The perfect team for 7 of the top NFL free agents in 2018 (and Nick Foles)

Free agency begins March 14 and before it does, many of the players close to hitting the open market will get re-signed. Drew Brees, for example, probably isn’t going anywhere, despite the Saints cutting it awfully close.

But quarterback Kirk Cousins and other NFL veterans will be up for bidding soon.

Cousins has a chance at a record-setting contract that just a few teams have the cap space to afford. The rest of the players in the free agent market could go just about anywhere with the majority of the league owning well over $20 million in available cap space.

These are seven of the top free agents this year — plus Nick Foles, a potential trade candidate — and the landing spot that would make the most sense for each of them:

According to odds makers, Minnesota is the likely landing spot for the blockbuster free agent of 2018. The Jets can offer money that Minnesota can’t, but the Vikings are better set up to be a contender right away with Cousins added to the mix.

“Is money a part of it? Sure. Is it the only thing? No,” Cousins told PFT Live in January. “It is about winning, and that’s what I want more than anything, so I’m going to be willing to make sacrifices or do what has to be done to make sure I’m in the best possible position to win, and that’s what the focus is going to be.”

The Vikings, Jets, Broncos, and Cardinals are all expected to be the contenders for Cousins. But Minnesota is the only one from that group that was a playoff team in 2017. It’s a match that works well for both sides.

A knee injury for Bridgewater has kept him out of action for all but a few snaps in the last two seasons. So it’ll probably be difficult for the 25-year-old to find much money or an opportunity to be a franchise quarterback when he hits the open market. That makes his free agency an interesting case.

There are obvious quarterback vacancies across the NFL, and New York is one where he’d a clear path to a starting role.

What makes the Jets a perfect spot for Bridgewater is it would likely be a short-term agreement that allows him to start in 2018 while the team identifies its quarterback of the future. Perhaps Bridgewater can prove he’s the man for the job. But even if the Jets draft a quarterback at No. 6 overall, Bridgewater can prove exactly the type of value he has and hit the market with more clarity soon.

The Jaguars’ turnaround season in 2017 happened without Robinson, who suffered a torn ACL in Week 1. The injury is likely why the Jaguars opted not to give Robinson the franchise tag, but it probably won’t stop the 24-year-old former Pro Bowler from getting big money in free agency.

That youth and upside is exactly what the 49ers are looking for with 26-year-old Jimmy Garoppolo at the helm of a rebuild full of young players.

San Francisco locked down Marquise Goodwin to a three-year deal, but Robinson would give Garoppolo a real No. 1 on the outside and help San Francisco do real damage offensively. This team has money to spend and this is a good place to put it to use.

The Rams might have been better off keeping their second-round pick and cornerback E.J. Gaines instead of trading the pair to the Bills for Watkins before the 2017 season started. The former top-five pick caught eight touchdowns for LA, but the team probably hoped for more than 39 receptions for 593 yards. Those were career lows for Watkins in receptions and receiving yards per game.

But just two years ago, Watkins was a 1,000-yard receiver and even during his down year with the Rams, he was still able to score touchdowns. That’d be a welcomed sight in Tennessee. The Titans finished 2017 with 14 passing touchdowns all year, with just six caught by wide receivers.

The Titans have reason to have high hopes for Corey Davis, but adding another receiver would help Marcus Mariota immensely. Watkins looks like a great fit.

New Giants general manager Dave Gettleman was running the show in Carolina when Andrew Norwell was signed by the team as an undrafted free agent. He’d have to invest much more this time around to land the All-Pro, but the Giants can make the move and it’d perfectly fit Gettleman’s modus operandi.

The Giants finished in the bottom 10 in both rushing yards and touchdowns, which isn’t anything new for the them — they were No. 29 in rushing touchdowns in 2015, No. 32 in 2016, and No. 28 in 2017.

Norwell would provide a big boost to the offense and is exactly the type of player Gettleman would like to start his tenure by signing.

Not having Duane Brown was a problem for the Texans in 2017. The four-time Pro Bowler held out for the first six games of the year and was traded by Houston after finally returning to the lineup in Week 8.

Instead, left tackle duties fell on the shoulders of Chris Clark and fourth-round rookie Julie’n Davenport. It wasn’t a good formula for the Texans.

That’s not why Deshaun Watson suffered a season-ending ACL tear, but protecting the promising young quarterback has to be a main priority — and finding a left tackle is at the top of the checklist. The Texans don’t have a first-round pick, so free agency is the route to go. Solder would be the best option.

After what felt like 20 different defensive backs got injured in 2016, the Packers signed Davon House and drafted Kevin King in 2017. But the team’s pass defense still finished near the bottom of the NFL.

The depth chart looks even worse now with Damarious Randall’s trade to the Browns. The Packers might not want to pull the trigger and draft secondary help early again, either. They used their first picks in two of the last three drafts to take King and Randall, and haven’t seen much in the way of results.

The better route may be to hunt through a strong crop of free agent cornerbacks. E.J. Gaines and Rashaan Melvin are other options, but Johnson has been an upper-tier, durable cornerback for a few seasons now.

This is a bonus pairing, because Foles isn’t actually a free agent. But after winning Super Bowl MVP and becoming a valuable backup, Foles’ stock might never be higher. It’d make sense for the Eagles to cash in on a trade and move his $7.6 million cap hit elsewhere.

If Foles is on the trade market, the Bills would be a logical buyer. With Tyrod Taylor traded to the Browns, Buffalo needs an efficient pocket passer to pair with its strong defense and rushing attack. Foles fits the mold and Buffalo has the draft capital — two first-round and two second-round picks — to facilitate a deal.

It doesn’t mean they’re tied to Foles for the long haul, either. He’d be a cheap starter under contract through 2021 that the Bills could commit to if he plays well, or use as a bridge while grooming another young passer to take over. It doesn’t hurt that Foles just beat the Patriots — the kings of the AFC East and the team the Bills have to finally take down to turn the corner.