Five predictions ahead of 2022 NFL free agency
It’s been a crazy start to the NFL offseason.
Since the Rams defeated the Bengals in Super Bowl LVI last month, the drama has continued to unfold.
Tom Brady has retired and reversed his decision in the space of six weeks. Aaron Rodgers became the highest paid NFL player in history. Nine teams hired new head coaches and plenty of other superstars have already changed teams.
Now, NFL free agency is back. The next few weeks promise to deliver plenty of huge signings from across the league.
Here are five predictions that we expect to see during free agency:
Another blockbuster trade shakes up QB market
Last week, we saw the likes of Russell Wilson and Carson Wentz involved in trades which completely shook the league.
With Tom Brady heading back to Buccaneers for at least another year, that makes another team who now have their vacant quarterback position sorted.
The quarterback market is already drying up, but there are plenty of teams still in need of a new starter for next year.
Time is running out for teams such as the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Carolina Panthers to sort themselves out at the quarterback position.
Players like Marcus Mariota, Mitch Tribusky and Jameis Winston are all headed to free agency, but this could be severely impacted by another big-name trade.
We’re expecting trades for Deshaun Watson and Jimmy Garoppolo to be just around the corner.
The Buccaneers go all out once again
There’s no stopping the Buccaneers.
The dramatic retirement reversal of Tom Brady has completely altered their ambitions for this season and already makes them one of the best teams in the NFC.
Given they’ve franchise tagged receiver Chris Godwin and managed to bring center Ryan Jensen back, Tampa Bay are already well primed to challenge for the Lombardi Trophy again in 2022.
Nonetheless, the Bucs are scheduled to lose veterans including the likes Rob Gronkowski, Jason Pierre-Paul and Ndamukong Suh.
A few holes are therefore appearing on their roster, so the Bucs will need to make considerable moves in free agency.
Brady’s return is a real game-changer for this side. Expect his team to be manoeuvring a lot of cap room over the coming days, making space for them to reload for another Super Bowl push.
Chargers continue to be aggressive
Los Angeles made a huge statement by trading for Bears pass rusher Khalil Mack earlier in March.
That trade has made a significant improvement to their roster, but there is no question the Chargers need help in most positions on defense.
The Chargers ranked 30th in the league against the run in 2021 with an average of almost 140 yards allowed on the ground per game.
Mack certainly is an elite run defender, but if the Chargers can add another linebacker and a defensive tackle in the draft would go a long way to shoring up those issues.
Elsewhere, the Chargers are being heavily linked with J.C. Jackson, but will have to make the Pro Bowler one of the best paid corners in the NFL if they want to bring him to LA.
They already have a solid secondary and adding Jackson, one of the best man-to-man cover defensive backs around, would give them another solid playmaker.
On the over side of scrimmage, the Chargers could do with upgrading their offensive line.
After suffering badly from injuries at the position last year, general manager Tom Telesco will be looking to add some reinforcements up front. Tackles Morgan Moses, Trent Brown and Eric Fisher should all be available for them to target.
The Chargers have the ability to compete in 2022. They’ve got decent cap room and should be looking to add yet more talent to their roster.
Terron Armstead gets huge pay day
After making around $11 million last year, Terron Armstead is expected to fetch a huge contract in 2022.
We are projecting the nine-year pro becomes one of the highest paid offensive linemen in NFL history this offseason, but this probably won’t be with the Saints.
Despite refusing to rule out a return to New Orleans, it would take a lot of work for the 2010 Super Bowl champions to afford Armstead.
And with interest already high, it looks incredibly unlikely that Armstead returns to the Big Easy ahead of next season.
He could be taken by the likes of the Bengals, Colts or Dolphins, the latter of which we predicted he’d sign for earlier this month.
Regardless of where he goes, Armstead will be getting paid a lot of money by whoever he plays for next.
Tough love for running back free agents
This year’s running back class is full of decent names, but is perhaps a lot weaker in 2022.
The position seemingly carries less and less value than other positions every year, so it’s unlikely that an out-of-contract running back will be getting much of the headlines this month.
Thanks to a lot of teams having decent prospects on rookie deals or having players on long-term deals, expect a lot of short-term deals for running backs this offseason.
That said, there are still a lot of great fits for many teams.
Leonard Fournette would be very effective in a pairing alongside Austin Ekeler at the Chargers or Devin Singletary at the Bills, and the likes of Raheem Mostert, Melvin Gordon and Rashaad Penny could be very complimentary for a host of teams.
However, there will be several veterans who will go unsigned during free agency, including plenty of household names too.
