It's been a slow couple of weeks without football. Love the NBA, NHL, college basketball and all that, spring training getting going is exciting too. But this long without major NFL news or action can make one weak. Oh, offseason...
For the sake of our own football itch, we've compiled a hot take for each team for the upcoming season. Some may shock, or insult, but one thing is for sure-- there's likely a few that are going to end up very false. We'll find out in the coming months, 'til then
AFC
-Baltimore Ravens: The Ravens will not select an offensive skill player before the 5th round of the draft. Not starting off this list with a crazy assumptions, but it feels right given the state of the team currently. Some big defensive time players from last year's team are currently on the open market, with absolutely no way of retaining them all. Between Patrick Queen, Justin Madubuike, Geno Stone, Jadaveon Clowney, and Kyle Van Noy, among others, Baltimore will have some key contributors to replace. Any early picks on offense will be in the trenches.
-Buffalo Bills: Buffalo will at least attempt to trade star receiver Stefon Diggs. This felt like a possibility last offseason, but now it almost seems likely. Between the midseason Twitter drama with brother Trevon, declining statistics and consistent history of disgruntlement, the team may be better off trying to find a new weapon for Josh Allen. A draft night transaction feels in play
-Cincinnati Bengals: Joe Burrow will get sacked 50 or more times. Cincy's crappy offensive line allowed 48 sacks a year ago and are set to lose starting right tackle Jonah Williams in free agency. The team also just put the franchise tag on receiver Tee Higgins, which'll tie up more money that could've gone to improving the trenches. We'll see if new offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher is able to scheme up some ways to help his QB out.
-Cleveland Browns: Nick Chubb wins Comeback Player of the Year, the second consecutive Cleveland player to take home the award. Shoutout Joe Flacco. Chubb was averaging 6.1 yards per carry prior to horrifically tearing his MCL week two. Small sample size, but the Cleveland lifer has never averaged less than 5 a tote. Assuming he and the team can figure out his contract situation, expect for him to rumble behind an underrated offensive line, an route to some hardware for his mantle.
-Denver Broncos: Russell Wilson will be on this roster next season. It may be awkward in the locker room, but this is just math here. There's no way the Broncos are going to be content just swallowing $40 million in dead money, not when they actually have a slight window to compete. Not sure he'll be starting in the Mile High again, but he's too pricey to just kick to the curb.
-Houston Texans: CJ Stroud wins MVP next season. Word on the street is the Texans are interested in adding a good RB in FA, a la Saquon Barkley. A talent like that in the backfield could really round out the offense and open up a world of play action to an already dangerous passing attack.
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| Photo: Maria Lysaker/ Associated Press |
I also think adding a top wideout would go a long way for Stroud and Co. Nico Collins and Tank Dell are very, very good, but neither truly scream WR1 to me. If Houston could somehow swing a Justin Jefferson or Davante Adams, then the sky would be the limit. They'd be wise to capitalize during their quarterback's rookie contract window.
-Indianapolis Colts: Anthony Richardson throws for over 3,000 yards and rushes for over 700. My whole viewpoint flipped in just one year on AR-15. As low as I was on him coming out of Florida, his growth in just one training camp and abbreviated campaign has flipped my confidence to the opposite end of the spectrum. This kid could be a star, as long as he can remain healthy. Retaining Michael Pittman Jr. would go a long way with that, but expect big things from Richardson regardless.
-Jacksonville Jaguars: Part of me thinks that Doug Pederson could get axed if the Jags start out slow. Not bold enough to say I'm confident in this, but after the way last year finished, it wouldn't be the most shocking turn of events. Especially with Trevor Lawrence's massive extension (probably?) a few months away from breaking, the organization needs to set their quarterback up in the best way to succeed. It's a warm seat currently.
