Some quick notes from around the league:
*This should be an interesting offseason for the Tennessee Titans. They probably figured they were 3-5 years away from fielding a consistently competitive team prior to the 2006 season. Enter Vince Young and a law-abiding Pacman Jones. Suddenly the Titans believe they can compete for a playoff berth immediately with a few wise acquisitions in the draft and free agency this season. As for free agents, they certainly have the salary cap space to make a big splash in free agency. That financial flexibility will be imperative, as one of their only decent skill players, WR Drew Bennett, has said he will test the open market this spring .
*Don't expect the Ravens to be significantly better in the next couple of years. Lots of tough decisions are having to be made in Baltimore this offseason with only $3.3 million in cap space to work with.
*Sticking with the salary cap theme...Larry Johnson wants to be paid big-boy money after his phenomenal 1.5 year stretch as the Chiefs feature back and work-horse. The Chiefs are like the Ravens though with minimal cap space to work with . And, unlike the Ravens, the Chiefs still have serious needs on the defensive side of the ball, despite improving under 1st year head coach Herm Edwards.
*In case you hadn't noticed where the Steelers stand salary-cap wise...it's not good news. Only the money-hemoraging Redskins and the underachieving Panthers are in worse shape. The Steelers are only $1.44 million under the cap as of right now. Tons more on this in the forthcoming weeks, but it will be interesting to see what, if any, moves we make to add a bit more financial flexibility prior to free agency.