AFC Offseason Grades: Dolphins Dominating Free Agency!
With teams making a ton of moves with signings, re-signings, trades, and more; we are going to take a look at what every team in the AFC has done so far and give them a grade for their offseason up to this point.
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AFC East
Buffalo Bills
The Bills haven’t done a whole lot to get better this offseason. That will happen once your QBs mega-contract starts to kick in though. However, things could be worse. They did manage to re-sign Matt Milano and Jordan Poyer. Poyer looked like he was all but gone. They also replaced Devin Singletary with Damien Harris which was an upgrade, but losing Tremaine Edmunds will likely prove to be a big blow to their defense.
Grade: C+
Miami Dolphins
The Dolphins made another huge upgrade to their team this offseason this time adding a superstar cornerback to their defense when they traded a third-round pick and Hunter Long for Jalen Ramsey in a deal that feels too good to be true for Miami. The David Long contract may also prove to be the steal of free agency at linebacker. They also improved at backup QB by adding Mike White and added Braxton Berrios to their WR room and special teams. The only impactful loss will be TE Mike Gesicki, but he just didn’t fit in their scheme anymore as we saw last year. Some RB help and O-line improvements is all they still need to make this an A+ offseason.
Grade: A-
New England Patriots
The Pats had another mediocre offseason so far replacing Nelson Agholor, Jakobi Meyers, and Jonnu Smith with Juju Smith-Schuster and Mike Gesicki in the passing attack while downgrading Damien Harris to James Robinson on the ground. The defense and offensive line are both slightly downgraded as well after the losses of Devin McCourty and Isaiah Wynn. In the end, we just see some lateral moves in a passing game that has been sputtering for years.
Grade D+
New York Jets
The Jets have essentially been held hostage by Aaron Rodgers up until this point. All they have done of note is add Allen Lazard and Mecole Hardman while losing Braxton Berrios and trading Elijah Moore for a 2nd for 3rd pick swap. We aren’t sure that’s not a downgrade at wideout and it’s incredible this team couldn’t make it work with Moore. They also traded for safety Chuck Clark. Sure, if they get Rodgers it will drastically change their grade, but they haven’t yet and the best quarterback on their roster is now in Miami.
Grade D
AFC North
Cincinnati Bengals
The Bengals lost some key pieces on defense most notably Jessie Bates, however, they did make a big splash by adding OT Orlando Brown. They’ve been desperately trying to build their offensive line for years and this is a massive addition. This is another team with a big QB contract is starting to kick in, but Brown was the piece they’ve needed for years.
Grade: B+
Baltimore Ravens
The Ravens have lost pieces and added now one of impact. All they’ve really done is damage their relationship with their franchise quarterback Lamar Jackson whom they may end up losing. As of now, this offseason has been a disaster for the Ravens.
Grade: F
Pittsburgh Steelers
The Steelers have done much this offseason other than upgrade their LB corps a bit adding Cole Holcomb and Elandon Roberts to replace Myles Jack and Devin Bush. We will have to continue to watch what they do, but it hasn’t been much yet.
Grade: D+
Cleveland Browns
The Browns continued have had a quiet offseason up until they traded for Elijah Moore this week which we think was a nice upgrade for them at wide receiver. On the D-line, they cut Jadeveon Clowney but bolstered the middle of their line with Dalvin Tomlinson and Trysten Hill. Still, not a whole lot going on in the North.
Grade: C+
AFC South
Jacksonville Jaguars
The Jags haven’t done much yet in free agency with the biggest news being that Calvin Ridley has been reinstated from his gambling suspension. They also added D’Ernest Johnson which could be a sneaky good pickup. Not much doing in Jacksonville though.
Grade: C
Tennessee Titans
The Titans have made some nice pickups on defense adding Azeez Al-Shaair, Sean Murphy-Bunting, and Arden Key. However, they have continued to ignore their offense and rumors have been that Derrick Henry may be on the trade block. We like the moves on defense a lot, but they have to do something to improve that offense. They can’t just run it back with Ryan Tannehill and poor weapons and hope to contend.
Grade: B-
Indianapolis Colts
The Colts are a bad team that has lost more than they’ve gained this offseason. The best thing they have done may be cut Matt Ryan. They added Isaiah McKenzie and Gardner Minshew on offense which are decent pickups. However, on defense, they added Samson Ebukam, but lost Bobby Okereke, Yannick Ngakoue, and Rodney Mcleod. This offseason will ultimately end up coming down to what happens at QB for them.
Grade: D+
Houston Texans
The Texans have a ton of draft capital and have significantly improved their defense in free agency. They have added Denzel Perryman, Jimmie Ward, Sheldon Rankings, and Hassan Ridgeway on defense. Those aren’t small moves. On offense, they traded away Brandin Cooks and added Dalton Schultz and Devin Singletary. If they have a good draft this could prove to be a solid offseason for the rebuilding Texans. We would like to see them sign a more competitive veteran QB though.
Grade: B
AFC West
Kansas City Chiefs
The offense in Kansas City definitely took a hit this offseason losing Juju Smith-Schuster, Mecole Hardman, and of course Orlando Brown. They replaced Brown with Jawaan Taylor at tackle which is a downgrade, but at least they addressed it. There was no way for them to afford Brown. Juju and Hardman aren’t great, but they are left with next to nothing at receiver now. On defense, they did add some nice pieces bringing in Drue Tranquill and Mike Edwards. At the end of the day they have Patrick Mahomes and they just expect him to figure it out and he always does.
Grade: C-
Los Angeles Chargers
Not much from the Chargers who replaced Tranquill with Eric Kendricks, which is probably an upgrade, but Tranquill was very good last season. They also saw safety Nasir Adderly retire. Other than that they haven’t done much.
Grade: D+
Las Vegas Raiders
The Raiders are probably slightly worse now than they were last season. They replaced Derek Carr with Jimmy G, which is fine. It’s a lateral move, but at least they got a QB to replace Carr whose departure was inevitable. They traded away Darren Waller and have replaced him with the less-than-stellar duo of Austin Hooper and O.J. Howard. At receiver, they’ve replaced Mack Hollins with Jakobi Meyers. The defense made a bunch of lateral to slight downgrade moves as well. This franchise is just spinning its tires in the mud at this point.
Grade: D+
Denver Broncos
The big pickup in Denver was new head coach Sean Payton. Even if you don’t believe the hype he’s a huge upgrade over what they had last year. The Broncos haven’t added much, but they also haven’t lost much. Still, the coaching change can’t be understated.
Grade: B
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