-Kansas City Chiefs: Patrick Mahomes' top receiver isn't currently on the roster. Rashee Rice is a solid talent, but he's not a true alpha wideout. With Travis Kelce set to be 35 by the middle of next season, there's no way Kansas City rolls into 2024 without at least one attempt at a high caliber addition at receiver.
-Las Vegas Raiders: Tyree Wilson racks up double digit sacks. The #7 pick from this most recent draft was objectively bad for majority of his inaugural stint in Vegas. He showed a little more spark in the second half of the season however, in the midst of a really underrated defensive unit. Some continuity within the group, plus Antonio Pierce retaining the helm, should allow a couple of these guys to really shine.
-Los Angeles Chargers: The Chargers will be the worst rushing attack in the NFL. It would be extremely un-Jim Harbaugh-like for this to become reality, but Isaiah Spiller is their only running back under contract; boasting a laughable 2.5 career YPC. Given their needs at other positions, especially when the cap casualties are all said and done, it won't be draft or financial capital well spent this year by LA to intensively address the running back position. The talent simply won't be there for this team.
-Miami Dolphins: Something's got to give between Mike McDaniel and Tua. The Dolphins just lack something to take them over the top, but it's hard to pinpoint what. They can look like the greatest team on Earth for a quarter then be completely neutralized over the other three. How patient and invested will the organization be in their quarterback? When will Mike McDaniel's spiel run it's course and results be demanded? Big season ahead for each in South Beach.
-New England Patriots: Jayden Daniels will be their starting quarterback. Caleb goes 1, to an NFC team that we'll get to. Drake Maye goes 2, leaving the Patriots with their pick of Daniels or the field. Jerod Mayo gets a hyper talented, dual-threat QB to begin his head coaching career.
-New York Jets: Robert Saleh gets fired midseason. It could be due to underachieving performance, it could be due to disputes with Aaron Rodgers-- the proxy owner of the New York Jets. But regardless, this is probably overdue. Woody Johnson's seen enough.
-Pittsburgh Steelers: Diontae Johnson gets traded before the start of the season. The never ending discontent between the Steelers and their receivers even trickles down to above-average talents like Johnson. There'll surely be a market if Pittsburgh does move on from their most targeted wideout, but the return probably won't be as appealing as they'd like. Then they have to replace him-- probably with a random 5th rounder that nobody expects.
-Tennessee Titans: Tennessee selects Malik Nabers at #7 overall. Will Levis showed he has some of the ability necessary to be a quality quarterback in this league, now time to build up a supporting cast to help achieve his potential. Deandre Hopkins was a helpful weapon last year, but he'll be 32 once the season starts. Then there's Treylon Burks, who's proven to be unreliable due to injury, Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, Chris Moore and some other bodies behind him. Not a group that'll help many quarterbacks to get over the hump. Addressing his must be a priority for the Titans in the coming months.
NFC
Blockbuster
-The Arizona Cardinals trade quarterback Kyler Murray to the Atlanta Falcons for the #8 pick (among other pieces) to add on top of the 4th and 27th picks.
The Cardinals then trade the 4th and 8th picks + a 3rd and 2025 2nd to the Chicago Bears for the top pick in the draft, after the team decides to stick with Justin Fields for one more season. That'd give the Bears three top 10 selections-- at 4, 8 and 9. What a haul of talent that could amount to.
-Carolina Panthers: The Panthers finish with the worst record in the league, once again. Bryce Young will make a few visible improvements, but he's still got a crappy supporting cast. The defense is decent, but could possibly lose their best pass rusher in Brian Burns if both sides can't agree to a long term deal. They're missing key draft capital and, quite frankly, are not an appealing free agency destination. The money's going to need to talk in Carolina if they want to assemble a competent roster.
-Dallas Cowboys: This is Mike McCarthy's last year as Dallas' head coach. Jerry's patience and relative grace regarding the coach has been surprising and uncharacteristic, but it has to run out at some point. It's make or break time in Big D, possibly to the extent of Super Bowl or Bust.
