I won't be a full-blown pessimist, but I too can't get too optimistic about this free agency. Now when you "start cleaning the house," are you talking about players or the FO? If it's the latter, there's nothing that can be done about this offseason. Next offseason is a completely different story.
As far as the needs on defense, I think the draft is the best way to go as I also believe we'll draft a WR and hopefully an athletic TE. There's no way in hell we'll go after the big name FAs, but we tend to find a way to make a decent "splash" so I'm not too worried about that. I expect us to get some WR when the cupboard is thinning and, as I said before, draft at least one in the first 3 rounds.
As far as the schedule is concerned, we'll see what happens. The schedule now may not look the same as it will when the regular season is underway. In addition, if they want to make the playoffs, they're gonna have it to win against these playoff teams.
By the way, this post is more towards the Free Agency thread than this.