With ending contracts and a lot of cap space, we are in a position of negotiating power. We can give financial freedom to other tax burdened teams; we can do things (like take a bad contract) that other teams cannot, coupled with a good player of course. We can certainly just let the contracts expire and have our players go to free agency, but then we would have to rely on attracting quality free agents, something that has not been easy for us.
We currently have an advantage that no one else in the league has and we can use it to better ourselves. We have zero advantages in free agency.