-Detroit Lions: Amon Ra St. Brown gets selected to the Pro Bowl! The superstar wideout was disappointed with his lack of recognition for the meaningless honor this season, but rightfully so after his 119/1515/10 stat line. He'll get that cleared up in 2025.
On a more serious note, Jahmyr Gibbs' usage grew pretty rapidly during the second half of the year, helping the rookie to finish with 1,261 total yards. He'll come in ready for that expanded role, with the experience of what it takes to get through a full 18 week slate, and is going to finish with at least 1,500 total yards.
-Green Bay Packers: The Packers reclaim the NFC North. Admittedly, I'd much prefer to see Detroit run back an encore performance- and I don't think they're falling off- but Jordan Love figured some shit out late last season that's going to carry over. He was nearly flawless over the second half of the year, a span Green Bay went 6-2 over. If they can get the run game consistently going and find him a true top target, this could be a place you don't want to travel come January.
-Los Angeles Rams: Kyren Williams will lead the league in rushing yards. The second year back finished third in the category this season, despite missing five games. If he can stay healthy, the sky is truly the limit for the Notre Dame alum. 2,000 total yards is totally realistic.
-Minnesota Vikings: Kirk Cousins' departure forces the Vikings to panic and trade up to #6 with the Giants to take a quarterback, sending the 11th and 166th picks plus a future 1st to New York to select Michael Penix Jr. as their future at the position. Could he have fallen to them at 11? Yes, but there's risk in that approach. Is it a reach? Probably. But you end up nabbing your future guy, then it's all worth it.
-New Orleans Saints: This team won't be fun to watch next season. Sure, this may be a personal opinion more than something factual and provable, but I'll open the floor in a few months for anyone to tell me I was wrong on this. Dennis Allen, uninspiring. Derek Carr, meh. The defense is aging, Alvin Kamara too. Outside of Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed, not many fireworks going off in NOLA this year.
-New York Giants: Daniel Jones, health pending, will start all 17 games for New York. The organization is simply paying him too much money to sit on his ass on the sidelines. With the commitment already in place, why not just bite the bullet and see if he can recapture any of magic from the 2022-2023 season? Worst (best?) case scenario is ending up with a high draft pick, if Jones shows he's not the guy.
-Philadelphia Eagles: Jalen Carter leads all interior lineman in sacks. He notched "only" 6 sacks as a rookie, but showed the upside to become a true game wrecker moving forward. I'm marking him down for a dozen or more next year, supplanting Justin Madubuike for the most by an D tackle.
-Seattle Seahawks: Seattle rocks a top five defense this season. The Seahawks have some young stars on all three levels of the D and now have a head coach that knows how to use them. This should be a fun unit to watch grow and thrive through the year and beyond under Mike MacDonald.
-San Francisco 49ers: The 49ers will not reach a long term deal with Brandon Aiyuk. Brock Purdy's top target has been openly discontent after another Super Bowl loss in which he was hardly featured. While it'd be clearly in everyone's best interest to maintain the connection, Aiyuk seems like he's not going to budge on the matter. We'll see if things change, but that'd be a key cog missing in this high powered offense.
-Tampa Bay Buccaneers: The Bucs scoring defense will be in the bottom 10. They let up a ton of yards this year, but were stingy on the scoreboard. They've got some really key pieces set to hit free agency, with no realistic way to retain them all. The turnover on that side of the ball will definitely shake things up.
-Washington Commanders: Emmanuel Forbes records 5 or more interceptions. Make no mistake about it, you can still smell the burnt toast that was Emmanuel Forbes this last season. But he's a sticky, skilled corner who'll benefit from the tutelage of Dan Quinn and new DC Joe Whitt Jr., Quinn's former secondary coach in Dallas. The two helped Trevon Diggs and Daron Bland to lead the league in interceptions in two of the last three years, why not run it back?
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@Choppinglines
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