By: Tyler Englander

With the new NFL league year beginning tomorrow, so too does free agency. All thirty-two teams have a plan in mind and we outline the most interesting teams heading into free agency.

Denver Broncos: We begin with the Super Bowl Champion Broncos. Coming off a championship year, the Broncos are in a peculiar position. With Peyton Manning announcing his retirement yesterday, the Broncos offseason plan depends on Brock Osweiler. The former Arizona State Sun Devil is entering free agency for the first time with a plethora of teams interested and a return to the mile-high city is in question. If Osweiler returns to Denver, the Broncos are in a pretty good shape considering that Osweiler isn’t a downgrade to Manning. However, if Osweiler leaves, the Broncos are in a position similar to that of the Texans and Rams who we will talk about later, a team with a great roster and no quarterback. The Denver defense has already lost a pair of key players with Malik Jackson heading to Jacksonville and Danny Trevathan expected to go to the Bears. While these are key players I wouldn’t expect John Elway to make a big move on the defensive side of the football to replace them.

Carolina Panthers: Next on our list is the team the Broncos beat last month in Santa Clara, the Carolina Panthers. The Panthers like the Broncos are in a good position heading into next season. The two areas where the NFC Champions may look to improve is the receiving corps and their secondary. With one-thousand-yard receiver Kelvin Benjamin set to return from an ACL injury, Carolina may look to add a supplementary receiver such as Travis Benjamin of the Browns or Marvin Jones form the Cincinnati Bengals. The secondary is another story. The Panthers could use another corner and one I would expect them to target is Adam Jones. Another area where the Panthers should look is a depth safety, and they should have another Bengal in mind, veteran Leon Hall.

New England Patriots: Depending on Denver’s quarterback situation, the case could be made that the Patriots are currently the best team in the AFC. With that being said, New England is still in need of some important pieces. The Patriots will undoubtedly be looking for a deep threat for Tom Brady to work with. A name like Mohammed Sanu comes to mind, however a dark horse candidate New England could look at is Percy Harvin. Although Harvin has bounced around a lot and struggled last year, he is still a young, talented player and could thrive in the right place. The Patriots will also look to grab a running back to take some of the load off of their thirty-eight-year-old quarterback. Names like Matt Forte and Chris Ivory come to mind and would be the Patriots preferred option, they could be out of their price range. A name that could interest the Pats at the right price is former Redskin Alfred Morris. Morris is a two-time pro bowler and has been above average since coming into the league.

Los Angeles Rams and Houston Texans: The Texans and Rams are in a very similar spot heading into the new league year. They are teams with good young talent, especially on defense, but don’t have a quarterback. The Texans saw what Brian Hoyer could do and what he did was throw four picks in the wild card round. The Rams aren’t in better hands with Case Keenum. The name that comes to mind for both teams is the aforementioned Brock Osweiler. Although, Osweiler only played in eight games last year he showed the ability to be a good playmaker and it will only get better with experience. Plus, learning from Peyton Manning can’t hurt.

Oakland Raiders and Jacksonville Jaguars: I bet you didn’t expect to see these two teams on this list. The reason they are is because they are two young, promising teams, with a ton of cap space. You have seen it already as the Jags have a deal in principle with Malik Jackson and the Raiders have the same with Kelechi Osemele. Both these teams are similar given there promising young quarterbacks, Blake Bortles for the Jags and Derek Carr for the Raiders and their young playmakers, Allen Robinson and Amari Copper. Both these teams need upgrades on the defensive end, specifically the secondary. With tons of cap space, both these teams can explore names like Eric Weddle, Sean Smith and Prince Amukamara. Although the Dolphins placed the transition tag on Olivier Vernon, meaning they can match any offer made by other teams, I could see one of these teams taking a shot at one of the game’s best pass rushers.

With the league’s new “legal tampering” period beginning Monday, the free agency frenzy has already begun and it’s only going to get more intense come three o’clock on Wednesday afternoon.

All thirty two teams have one goal and that’s to play in Super Bowl 51 and that process starts now.