The following are 12 things to watch in the offseason:

	Adams

1. No overhaul in Oakland
The Raiders are the first team to be $50 million over the cap, but their roster won't be overhauled. The Jaguars and Ravens had to break down their rosters because they were so far over the cap. The Raiders free up $36 million by cutting defensive linemen Regan Upshaw and Sam Adams, halfback Terry Kirby, safety Anthony Dorsett, wide receiver James Jett and cornerback Tory James and having defensive tackle Darrell Russell on suspension. Redoing the contracts of the veteran group of Rich Gannon, Bill Romanowski and others will get the team under even though the roster will be older and have less depth.

	Bettis

2. Bettis out in Pittsburgh?
The Steelers face two interesting decisions with their offense. The first will be the release of quarterback Kordell Stewart, who has a $6.3 million salary. The second will involve halfback Jerome Bettis. The Steelers will give Bettis until June to test out his physical condition. He suffered a knee injury last year and finished the season with a little too much weight. A good offseason will insure that the Bus will be back. His cap number isn't bad at $3.89 million, but the Steelers have to see if they still want to pay him $2.75 million if he can't start every game.

	Kitna

3. To draft or not to draft a QB
The Bengals have to make a decision whether or not to draft a quarterback again. They like Jon Kitna as the starter, but they are still stung by having Akili Smith hanging around doing nothing. The Bengals have been a curse for highly ranked quarterbacks coming out of college. Ask David Klingler and Smith just for starters. It may be hard for them not to take Carson Palmer or Byron Leftwich, but Marvin Lewis is trying to build a team instead of one position.

	Gandy

4. More offense in Miami
The Dolphins face interesting decisions for their offense. They want to upgrade their left tackle position and may go after Wayne Gandy of the Steelers among others. The Dolphins would like to add another impact wide receiver on the other side of Chris Chambers, but do they have enough money to go for Peerless Price of the Bills or Kevin Dyson of the Titans?

	Plummer

5. Where's Plummer going?
Jake Plummer's negotiations will be the most interesting among the quarterbacks. The Cardinals made a provisional contract offer last week, but that seemed to be more of an offer if Plummer can't find the deal he's seeking. The provision would be he would have to compete against Josh McCown as the starter. The Broncos might be the team most interested in going for Plummer. Mike Shanahan is tired of inconsistent performances by Brian Griese and wants a different veteran to start. The Cowboys will pursue Plummer, but they might not pay much to acquire him.

	Smith

6. The Tuna effect
It will be interesting to see how Bill Parcells tweaks the Cowboys' roster. The Cowboys' defense is built for speed. Parcells like size. The Cowboys are undersized at linebacker, and Parcells has to find a way to either make do or talk Jerry Jones into getting bigger linebackers. Parcells wants the team to get bigger on the defensive line, and Jones should go for that. As far as the future of Emmitt Smith, Parcells is letting Jones decide that with Smith.

	Boselli

7. Houston's O-line
The Houston Texans will need to buy time to make major decisions on their offensive line. They will restructure the contract of left tackle Tony Boselli next week, but they won't know until the minicamps how much Boselli will be able to contribute. That gives the Texans until April to decide if they have to take tackle Jordan Gross of Utah in the first round or can concentrate on another position.

	Gardener

8. Gardener in D.C.?
The Redskins want to have a deal done with defensive tackle Daryl Gardener before the end of the month. His re-signing would dictate how they will revamp their defense under new coordinator George Edwards. The Redskins want to keep Gardener and release Big Daddy Wilkinson. Gardener rejected offers made Friday by the Redskins, but the team is still optimistic that it can get a deal done.

	Manning

9. Peyton's pay
The Colts are trying to figure out how to restructure and extend the contract of quarterback Peyton Manning. He currently counts $15.3 million against the cap. To re-sign him, though, it would require a signing bonus of around $20 million. That's a lot of cash. If the Colts can't get a deal done, they won't have a lot of room to improve their defense. Their goal is to keep their own players, particularly offensive linemen Jeff Saturday and linebacker Mike Peterson.

	Quarles

10. Bucs' D-ecisions
The Bucs face two important decisions for their defense before they end of the month. They have to re-sign middle linebacker Shelton Quarles and free safety Dexter Jackson. Both are vital members of their nickel defense. Jackson provides great range in the middle of the field. Quarles covers valuable ground when he drops into pass situations. The Bucs have to come up the right offers to keep both.

	Simmons

11. Simmons in Seattle
Watch for the Seahawks to franchise left tackle Walter Jones for a second consecutive year, but that could be disastrous if they can't re-sign outside linebacker Anthony Simmons. Simmons has the speed to be a valuable asset to a defense trying to work against the speed in the NFC West. He runs 4.3 40s. But negotiations have been stalled since late December, and Simmons senses he could get a $5 million a year deal. Knowing that Mike Holmgren has to rebuild the defense for coordinator Ray Rhodes, losing the best young defender on the team won't help.

	Petitgout

12. Giants' "no-name" line
The Giants have a tough challenge. Line coach Jim McNally did an incredible job coaching a bunch of no-names on the offensive line. But those no-names have become names, and it may be costly to keep them. Tackles Luke Petitgout and Mike Rosenthal and guard-center Jason Whittle are free agents.

John Clayton is a senior writer for ESPN.com.