Free agency can be an exciting time for NFL franchises, but it can also be a stressful one. While the prospect of bringing in fresh new talent is something to be upbeat about, the thought of losing key internal free agents is not.
Unfortunately, teams cannot shell out cash to keep all of their core players—as much as they might like to. There comes a point when the price tag outweighs a player's value to his current team. The willingness of teams to outbid one another often forces a franchise to come to this conclusion rather quickly.