to that side as well, while creating an advantageous one-on-one matchup for Sanders on the opposite side of the formation.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Yannick Ngakoue, DL (Jacksonville Jaguars)
With the Jacksonville Jaguars seemingly in the midst of turning their entire defense over, perhaps another Florida organization could be in position to swoop in and make Yannick Ngakoue a part of their defensive front.
Obviously the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have a massive question to deal with as free agency kicks off, and that is the status of current starting quarterback Jameis Winston. Whether Bruce Arians decides to run it back with Winston or explore other options at the quarterback spot remains to be seen, but either way there are other areas the Buccaneers could address, including the defensive front. Shaquil Barrett is a free agent, Jason Pierre-Paul is a free agent, and Ndamukong Suh is a free agent. Even if Tampa Bay inks Barrett to a new deal, pass rush is an area of need.
Ngakoue could fill a big role for Tampa Bay in that aspect of the defense. While the past two seasons did not match his production in the 2017 campaign, when he notched 14 sacks and 82 total pressures, he is still a very talented and productive pass rusher. If the Buccaneers were able to pair him with Barrett up front, that would allow Tampa Bay to remain near the top of defensive pressure statistics as they were during the 2019 season.