The clock is ticking for NFL teams to polish up their rosters ahead of training camp.

With every team reporting by July 26, front offices have only two weeks left to sign free agents and execute trades that will allow their new acquisitions to get a complete training camp under their belts.

Because of this time crunch, several blockbuster deals involving some of the league’s brightest stars could go down over the next fortnight.

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NFL Veterans Who Could Find Themselves on the Roster Bubble in Training Camps

With that in mind, let’s look at some of the top players who teams should be targeting and make some bold predictions on where they will land.

 

Jimmy Garoppolo to Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers receive: QB Jimmy Garoppolo

San Francisco 49ers receive: 2023 third-round pick

The San Francisco 49ers have been ready to move on from veteran quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo since the end of the 2021 season but have yet to find a taker. His decision to undergo surgery on his throwing shoulder put off potential suitors early in the offseason.

Garoppolo's agent, Don Yee, told NFL Network's Tom Pelissero that the signal-caller is "progressing well" in his rehab from that surgery. However, NFL insider Dan Sileo thinks the 30-year-old will “probably” miss the first month of the regular season, according to SI.com’s Grant Cohn.

Because of Garoppolo's availability concerns, franchises in need of a starting quarterback for the 2022 season—such as the Seattle Seahawks and potentially the Cleveland Browns, pending the results of Deshaun Watson's disciplinary hearing—may be leery about dealing for him. Instead, a club that has one of the NFL's best starting signal-callers could emerge as the top suitor.

Sileo said the Tampa Bay Buccaneers would “love” to bring Garoppolo in as the heir apparent to Tom Brady, who briefly retired this offseason. Having a replacement like Garoppolo—whom the New England Patriots drafted as a potential heir to Brady in 2014—on the roster would make for a much smoother transition than the one that Bucs nearly had to undertake this offseason.

With the Baker Mayfield trade helping set the market, the Buccaneers—who have $12.5 million in cap space but could get some relief if San Francisco takes on some of Garoppolo's $24.2 million base salary—would likely only need to give up a Day 2 draft pick for him.