The AFC South in 2016 was the league’s worst division with the Texans sneaking out a 9-7 playoff birth. With Andrew Luck’s return on the horizon the Colts figure to play into the thick of things as well. Let’s take a look now at what the Texans, Colts, Jaguars, and Titans should do this offseason.
- Texans, 2015 record (9-7)
Key Free Agents: Nate Washington, Brandon Brooks, Ben Jones, Shane Lechler, Jared Crick
The good news for Houston is they have approximately 32 million to spend in free agency prior to making any roster cuts. The bad news they can’t bank on making another postseason appearance without fixing the quarterback position. Brian Hoyer was horrifying in the team’s first round loss to Kansas City. Back ups T.J. Yates and Brandon Weeden are free agents to be. The likely move is Houston retains Hoyer and drafts a quarterback as the under study to begin the season. The biggest free agent on the list above is all pro guard Brandon Brooks. I personally believe in not paying a premium price for guards, then again with so much cap space Houston likely retains him. Their top three needs heading into free agency shopping should include a secondary receiver, offensive line help, and a 3-4 defensive end opposite of J.J. Watt.
- Colts, 2015 record (8-8)
Key Free Agents: Adam Vinatieri, Matt Hasselbeck, Colby Fleener, Dwayne Allen
Frankly general manager Ryan Grigson should be embarrassed by the roster he has assembled around quarterback Andrew Luck, but that is a story for another day. The fact is that without the heroic performance of back up quarterback Matt Hasselbeck all season this is a 3-13 team. The Colts do have around 25 million in projected salary cap space but that’s not nearly enough to fix this roster. The real failures of this team have been the teams recent draft history. (Bill Polian is also partially to blame here). When devising a plan for this team its hard to find a place to start since I am a proponent of not over paying for players in free agency. Some roster cuts I recommend are Trent Cole, Andre Johnson, and Erik Walden. This time needs to get younger period. This team has holes at virtually ever position and the way to fix that issue is by drafting better not compiling onto the problems the teams already have through free agency.
- Jaguars, 2015 record (5-11)
Key Free Agents: Mercedes Lewis, Stefan Wisniewski, Andre Branch
There was a point in time last season the Jaguars actually had a chance to make the playoffs before faltering late in the season. The Jags will have an absurd amount of cap space that will be approximately 80 million! The fact is that the Jaguars actually have to spend a lot of it in order to reach the salary cap floor so the league does not fine them. The problem with that is convincing players to come to Jacksonville. Some targets I would have would include Janoris Jenkins, Alshon Jeffrey, and Eric Berry. Of course that list will grow after roster cuts. We will get a better picture of a plan once franchise tags and roster cuts are announced. Regardless this Jaguars team should be greatly improved based off of how much cap space they have.
- Titans, 2015 record (3-13)
Key Free Agents: None
The Titans have been a train wreck the past two seasons winning a combined 5 games. Tennessee will also have about 50 million in cap space to use, which should help. The first thing I would do as general manager would have been to hire a different head coach instead of retaining Mike Mularkey. Next I would gauge the trade market for Marcus Mariota. It’s clear to me this is a guy that cannot win you a championship. Then again I have ben a disbeliever in Mariota from his college days. Similar to Jacksonville, this team will have plenty of cap space to burn. The question is who and for how much?
