Most teams had some difficult decisions to make last year in free agency that they might not otherwise have had to face. Because of the loss of in-stadium revenue from the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the salary cap actually fell substantially, so with a tighter budget, plans had to change.
Certain players you wouldn’t be able to afford to keep, or you wouldn’t be able to afford as many as you’d hoped. The Pittsburgh Steelers certainly dealt with this situation, for example, when they lost out on retaining cornerback Mike Hilton, who signed a contract with the rival Cincinnati Bengals that was structured in such a way that would have been difficult for Pittsburgh to match.