32. Tennessee Titans

31. Los Angeles Rams

30. Las Vegas Raiders

29. New York Giants

28. Detroit Lions

27. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

What went wrong: The Bucs have a roster otherwise built to compete mismatched with the league’s worst quarterback situation. This is a dreadful group of quarterbacks. Kyle Trask, a 2021 second-rounder, had inspired underwhelming reports in Tampa before making his NFL debut in Week 18 last season, when he went 3-for-9 in garbage time of a loss to the Falcons. He wasn’t going to play ahead of Brady, of course, but nothing about his first two seasons tells us he’s ready to be a starter.  The Bucs understandably brought in competition for Trask, but their choice was to import Baker Mayfield, the NFL’s worst passer in 2022.

26. Atlanta Falcons

What went right: The Falcons used their newfound cap space to address the defense.

What went wrong: Is this a long-term solution?

25. New Orleans Saints

What went right: The Saints landed a quarterback!

What went wrong: They continue to be all-in. Isn’t it time for the Saints to face facts? They’ve won one playoff game over the past four seasons, a home victory over Mitch Trubisky and the Bears.

24. Indianapolis Colts

What went right: The Colts finally got their quarterback of the future. Maybe.

What went wrong: I’m not sure Indy did enough to address the other premium positions on its roster.

23. New York Jets

22. Houston Texans

21. Baltimore Ravens

What went right: The Ravens finally came to terms on a deal with Lamar Jackson.

What went wrong: I’m not sure everything else went well. I spoke to more than one NFL executive who was shocked by the terms of Beckham’s new contract…I’m concerned Baltimore doesn’t have enough on defense.

20. Minnesota Vikings

What went right: General manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah took steps to fix the Minnesota defense.

What went wrong: The Vikings didn’t make a bigger commitment to contending or rebuilding. Given a difficult cap situation, it’s tough to feel as if they have a great handle on what sort of team they’re going to be in 2023 and 2024, given that they just won 13 games while being outscored by their opposition. They moved on from Kendricks and Thielen but held on to Harrison Smith. They were willing to keep Smith and Cook on the roster into May when that cap space and cash could have been budgeted elsewhere in March.

19. Cleveland Browns

What went right: The defense turned over a new leaf. After a frustrating 2022 season from Joe Woods’ unit, the Browns had to make adjustments. Out went Woods and disappointing veterans Jadeveon Clowney and John Johnson III, neither of whom lived up to expectations after signing big free agent deals.

What went wrong: I’m not sure they got the right players.

18. Seattle Seahawks

17. Jacksonville Jaguars

What went right: General manager Trent Baalke amassed some bonus draft capital.

What went wrong: Last year’s spending spree limited Jacksonville’s ability to make a big splash around Trevor Lawrence.

DETROIT

Ranking the teams 1 to 32 in terms of their offseason, Bill Barnwell of ESPN has the Lions at #28:

28. Detroit Lions

What went right: The Lions rebuilt their secondary. The pass defense — which ranked 32nd in QBR — likely cost them a playoff spot last season. Aaron Glenn’s unit was 11th in pressure rate, but the secondary cycled through players and didn’t have a corner it trusted as a consistently reliable option.

General manager Brad Holmes noticed. Out went 2020 No. 3 pick Jeff Okudah, Mike Hughes and Amani Oruwariye, three of the team’s top four corners. In their place? Holmes signed Cameron Sutton, who was a top-10 corner in coverage last season, per NFL Next Gen Stats data. C.J. Gardner-Johnson, who tied for the league lead in interceptions last season, was added to play safety and some slot corner. Emmanuel Moseley, a solid corner for the 49ers when healthy over the past few seasons, was brought in, and Brian Branch, who fell to the second round of the draft, gives Glenn another playmaker in the secondary. So yeah, Holmes addressed this team’s biggest weakness.

What went wrong: Detroit otherwise repeatedly prioritized the league’s least valuable positions. Secondary aside, it didn’t do much in free agency. It let franchise spark plug Jamaal Williams leave and replaced him with David Montgomery on what is likely to be a two-year deal in the $12 million range; Montgomery has failed to average 4.0 yards per carry as a pro. Alex Anzalone, who has posted solid numbers in coverage over the past two seasons, was brought back on a similarly sized pact.

That would all be fine, but what happened next seemed to beggar belief. The Lions used their two first-round picks on players at those same positions; they traded down and used the 12th pick on running back Jahmyr Gibbs before taking off-ball linebacker Jack Campbell at No. 18. I covered how running backs have been low-ceiling, low-reward picks in my pre-draft piece on Bijan Robinson, while Campbell was the only off-ball linebacker drafted before the third round. It’s difficult to imagine the Lions couldn’t have addressed the position with Drew Sanders or Trenton Simpson later while using their first-rounder on a premium position, such as edge rusher.

