2021 NFL Offseason Winners and Losers

As a diehard, obsessed NFL fan, I know there is no true offseason in this league. From free agency, to trades, to the draft, to the schedule release, and of course this season with the drama regarding Deshaun Watson and Aaron Rodgers, let’s just say football never stops. While we NFL fans are scrolling through Twitter, impatiently waiting for more news to break, GM’s and head coaches are out on the front lines trying to make the best moves to help their franchise. Every offseason, there’s always a few teams that stand out by what they did or didn’t do, whether that be through free agency, trades, the draft, or all of the above. Let’s take a look at my NFL offseason winners and losers of 2021.

Winners

Cleveland Browns

It’s evident that general manager Andrew Berry knows the Browns are in win-now mode. With a number of big-time offensive weapons and an offensive line that ranked 1^st in 2020 according to PFF, Berry decided to completely revamp the defense. To address a secondary that struggled last season, the Browns went out and snagged former Rams defensive backs John Johnson III and Troy Hill, along with corner Greg Newsome II and linebacker/safety hybrid Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah through the draft.

They weren’t done there. To open things up for Myles Garrett on the opposite side, the Browns signed Jadeveon Clowney to a one-year, $10 million deal. Berry also added valuable pieces on defense including interior lineman Malik Jackson and linebacker Anthony Walker, two veterans that could certainly start right away on a new-look Browns defense.

If Baker Mayfield can continue to grow and improve under Kevin Stefanski and a loaded roster, don’t be surprised if the Browns take control of the AFC North and go on a deep run come January.

Tennessee Titans

I was already on board with what the Titans were doing before trading for Julio Jones. The two biggest problems for this team last season were failing to get to opposing quarterbacks (Tennessee finished 30^th in the league with just 19 sacks), and giving up a 4^th worst 277 passing yards per game in 2020. So what did general manager Jon Robinson do? He simply filled those holes, signing veteran pass rushers Bud Dupree and Denico Autry and bringing in three new corners to the roster, signing Janoris Jenkins and drafting Caleb Farley and Elijah Molden in the early rounds.

The defense should take a step up from last year, and good luck stopping an offense with Derrick Henry, A.J. Brown, and Julio Jones, not to mention getting 3x pro bowl tackle Taylor Lewan back from injury. With so many high-level contenders in the AFC, it won’t be easy, but the Titans have certainly put themselves in the mix with the moves they’ve made this offseason.

Los Angeles Chargers

I can’t imagine how excited Chargers’ GM Tom Telesco must have been when they saw Rashawn Slater’s name still on the board at 13. For a team whose offensive line finished last in the league in 2020 according to PFF, drafting Slater was an easy decision, and putting him alongside newly acquired center Corey Linsley has to make Justin Herbert one happy camper. I also loved the Chargers’ second-round pick of Asante Samuel Jr., who many experts had as a first-round grade. He may not start right away, but he gives them more depth at the corner position.

The one question still facing the Chargers is whether or not they will re-sign pass rusher Melvin Ingram, who missed the majority of the season last year with a knee injury. The Bolts struggled to get to the quarterback last year without him, so keeping him would be big, opening things up for Joey Bosa and putting less pressure on the secondary. Nonetheless, I still see the Chargers as one of the clear offseason winners of 2021.

Kansas City Chiefs

If the Chiefs get back to the Super Bowl and lose again, Andy Reid and Chiefs general manager Brett Veach are making sure it won’t be because of the offensive line this time. Mahomes was pressured almost every time he dropped back against a stacked Tampa Bay front seven, so this offseason the Kansas City front office decided to basically revamp the entire offensive line.

The Chiefs signed guard Joe Thuney to a massive 5 year, $80 million deal along with guard Kyle Long and center Austin Blythe to one-year contracts. To replace Eric Fisher, the Chiefs traded two early-round draft picks this year and two mid-round draft picks next year to the Ravens for tackle Orlando Brown Jr. Thought they were done there? Nope, Brett Veach then went out and drafted center Creed Humphrey from Oklahoma in the second round, ensuring that Patrick Mahomes’ jersey will stay clean in 2021.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The fact that the Bucs were able to bring everybody back proves that this group is locked in on going back-to-back. By re-signing big names like Shaq Barrett, Ndamukong Suh, Lavonte David, Rob Gronkowski, Antonio Brown, and franchise tagging Chris Godwin, the Bucs remain the team to beat in the NFC, and possibly the entire league.

