The 2023-24 NFL campaign is over, so now, we can finally look toward the offseason and start preparing for next year.
Free agency should be incredibly interesting this spring, and we may even see some big trades happen in the coming weeks and months.
While fans of many teams are looking forward to what 2024 will bring, there are some clubs whose fans may not be so fortunate.
Here are three teams that are in some trouble heading into next season.
New Orleans Saints
The Saints went a respectable 9-8 this past year, losing the NFC South to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on a tiebreaker.
However, that does not mean there are many reasons to be optimistic for the Saints.
First and foremost, New Orleans has an issue under center. Derek Carr is not the quarterback the team thought it was getting, and in 2023, it was clear that he even rubbed some of his teammates the wrong way.
The Saints gave Carr $100 million in guaranteed money, so it’s not like they can just get out of his deal, either.
To make matters worse, New Orleans is going to have a difficult time improving its mediocre roster this offseason given that it is nearly $82 million over the cap (no, that is not a typo).
I’m honestly not sure what the Saints can do. They will probably try to trade Alvin Kamara to shed some salary, but that will barely even make a decent in their miserable salary cap situation.
New Orleans is fortunate to play in a terrible division, but it’s hard to imagine the Saints looking any better next fall then they did this year.
Jacksonville Jaguars
It’s crazy how quickly things can change.
Earlier in 2023, the Jaguars looked like one of the best teams in the AFC. Then, they went just 1-5 down the stretch to finish 9-8 and miss the playoffs.
Jacksonville has a couple of key free agents in edge rusher Josh Allen and wide receiver Calvin Ridley, and while the team says it will retain Allen, Ridley may be a goner.
The Jags have just over $17 million in cap space, so they may not have enough room to keep both Allen and Ridley. They also won’t have much money to make the roster that much better.
This club desperately needs help on the defensive side of the ball, as it ranked just 22nd in yards allowed this past season. However, if it keeps Allen, that may be all the front office can really do on that front.
Perhaps Trevor Lawrence having a better year in 2024 will be all the Jaguars need to reassert themselves as a legitimate squad in the conference, but there seem to be deeper issues here than just Lawrence.
Plus, if Ridley walks and Jacksonville doesn’t replace him, that’s one less weapon Lawrence will have at his disposal come September.
Philadelphia Eagles
At one point this past season, the Eagles looked like the best team in football. They were 10-1 and had some impressive wins on their resume, and they were coming off of a Super Bowl appearance.
But then, much like the Jags, Philadelphia lost five of its last six regular-season games before getting routed by the Buccaneers in the Wild Card Round of the playoffs.
Now, Nick Sirianni is skating on thin ice, A.J. Brown seems discontent and there are questions about how Jalen Hurts handled the locker room this year. It’s also obvious Philly has some serious needs defensively, and it may be losing veterans like Fletcher Cox and Brandon Graham to free agency on top of that.
Don’t get me wrong: this Eagles club is still very talented, but it’s apparent that they have some pressing problems that they probably can’t just address in one offseason.
The good news for Philadelphia is that the Dallas Cowboys are really the only team it needs to worry about in the NFC East. The bad news is that the rest of the conference is improving, and Philly’s championship window with this current group may have closed.
Has Sirianni lost this team? It’s certainly something to monitor going into 2024.
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