The calendar has flipped to March, and several NFL teams are on a frantic pace to restructure contracts in order to become salary-cap compliant by 4 p.m. Eastern time on March 12.

The New England Patriots did a restructure with quarterback Tom Brady, while Pittsburgh did the same with quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and a few other players in its seemingly annual scramble to reach cap compliance.

The New Orleans Saints and Dallas Cowboys are also in the midst of changing deals to lower cap numbers for the 2013 league year while adding cap dollars for future years. The cap is expected to be $123 million.

The deals for Brady and Roethlisberger also could affect what the Baltimore Ravens decide to do with quarterback Joe Flacco, with Monday (March 4) the deadline for teams to place franchise or transition tags on players. Currently, no teams have officially applied the franchise tag.

In addition, the Ravens might also be helped by a restructuring possible between the Detroit Lions and quarterback Matthew Stafford.

The non-exclusive franchise tag would result in a tender of about $14.6 million for Flacco, money that counts immediately against the cap. If the Ravens were able to negotiate a long-term deal with Flacco, it would likely mean a lower cap figure, and open the door for the Ravens to deal with other free agents like safety Ed Reed, linebacker Dannell Ellerbe and cornerback Cary Williams.

With a non-exclusive tag, the player can negotiate with other teams, but an offer sheet not matched would result in two first-round picks as compensation. The exclusive tag, based on the five highest cap numbers at the position for 2013, prohibits the player from talking to other teams.

Prior to the restructures that lowered the cap numbers for Brady and Roethlisberger, the exclusive tender cost about $20.46 million. With Brady and Roethlisberger dropping out of the top five, it is now $19.136 million.

Stafford currently has the highest cap figure of any quarterback at $20.82 million, so a restructuring would further lower the exclusive tag.

As for teams looking for a quarterback, the market doesn't provide much in attractive talent. That resulted in Kansas City reaching a tentative agreement with San Francisco to acquire quarterback Alex Smith for a second-round pick this year (34th overall) plus a conditional third-round pick in 2014 that could become a second-round selection depending on Smith's performance. There is also a possibility that Kansas City might receive a third-day pick from the 49ers in the fifth, sixth or seventh round. The trade can't become official until after the league year begins.

It is believed Seattle plans to keep Matt Flynn as the backup to Russell Wilson.

Following is a look at the top five players at each position, with the estimated franchise tag in parentheses.

Quarterbacks ($14.6 million)

Joe Flacco, Baltimore (expected to be franchised)

Matt Moore, Miami

Jason Campbell, Chicago

Drew Stanton, Indianapolis

Brian Hoyer, Arizona

Running Backs ($8.1 million)

Steven Jackson, St. Louis (expected to void contract by March 12)

Reggie Bush, Miami

Shonn Greene, N.Y. Jets

Rashard Mendenhall, Pittsburgh

Cedric Benson, Green Bay

Ahmad Bradshaw (released by Giants)