Saints, Packers and 5 Other NFL Teams Facing Difficult 2022 Offseasons

For some, the NFL offseason is a source of hope. For the New Orleans Saints and Green Bay Packers, it is simply about navigating rough waters.

The Los Angeles Clippers, Miami Dolphins and Cincinnati Bengal can be excited about the amount of money they have to spend. All three clubs spent at least $58 million on rookies this year, and all of them had some success with quarterbacks.

There are teams with draft capital. The Eagles, Giants, Lions and Jets have multiple first-round picks. They can be excited about bringing in two blue-chip players.

The Saints, Packers and other have-nots of the world do not have access to resources. Whether it is a messy cap situation, a lack of draft capital, a potential exodus of talent or a combination of the three, these teams are in for a tough offseason.

The cap space is $65 million.

The projected picks are: 49, 99, 116, 134, 159, 215, and 234.

The era of Drew Brees and Sean Payton is over in New Orleans.

This season was a glimpse into the future without them. The franchise is in for a hard reset because of the retirement of Brees and the departure of Payton.

It is not in a good position to do it.

The rent has come due because the Saints spent a lot on building a championship team around their aging quarterback. They have no clear-cut option at quarterback and are projected to be $65.7 million over the salary cap.

They are going to have to cut payroll in order to get under the cap. It could include Michael Thomas, Bradley Roby and Malcolm Jenkins.

The Saints had to find a way to cut $111 million from their books last season. They kicked the can down the road because of the $52 million of contract restructures.

There isn't a clear path toward them being a contender within the confines of their cap situation.

The cap space was $46.3 million.

The draft picks are projected.

It could be the last time we see that iteration of the Packers core on the field.

Green Bay could either go one of two ways. The first would allow Rodgers to play at least one more season. The Packers would continue to be a contender, but his $46.1 million cap hit would be difficult to navigate.

At this point, the quarterback and the organization are at odds. Both might need a reset, but that doesn't come without a lot of unknowns.

If Rodgers retires or the Packers trade him, the cap situation will become a little more manageable.

They have to find a way to put the best team around Jordan Love. Davante Adams, who did not want to negotiate with the Packers during the season, could be brought back or replaced.

With only three picks in the top 100, the Packers are going to have to draft well and make smart decisions to get under the cap and remain a viable contender.

The cap space is $12.2 million.

The draft picks are projected.

The change in coaching is going to be the greatest chance of improvement for the Vikings. The new general manager is going to have a lot of decisions to make in order to make the roster better.

The Vikings are projected to be in the red when it comes to the cap, and there are two contracts that need to be addressed.

Danielle Hunter is the easier of the two. The edge-rusher will cost the team $25.9 million against the cap. That one can be dealt with. He only played seven games over the last two seasons after undergoing season-ending neck surgery in September 2020 and suffering a torn pectoral that ended his season in November 2021.

The Vikings have a real problem with KirkCousins. The quarterback will cost them 45 million dollars. It would be hard to swallow for a quarterback who didn't get them to the playoffs.

The Vikings are faced with a number of options, including extending his contract, trading him away, paying him for the final year of his deal, or revisiting the quarterback position in the future.

None of those are ideal.

The cap space is 20.4 million.

The draft picks are projected.

The cap situation of the panthers is not necessarily dire. They are right at the league average for cap space by Spotrac, and will start the season in the black.

The problem is that Carolina doesn't have a lot of draft picks, so it's hard to retain some of the key players who are set to hit free agency.

All of the players who played important roles on defense have expiring contracts.

The franchise is still haunted by the Sam Darnold trade. The Carolinas are on the hook for his $18.9 million cap hit, aren't any closer to finding a franchise quarterback and have just one pick in the top 100.

Throw in the trade to get C.J. Henderson and you have a pick in the third round.

It isn't a great sign that they don't have enough money to retain all their key players from last year and have just one prime draft pick to get excited about.

The cap space is $5 million.

The draft picks are projected.

There will be a desire to find answers when you experience the kind of second-half collapse the Cards did. The Cards have made a number of moves to build their roster.

It made them one of the league's hottest teams over the first half of the season, only to suffer a second-half swoon that resulted in an early exit from the playoffs.

They are just above the salary cap and have a free-agent class that includes Ertz, Green, Conner, Jones, Chase Edmonds and Christian Kirk.

Each team has the potential to lose through pending free agents if they win more than replacement. The offense and defense were both ranked 14th.

The amount of money they spent on veterans who were supposed to put them over the top makes this season not a success. They are stuck trying to get better without the resources to do so.

It is a tough place to be in a division that is very competitive.

There is a cap space of 190,313.

The draft picks are projected.

The approach to building their roster has been unconventional. They traded their draft picks for proven commodities instead of using the standard valuation.

Five of their eight projected picks are expected to be compensatory picks from previous free agents lost and the hiring of a former Rams executive as the Detroit Lions general manager last season.

It is hard to argue with the results. They are playing in the game. The Rams have less than $1 million of cap space to use with some pretty important players set to hit the open market.

Von Miller is third on the team in sacks and has added one in each playoff game so far. Sony led the team in rushing. Brian Allen and Austin Corbett were both on the offensive line.

The team has little money to re-sign them because they are set to be free agents. With no draft picks in the top 100, the margin for error is thin for the Rams to build another Super Bowl contender.

The cap space is $21.3 million.

The projected picks are: 24, 56, 88, 125, 165, 174, 202.

The trade-off that comes with paying a franchise quarterback is going to be felt by the Cowboys. It comes with a smaller budget to take care of everyone else, but they will enjoy the security of having a signal-caller who can do what they want.

15 percent of the team's cap is accounted for by the $34.5 million cap hit by Prescott. The top-paid offensive and defensive players make up nearly 30 percent of the team's cap space.

Several key free agents are going to hit the open market. One of the strengths of the Cowboys is that they have been able to surround Prescott with weapons.

They are all set to hit free agency. The team is already in the red financially, which makes it a stark reality that all three could be gone by next season.

On the defensive side of the ball, Randy Gregory could be difficult to hold on to. He was second on the team in sacks with six, but his projected market value is $13.2 million per year.

The Cowboys will have to fill important roles without a lot of money or draft picks.

Unless otherwise stated, all salary-cap and contract information can be found via Spotrac. The draft picks were projected via tankathon. The draft order and picks have not been finalized.