Not to belabor the point, but you could have said the same of the Bills before they shipped off Watkins, Darby, and Dareus. This staff created the holes they had to fill, helped out by the previous staff's handling of Woods & Gillislee.
Goff looked like an early bust candidate before the season, and I think many would have taken Taylor over him. Looking back, not so much.
Reconsidering, I can't believe I left out Pederson. talent or not, it would be hard for him, or Belichick to not to walk away with the hardware. The last team to finish 9-7 or worse was Jimmy Johnson in 1990. Given that Belichick has won it 3 times in the Brady era, I don't think talent plays that much of a role. I Give McD no better odds than 5th. (Pederson, Belichick, McVay, Marrone, Zimmer/McDermott)