Spending Spree?

NFL free agency begins one week from today at 4pm EST. The salary cap jumped from $123 million last year to $133 million this year. That's quite a jump. A lot of teams didn't need it. Eight teams have more than $30 million to spend. The Oakland Raiders have the cap space to spend over $60 million. The Cleveland Browns and Jacksonville Jaguars have nearly that amount. Teams used to be sitting pretty if they had $15 million in available cap space. This year, there are only twelve teams that have less than that. Teams are so flush with available spending that it's actually shocking that two teams still have work to do to get under that new $133 million salary cap. The Pittsburgh Steelers and Dallas Cowboys are probably thrilled with that extra $10 million. The Steelers are about $6 million over the cap. The Cowboys are about $16 million over. Each has a week to get under the cap. The Raiders could pay off the debt of both teams and still be in great shape.

Teams have to spend a lot of that available money. Gone are the days when NFL teams could spend little in an effort to make a lot. With the new CBA, teams are mandated to spend a combined 95% of the salary cap on players in the 2013 through 2016 seasons. Each team must spend, at minimum, 89% of the cap money available or face a stiff penalty in 2017.

With so many teams with so much available cash, will we see some crazy contracts tossed out to players this year? Who knows? There are no free agent quarterbacks available that are deserving of boatloads of cash. Quarterbacks that deserve that kind of payday rarely hit the open market. There are a bunch of cornerbacks and pass rushers available this year. Those players typically get some big contracts. New Orleans Saints tight end Jimmy Graham and Carolina Panthers defensive end Greg Hardy are probably the top two free agents. Each is among the best in the league at their position. Each received their team's franchise tags. If they can come to terms on long term deals, those contracts will be huge. Pass rushers Michael Bennett, Michael Johnson, Brian Orakpo, and Jason Worilds should come out of free agency as very wealthy football players. Orakpo received the franchise tag from the Washington Redskins yesterday. Worilds received the rarely used Transition tag from the Steelers. If Orakpo and Worilds don't come to an agreement with their teams on a long-term contract each will get the hefty one-year contract that comes with those tags. Corners Alteraun Verner, Aqib Talib, Vontae Davis, and Dominique Rodgers Cromartie should do well for themselves in free agency. Brent Grimes just did. Skilled offensive tackles are always in demand and there are a few of those in Branden Albert, Eugene Monroe, and Jared Veldheer. There will be a lot of money spent in the next few weeks. Much more than was spent last year. Teams have much more money to spend this year and this free agent class is better and deeper.

I really liked what the Philadelphia Eagles have done over the past few days. The NFL Draft will always be the primary means of building a team. Second to that is retaining the players that have progressed nicely in the team's system. Retaining your own free agents has always made a greater impact than signing other team's free agents. In 2011, the Eagles went nuts in free agency. They brought in Nnambi Asomugha, Jason Babin, Cullen Jenkins, Vince Young, Ronnie Brown, Evan Mathis, and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie. That spending spree did absolutely nothing for the team. Only Mathis is still with the team. In the past few days, the Eagles have re-signed Jason Peters, Jason Kelce, Jeremy Maclin, Riley Cooper, and Cedric Thornton. All are players that have already made an impact with the team. All should continue to make an impact with the team. In 2011, it seemed that the Eagles spent for the sake of spending. In 2014, they have, so far, spent with team success in mind.

Before free agnecy starts, I hope that the Minnesota Vikings can do what the Eagles just did. I'd like to see them keep some of their own free agents before they start spending on others. I'd like to see them re-sign defensive end Everson Griffen before other teams have a chance to court him. Griffen should be pre-free agency priority #1. It's been rumored that Vikings new head coach Mike Zimmer will bring Cincinnati Bengals defensive end Michael Johnson to Minnesota. Zimmer is the only defensive coordinator that Johnson has ever known in the NFL. I can't see the Vikings signing both Griffen and Johnson. If the rumors are true, I guess that the Vikings are willing to let Griffen walk. My guess is that Johnson is an option only if the Vikings are unable to sign Griffen. Corner Chris Cook is the other unrestricted free agent that I'd like to see the Vikings retain. He gets a lot of grief from the fans and the media. He has no interceptions in his four years in the league which is really kind of sad. Supposedly, he gets beat a lot. I don't think that he gets beat a lot. I think that his coverage is terrific far more often than not. I just think that his ball skills are terrible right now. When the ball is in the air he's usually right there but the timing of his jump is usually off. He's either going up or coming down while the receiver is at his peak, catching the football. I'm hoping that the new coaching staff can work on Cook's timing. He's got everything else that you hope for in a cornerback. If they can't improve that timing, Cook's future in the NFL is pretty bleak. There's a few other free agents that I'd like to see the Vikings retain but I don't think that they will have much difficulty doing so. Long-time team leaders and defensive linemen Jared Allen and Kevin Williams are two free agents that should generate quite a bit of debate. Allen's price tag will be the highest of the two so I think that he's least likely to return. I'd like to see Williams return but he'll be 34 in August. It's hard to imagine the Vikings defensive line without Williams and/or Allen.

The Vikings, and the 31 other teams, have some work to do before the chaos and fun of free agency kicks off one week from today.