I think the front office’s thought process on these four needs is probably pretty simple: they’re asking themselves at each position, is there a free agent available who can clearly upgrade the roster right now?
Free Safety: No obvious upgrade in free agency, so this likely points to the draft
Defensive Tackle: Same situation. Outside of older vets like DJ Reader, there’s not much that truly moves the needle, so this probably gets addressed in the draft as well
Will ILB: Again, mostly depth-type free agents (Akeem Davis-Gaither, Kenneth Murray types), not clear upgrades — so draft makes sense here too
Tight End: This is the one spot where there are potential upgrades available in free agency, like David Njoku or maybe Jonnu Smith
So if I had to guess the approach:
FS – Draft
WILL ILB – Draft
DT – Draft
TE- We can still upgrade through free agency