Yay! The season is over! I know that sounds weird coming from a football fan. I love the offseason though! The Salary Cap makes the NFL offseason the most interesting of all the professional sports offseasons. Sure, the NBA has a sort of salary cap and the NHL has a salary cap, but I just got into Hockey recently again because Kansas City doesn't have a team. I like hockey, but I'm still looking to claim a team.
So, let's talk football for now! Here are the teams that I think are going to make the most noise in the offseason. I will have a piece on the surprisingly quietest teams in the next couple of days.
NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS
I was strongly considering the Washington Commanders, but chose the Patriots instead. The Commanders have the most salary cap space in the NFL as of today, according to Over the Cap. I went with the Patriots because this is the first new head coach they've had since the year 2000. Jerrod Mayo was one of the more surprising head coaching hires of the offseason. That and they sort of hired Eliot Wolfe as their GM for now. The eccentric plan makes this team a wild card for what should be a wild offseason.
This new regime has to feel that pressure. How could you not? The Patriots rarely made huge splashes in free agency and they let players walk in free agency often. What better way to say "we're here" than to be the exact opposite of Bill Belichick and spend a lot of money in this free agency period? Maybe even make some trades. T
he Patriots are fourth in the salary cap and hold the third overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. Everybody is talking about what the Bears are going to do at quarterback and are oddly forgetting the Patriots with this question. Does anybody think Mac Jones or Bailey Zappe are going to be under center week 1 in 2024?
The Patriots have more needs. They essentially need a whole new offense. Running back was the only offensive position group that looked remotely good in 2023. Jerrod Mayo is a defensive guy though(played LB for Patriots and coached LBs for them last year), so it should be interesting how much of the team's resources he uses on the offense.
Cincinnati Bengals
This one will be quick...Cincinnati is going to spend all of their 60 million in cap space and get everything they can. They're going to trade up in the draft. They're doing this because this is the last year before Burrow gets expensive and Jamar Chase will need an extension soon. They might even get reckless and bet the future of the house for this year. They're going to do this for one reason and that is...
TO BEAT THE CHIEFS! IT WON'T HAPPEN! BUT THAT'S THEIR GOAL!
Chicago Bears
Justin Fields, Caleb Williams, or will the Bears go full-on Browns in 2018 and draft a QB nobody had them selecting like Drake Maye or Bo Nix? Would they do what they should do, which is keep Fields and build around him? Maybe drafting either Joe Alt or making Marvin Harrison JR. the first number-one overall WR since Keyshawn Johnson in 1996 (Jets)? This question alone is going to be discussed and debated until the "pick is in" on draft night, more in likely though. Football fans will probably tire of it before draft night. What will be interesting is the moves that they make to "confirm" what they will do early. If they trade Fields to the Raiders or the Falcons then it's obvious, but if they perhaps bring on Chris Jones, then it gets a little muddy on what they're going to do. Every move they make will have that number one overall shadow over it.
This team has two first-round picks, a massive amount of salary cap, and a franchise that is equally proud and starved for success.
Houston Texans
They drafted one of the best rookie quarterbacks in recent years. They have the reigning defensive Rookie of the Year in Will Anderson as well. Those are two positions that are the most expensive usually. They traded their first-round pick away to draft Will Anderson, and it paid off. Houston had a top 5 draft of any NFL team in 2023.
Even though they don't have a first-round pick, they have about 57 million in cap space(overthecap.com). First, they needed to sign a couple of weapons that were consistent with CJ Stroud's success, like Devin Singletary and Dalton Schultz. They will help build on the success of their young quarterback. They are going to spend a lot of money to strike why the iron is hot.
Look for them to spend an obscene amount of money on the offensive line to protect their future. This is a team to watch on the Chris Jones or La'jarius Sneed sweepstakes as well. The time is now for Houston.
Happy offseason! I can't wait!