NFL teams are no strangers to losing good players each offseason — that’s the very nature of a salary-capped sports league. And while the league provides various mechanisms to help teams retain their top players — namely the franchise and transition tags — clubs can only use one of these tags each offseason, so it’s impossible for them to keep all of their stars on the roster.
Some losses are bigger than others, and teams have to gauge the quality of depth on their roster at each position to determine who their priority free agents are. They may (should) also balance their NFL draft plans with their free agency philosophy.