Which NFL team had the best offseason so far? Which has had the worst?

[BullBuchanan]

46 minutes ago, Doc Brown said:

He was a 2nd round talent that dropped to the 5th round because teams wanted to avoid the headache of having him as a backup.  If any team wanted to employ your strategy he would've been taken in the 3rd or 4th round.  Not worth the headache.  

I don't understand what you're trying to say. It sounds like you're making the argument that his skill wasn't worth the draft pick a team would have to use on him concerning his character. if so, I think that's the consensus among NFL folks. However, I think it also came out that as a player he's not nearly as strong a prospect as others in the draft, so there are also real football concerns.

Regardless, It's hard to understand how a 5th round pick could possibly be a meaningful distraction to your football team. He's not going to be getting interviews when he's inactive on game days, and veteran leaders int he lockeroom won't be pushing for him to get starting reps unless he comes out and tears it up. In which case, win for the Browns.

[Doc Brown]

8 minutes ago, BullBuchanan said:

I don't understand what you're trying to say. It sounds like you're making the argument that his skill wasn't worth the draft pick a team would have to use on him concerning his character. if so, I think that's the consensus among NFL folks. However, I think it also came out that as a player he's not nearly as strong a prospect as others in the draft, so there are also real football concerns.

Regardless, It's hard to understand how a 5th round pick could possibly be a meaningful distraction to your football team. He's not going to be getting interviews when he's inactive on game days, and veteran leaders int he lockeroom won't be pushing for him to get starting reps unless he comes out and tears it up. In which case, win for the Browns.

That's the point I was trying to make given the anonymous negative reports that came out with him regarding the draft process.  I get the argument for having a cost controlled 5th round backup QB for four years that you might be able to flip a pick for but only if that player is willing to accept the role as a backup (what Beane tried to do with Jake Fromm).  Based off everything I've seen and heard from him and his father.....that's not happening.

[3rdand12]

10 hours ago, Commish said:

All in fun - although I had never heard of "nescient" before

I knew a tad of the word and meaning of nascent 

We learn more and more here nearly everyday 😉

[BullBuchanan]

4 hours ago, Doc Brown said:

That's the point I was trying to make given the anonymous negative reports that came out with him regarding the draft process.  I get the argument for having a cost controlled 5th round backup QB for four years that you might be able to flip a pick for but only if that player is willing to accept the role as a backup (what Beane tried to do with Jake Fromm).  Based off everything I've seen and heard from him and his father.....that's not happening.

The alternative is retirement. Again,for a 5th round pick, easy gamble. They don't need him to be the guy. If he is and they got him for a 5th? Great!

If Sanders sits and does nothing for 4 years in Cleveland, he'll probably have to sign a 1 year $2M deal with some dumpster fire of a team to try to prove himself in his age 27 season. He has absolutely zero leverage left in his career until he proves he's better than the 3rd string QB he is right now.

[Doc Brown]

2 minutes ago, BullBuchanan said:

The alternative is retirement. Again,for a 5th round pick, easy gamble. They don't need him to be the guy. If he is and they got him for a 5th? Great!

If Sanders sits and does nothing for 4 years in Cleveland, he'll probably have to sign a 1 year $2M deal with some dumpster fire of a team to try to prove himself in his age 27 season. He has absolutely zero leverage left in his career until he proves he's better than the 3rd string QB he is right now.

We're going to have to agree to disagree.  I don't want that entitled and cocky kid within 100 miles of Orchard Park.  

[Cash]

On 5/5/2025 at 12:09 AM, GunnerBill said:

 

They've already paid him and there is no way of getting out of it until after the 2027 season. I hate the big trade up slightly less than you for that exact reason. They don't need those picks for a QB. Lawrence is their guy for at least the next 3 seasons. If they see Hunter as a receiver first then it's kind of a final swing at the fences in terms of putting the pieces around Trevor to help him succeed. It might be throwing more assets at an already sunk cost but if the QB is no good they are not gonna be a good team the next 3 years anyway. 

 

My take is a little different: I think they're taking a swing at having a real superstar for once, and being relevant.  No one cares about the Jags.  No one's ever cared about the Jags.  Trevor Lawrence is a good(?) QB, but not cool enough to be a major star without major wins.  Hunter is potentially the coolest player in a long time.  And as a bonus, he's from Georgia and appears happy to be playing close to home.  A potential superstar who actually wants to be there?  That could be a game changer for a franchise like Jacksonville.