I also like what the Bucs did with their first couple of draft picks, going after a freak athlete pass rusher in Joe Tryon out of Washington. They followed that up by drafting the heir to Tom Brady in Kyle Trask. Trask will get the chance to sit behind Brady and learn from him for the next couple of years before taking over. That is, however, assuming Brady will eventually retire, which looks less and less likely by the year.

Losers

New England Patriots

It was hard for me to add the Patriots to this list, knowing that Bill Belichick is probably up to some grand scheme behind closed doors. But when I saw how much he spent to bring in the players he did, it became an easy decision to have the Pats as one of my biggest offseason losers. Here’s a list of some players for whom I thought Belichick overpaid:

• Matt Judon, LB/Edge, 3 years, $44 million
• Jonnu Smith, TE, 3 years, $38 million
• Hunter Henry, TE, 3 years, $38 million
• Nelson Agholor, WR, 2 years, $22 million
• Jalen Mills, DB, 2 years, $12 million
• Kendrick Bourne, WR, 1 year, $6 million

These are some really good players that can certainly help the Patriots win more games in 2021, but signing them came at a cost much too high for my liking. In fact, the only two tight ends with larger contracts than Smith and Henry are Travis Kelce and George Kittle. One has to wonder if Brady winning his 7^th Super Bowl has anything to do with Belichick’s offseason shopping spree.

Las Vegas Raiders

The Raiders front office made some questionable moves this offseason. They said goodbye to three of their starting offensive linemen from last year (Trent Brown, Gabe Jackson, Rodney Hudson), all of which signed lucrative deals elsewhere. Kenyan Drake should be a reliable backup to Josh Jacobs, but I thought they overpaid for him. The Raiders gave him nearly $15 million over two years, which in my opinion is too much for a position that is replaceable now more than ever.

For a defense that was bottom 10 in the league in both passing yards allowed and rushing yards allowed, they didn’t address these areas as much as I would’ve liked. They were able to snag Trevon Moehrig, the best safety in the draft who fell into their lap on day two. To upgrade at the edge rusher position, I like the signing of Yannick Ngakoue, a guy who will consistently give you 8-10 sacks a year. That being said, this Raiders defense will yet again get exposed next year in a division filled with weapons and good quarterbacks.

Houston Texans

Thanks to Bill O’Brien’s decision to give up multiple early-round draft picks for Laremy Tunsil back in 2019, the Texans didn’t have a 1st or 2nd round pick this year. Believe it or not, that wasn’t even the worst move he made as general manager (cough, Deandre Hopkins, cough cough). At this point, the Texans are indisputably the worst and most incompetent franchise in the NFL, and no I didn’t forget about the Lions. Now that O’Brien is gone, hopefully Houston can slowly make their way back into being a contender, although he left them in a dire situation to say the least.

Caserio surely didn’t waste any time making moves in his first offseason as GM, trading a couple of mid-round picks to New England for tackle Marcus Cannon. He brought in five new linebackers, one via trade (Shaq Lawson) and four in free agency (Christian Kirksey, Kevin Pierre-Louis, Kamu Grugier-Hill, Joe Thomas), hoping to clean up a run defense that finished dead last in 2020. To help clean up the secondary, Caserio went out and grabbed corners Desmond King and Terrance Mitchell on short-term deals. He also signed three running backs (don’t ask why) to work alongside David Johnson. I like the quickness and explosiveness of Phillip Lindsay, but I don’t quite understand the signings of Mark Ingram and Rex Burkhead, both of whom failed to reach 300 yards this past season.

With his first draft pick, Caserio took Stanford quarterback Davis Mills in the 3^rd round, knowing that Deshaun Watson will likely never wear a Texans jersey again. Although I didn’t love the pick, we’ll see how it plays out for them in the future. Take a few deep breaths, Texans fans, it could be a long season. Check that, it could be a long decade.