I would like to speculate that the NFL will be expanding by acquiring the Canadian Football League. This is expected to happen prior to the Draft in April.

Loomis is a very good GM and I think there's a chance we can sign Brees, Nicks and Colston. Crunching the numbers to include signing bonuses is complicated but I think Loomis can do it. 2 guys I can see us parting ways with are Vilma and Will Smith. They're the 2nd and 3rd highest paid guys on our team and they're on the backside of their careers. Again, I don't know what the cap hit would be because of signing bonuses but I think we could take the hit and sign some of the younger guys. Franklin is also coming off our cap and he's the 9th highest paid guy on the team.

I think Brees, Nicks, and Colston are 3 guys who I have confidence in being good players for many years. Giving them bigger signing bonuses won't count against the cap and will give them guaranteed money. I also saw Greer’s name mentioned in this thread but he’s still under contract next year.

Unfortunately we are going to have to part ways with some good players; I would just rather part ways with some of our older players. I should add that figuring out the salary cap of an NFL team is confusing and I could be off on these numbers. I’m just going based on what I looked up so take all of this with a grain of salt.

No way in hell Brees let's them lose Nicks! I agree with Danno & CharityMike on this one. Colston is much easier to replace than Carl Nicks. There are good possession receivers that will go in the 2nd through 4th rounds in this years draft. Reuben Randall is one I would love in the second. Anybody that can make Jordan Jefferson look decent could turn into a budding star with Drew Brees. ;-)

It's way to early for this

Can't leave anywhere with a franchise tag.

Greer is a free agent too?

No..he has 1 more year.

We need to keep the offense in tact at least. So sign Brees, Colston, and Nicks. Rebuild the Defense with some young guns. If a bunch of no names can do it in SF than we can do it here.

Brees, Nicks and Colston will be retained yes we will loose a name on offense but not these 3

Just out of curiosity, what reason would Nicks give for leaving? Lack of respect? Bad team? No money?