 

If Hunter makes it as a two-way player in any meaningful capacity, he will be the favorite player of a whole generation of young fans.  And it could work on-field as well.  I assume the plan is for Hunter to shore up the pass defense at CB and be functionally the WR2 to BTJ on offense.  (I know the GM has said they're going to lead with WR and ease him into defense.  In the interview I watched, that sounded like an onboarding plan with the goal of Hunter playing both ways this year and beyond.)

[SCBills]

Not shocking when you realize the Bengals are involved. 
 

 

[SoTier]

On 5/6/2025 at 11:06 AM, Cash said:

 

My take is a little different: I think they're taking a swing at having a real superstar for once, and being relevant.  No one cares about the Jags.  No one's ever cared about the Jags.  Trevor Lawrence is a good(?) QB, but not cool enough to be a major star without major wins.  Hunter is potentially the coolest player in a long time.  And as a bonus, he's from Georgia and appears happy to be playing close to home.  A potential superstar who actually wants to be there?  That could be a game changer for a franchise like Jacksonville.

 

If Hunter makes it as a two-way player in any meaningful capacity, he will be the favorite player of a whole generation of young fans.  And it could work on-field as well.  I assume the plan is for Hunter to shore up the pass defense at CB and be functionally the WR2 to BTJ on offense.  (I know the GM has said they're going to lead with WR and ease him into defense.  In the interview I watched, that sounded like an onboarding plan with the goal of Hunter playing both ways this year and beyond.)

 

It was a move worthy of the Bills ex-GM/evil genius Russ Brandon, made to put butts in the seats and the suites with little regard of its impact on the team on the field.   Hunter is a great talent, but the draft capital the Jags gave up to get him should only be spent on a franchise QB prospect, not a WR or a WR/part-time CB prospect. 

[folz]

I'm a little late to this thread. And I didn't pay enough attention to other teams to have a strong opinion myself. So, I thought that I would check the internet for any new rankings or whatever of NFL offseasons. There actually wasn't too much that I could find. There were a lot of separate FA rankings and draft rankings, but not a lot of combined offseason as a whole rankings. But here is what I found.

 

The NFL had six of their staff members pick the NFL team they thought had the best offseason:

Jeffri Chadiha: Chicago; Marc Ross: Washington; Ali Bhanpuri: L.A. Rams; Maurice Jones-Drew: New England; Kevin Patra: Chicago; Brooke Lersosimo: Denver.

 

Mike Florio and Chris Simms singled out 4 teams they thought had the best offseasons: New England, Las Vegas, Chicago, L.A. Rams.

 

Bleacher Report had a most improved teams going into 2025 with: 1. Chicago; 2. Las Vegas; 3. Atlanta; 4. New England; 5. Arizona.

 

MSN had a video of best offseason, picking: Carolina, New England, Chicago, and Minnesota. 

 

 

I also looked at the change in some of the Power Rankings (from Feb. after SB to today after draft), to kind of get an idea.

NFL.com 

Biggest jumps: San Francisco and Chicago +6; Baltimore, L.A. Rams, Cinci, Seattle, and NO were all +3 spots

Biggest drops: Houston, Miami, and Cleveland are all -4; Minnesota, Indy, Dallas, and Pittsburgh all dropped 3 spots

 

ESPN:

Biggest jump: L.A. Rams +5

Biggest drops: Tampa Bay -4, L.A. Chargers -3.

 

CBS Sports:

Biggest jumps: San Francisco and New England both +9; Chicago, Jacksonville, and Minnesota all +7

Biggest drops: Seattle -11, Minnesota -7; Pittsburgh, Miami, Indy, Carolina, and New Orleans all -6

 

FOX Sports:

Biggest jumps: Las Vegas, Dallas, Tenn, and NYG all +3

Biggest drops: Atlanta and Pittsburgh both -4, Miami -3

 

 

So, at least according to the above consensus, it looks like Chicago, New England, and the L.A. Rams are leading the pack for best offseason.

 

Interesting to note, both Minnesota and Seattle made the top of some lists and the bottom of others. They seem to be the two teams where there is no consensus on if they improved or got worse. Also, in the Power Rankings, Miami is one of the biggest droppers on 3 of the 4 lists (they also fell two spots in the ESPN rankings).

FYI: Bills went down from 2 to 3 on CBS, stayed at #3 on FOX, went up from 4 to 3 on ESPN, and stayed at #4 on NFL.com.

 

 

Edited 4 hours ago by folz