Biggest Winners: Detroit Lions
Brad Holmes' roster building over the past 2 seasons has been crucial in helping the Lions get out of the basement far faster than anyone could've possibly imagined. With the team coming damn close to reaching the playoff last year, Holmes' job this offseason was to aggressively plug the remaining holes on the roster with guys that can step in and contribute right away, and I believe he did just that with every single move he made in free agency. Swamping out goal line threat Jammal Williams with the more complete yet still powerful David Montgomery makes their backfield more versatile, contested catch specialist Marvin Jones Jr. is a great addition to their receiver room that gives them the reliable redzone threat they lacked once T.J. Hockenson got traded away last October and their trio of new secondary members (Cameron Sutton, Chauncey Gardner-Johnson, Emmanuel Mosley) should provide a substantial boost to a pass defense that routinely hurt them with their undisciplined play a year ago.
Honorable Mentions: Dallas Cowboys, Chicago Bears, Cleveland Browns
Biggest Losers: Baltimore Ravens
Plenty of teams have had bad offseasons. The Panthers traded away top receiver DJ Moore as part of the massive deal that allowed them up from #9 to #1 to draft a new QB, the Patriots have more or less decided that bringing in a real offensive coordinator is the only move they needed to make to keep up in an increasingly loaded AFC East and the Jaguars have added no players of consequence to bolster a young corps that is riding high after a 2022 campaign in which they greatly overachieved. But only one team was dumb enough to alienate the star quarterback they've built their entire team around to the point where he requested a trade from the organization.
The Ravens refusing to give Lamar Jackson the fully guaranteed contract he's seeking coupled with a market of precisely zero teams emerging since they put the non-exclusive franchise tag on him last month makes this a crystal-clear case of league-wide collusion as a response to the similar deal that the Browns gave Deshaun Watson last March. And even if Jackson is forced to go back to Baltimore this year (which is very much in play-especially if the Aaron Rodgers to the Jets deal gets done and teams like the Colts and Titans draft QB's), it's hard to believe that he'll stay past 2023.
Does his style of play that leaves him suspectable to taking huge hits paired with his small-ish frame ensure that he's going to physically break down quicker than the average modern QB? Most likely, yes. Are the injuries he's sustained over the past couple years concerning? Absolutely. Is he worthy of a fully guaranteed, 3-5-year contract? No doubt.
Jackson is one of the most dynamic weapons the league has ever seen. Nobody has still quite figured how to defend him after 5 years in the league and as long he still has unreal athleticism, that's not going to change. If he was given a chance to run Todd Monken's offense-which is guaranteed to be significantly more pass-friendly than Greg Roman's run-dominant scheme and given another top pass-catcher to pair with Mark Andrews, he could very well be in line to win his 2nd MVP and take the Ravens back to the Super Bowl for the first time since 2012. Not having faith in a talent this special is football malpractice and the entire Ravens organization should be ashamed of themselves for not doing whatever it takes to keep him in Baltimore.
On top of the Jackson situation, Eric DeCosta has done nothing to patch up their wretched receiving corps outside of signing Nelson Agholor-who just rattled off 2 nondescript seasons with the Patriots and hasn't really done much of anything outside of that fairy tale 2020 campaign with the Raiders, seems content to let longtime starting corner Marcus Peters walk and inexplicably released Calias Campbell after arguably his best season as a Raven. I'd honestly go as far to say that refusing to overpay guard Ben Powers is the only thing they've done right this offseason. It's going to take one hell of a draft to even partially atone for all the mistakes they've made in the opening month of the new league year.
Dishonorable Mentions: Carolina Panthers, New England Patriots, Jacksonville Jaguars
Best Individual Signing: Orlando Brown Jr. to the Bengals (4 years/$64 mil/$31.1 mil guaranteed)
The league's collective refusal to believe in Brown Jr.'s ability to play left tackle long-term led to the Bengals swooping in seemingly out of nowhere and signing him for a very reasonable price. Not only was it an excellent value play, Brown Jr. represents a huge upgrade over Jonah Williams both in terms of play and durability (Williams missed all of his rookie year in 2019 with a torn labrum, another 6 regular season games from 2020-22 and the final 2 playoff games this season after suffering a dislocated kneecap in the Wild Card Win over the Ravens). Kudos to Mike Brown for continuing to buck his decades-long history of cheeping out to invest heavily in a team that has a chance to be special for a long, long time.
Honorable Mentions: Chauncey Gardner-Johnson to the Lions (1 year/$6.5 mil fully guaranteed), T.J. Edwards to the Bears (3 years/$19.5 mil/$7.9 mil guaranteed), Jamel Dean to the Buccaneers (4 years/$52 mil/$21.5 mil guaranteed)
Worst Individual Signing: Jawaan Taylor to the Chiefs (4 years/$80 mil/$60 mil guaranteed)
Opting to sign Taylor for more money instead of bringing back Orlando Brown Jr. is the rare move from Chiefs GM Brett Veach that I just can't wrap my head around. Aside from being slightly younger, Taylor has no advantages over Brown. The former Jaguar hasn't played left tackle full time since high school, has never even flirted with being a top 20 tackle in the league since he was drafted in 2019 and while this won't be as big of a deal in Kansas City with their pass-happy offense, he's an abysmal run-blocker that is among the worst of any full-time starting offensive lineman in the league right now .Just an alarming and dumbfounding overpay from one of the shrewdest teams in the league right now.
Dishonorable Mentions: Tremaine Edmunds to the Bears (4 years/$72 mil/$50 mil guaranteed), Dre'Mont Jones to the Seahawks (3 years/$51.3 mil/$23 mil guaranteed), Ben Powers to the Broncos (4 years/$51.5 mil/$28.5 mil guaranteed)
Best Player Still Available: Odell Beckham Jr., wide receiver
The question marks surrounding OBJ at the moment are all valid. He sat out the entire 2022 season to rehab the ACL he tore during Super Bowl 56 and he'll be 31 in November. However, his level of play with the Rams prior to sustaining the ACL tear was incredible and any contending team with a question mark at receiver should be jumping to sign Beckham to a 1-year prove it deal.
Honorable Mentions: Leonard Floyd, edge rusher, Marcus Peters, cornerback, Ryan Neal, safety
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