A list of free agents that interest me at a quick glance of lists of guys available as of now:
QB: n/a
RB: Aaron Jones (MIN), Najee Harris (PIT)
WR: Tee Higgins (CIN), Darius Slayton (NYG)
TE: Juwan Johnson (NO)
IOL: Drew Dalman (ATL), James Daniels (PIT)
OT: Alaric Jackson (LAR), Dan Moore (PIT)
DL: n/a
EDGE: Josh Sweat (PHI), Malcolm Koonce (LV), Baron Browning (ARI), Dayo Odeyingbo (IND), Chase Young (NO)
LB: Dre Greenlaw (SF)
CB Charvarius Ward (SF), Rasual Douglas (BUF), Carlton Davis (DET)
FS: Jevon Holland (MIA), Camryn Bynum (MIN)
I think there's a real opportunity to rebuild the defense through free agency. The drop off has been pretty heavy this year and I know many want to attribute it to poor coaching. I think talent is a huge factor too though. Even the harshest BB critics I think would acknowledge that he's arguably THE best defensive strategist in the history of the sport. I don't think his acumen and impact on that end has ever been in question. So I'm sure that's played in to some degree, but I also think that even though the personnel can be viewed as similar in a lot of ways, there's been some notable drop offs outside of coaching:
1) Bentley is out and while he's not a great player, he was their best LB and, most importantly, he was good enough to keep Tavai in a reduced role that he was an asset in. Now, with Bentley out, they have Tavai filling in terribly in the bigger LB role and also lose Tavai's positive contributions in his specialized role.
2) Peppers has been out for most of the year which forced Dugger to play mostly FS, which he's significantly worse at. Dugger also looks visibly limited by his ankle injury which means even though he's out there in name, he's not the same guy.
3) Jonathan Jones is another year older and reportedly playing hurt.
4) Barmore had blood clots and obviously wasn't the same guy in his limited time back.
They'll never get a defensive coach as good as BB but I still think they have guys with solid resumes on that end. Covington has long been viewed as a strong assistant. Mayo got head coaching and DC looks elsewhere. Pelligrino has always done a solid job with CBs. Not saying there's no possible concerns with coaching, but first and foremost I think they need a talent infusion on that end.
On the offensive end, its not that guys like Chris Godwin, Trey Smith, Ronnie Staley, Cam Robinson, and more don't interest me at all, I just prefer to go for some of the younger options.