Their second-round picks were at positions of need, but Holmes again went for some of the lowest-value positions in football in safety (Branch) and tight end (Sam LaPorta). The Lions didn’t come out of this draft with an edge rusher to play across from Aidan Hutchinson or any other front seven help beyond Campbell. They did use a third-round pick on Hendon Hooker, who could replace Jared Goff in the long term if the team sours on its starting quarterback, but he is already 25 and is recovering from a torn ACL.

Even the additions in the secondary aren’t quite as compelling as they might seem at first glance. Gardner-Johnson signed a one-year deal and didn’t appear to have a significant multiyear market around the league after his breakout season in Philadelphia. Moseley, also on a one-year deal, has missed 22 games over the past three seasons with injuries. The Lions are unquestionably better in the secondary, but it wouldn’t be a surprise if they were back in the cornerback market in 2024.

Remember: I’m basing this on what each team had to work with heading into the offseason. There were few teams in a more desirable spot than the Lions, who had cap flexibility and came into the draft with two first- and two second-round picks. They even added another second-rounder when they moved down in a deal with the Cardinals. Somehow, though, they came out of the offseason without adding a single player at a premium position.

Are the Lions likely to be better in 2023? Absolutely. They should be the favorites in the NFC North. In the long term, though, this was their best chance to add difference-makers over the next four to six years at positions that are hard to find in the later rounds of the draft or on the cheap in free agency. You might argue that Holmes didn’t need to add a wide receiver or an offensive tackle — and maybe Detroit is thrilled with Goff — but we know that needs pop up at those positions quicker than you think. (Holmes’ former employers in Los Angeles can attest to that.) Detroit does need long-term help on the edge and at cornerback, positions that went unaddressed here. I think the Lions hurt their chances of winning a title at the expense of building a better 22-man starting lineup for 2023.

What’s left to do: Add an edge rusher. Rookie James Houston had eight sacks in just seven games last season, but the sixth-round pick doesn’t have underlying numbers supporting that sort of production and I wouldn’t want to count on him being that player in 2023. Romeo Okwara has played just nine games over two seasons while battling a torn Achilles. With Yannick Ngakoue and Frank Clark still available, I’d love to see the Lions bring in another pass-rusher.

DALLAS

QB DAK PRESCOTT on the new voice in his ear.  Charean Williams of ESPN.com:

For the first time since 2018, Dak Prescott will have someone else in his ear on game day. Kellen Moore now is the offensive coordinator of the Chargers, leaving the Cowboys offense in the hands of head coach Mike McCarthy.

McCarthy last called plays in 2018 in his final season as the Packers head coach.

Prescott admitted Thursday that “it’s different” hearing McCarthy’s voice instead of Moore’s.

“You hear that accent a little bit more when he’s calling these plays,” Prescott said, via Clarence Hill of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “He called one out there today and I looked back and I go, ‘Was it the right one?’ Yeah, it was. It’s just that his accent was tough to hear.

“No, it’s been fun being able to work with him in that light, every day hands on. It’s exciting. It’s refreshing. I know he’s enjoying it, getting back into football, head first into the film and what we’re doing. It’s exciting, for sure.”

The quarterback and head coach have seen their relationship grow with as much time as they have spent together in an attempt to get on the same page as quickly as possible. Prescott’s goal is for the communication they are doing now to result in less communication on game day.

When the season starts, Prescott wants McCarthy to leave him alone once the play is called.

“As we broke practice [today], he said, ‘Go look at everything we put in and make sure we’re running the things you like and the things we’re good at. If it’s something you’re a little iffy about, let’s get it out. Let’s master what we’re great at,’” Prescott said. “Just having that clear communication, being able to work with him day in and day out, it’s new. It’s refreshing. It’s fun for both of us.”

NEW YORK GIANTS

Ranking the teams 1 to 32 in terms of their offseason, Bill Barnwell of ESPN has the Giants at #29:

29. New York Giants

What went right: The Giants brought in a variety of receivers for Daniel Jones, but I’m not sure they landed that No. 1 guy who might have been on general manager Joe Schoen’s list. Still, after running out Isaiah Hodgins, Darius Slayton, Richie James and Daniel Bellinger as primary receivers in a playoff victory last season, Schoen has added a whole fleet of playmakers to the passing game this offseason.

Hodgins, Slayton and Bellinger return, but New York also brought back Sterling Shepard, who is recovering from a torn ACL. Parris Campbell, who finally stayed healthy with the Colts last season, was added in free agency. Schoen then used a third-round pick on speedster Jalin Hyatt, who was projected as a potential first-round pick by some and adds the sort of quickness that only Slayton really had on this roster previously. With gadget receiver Wan’Dale Robinson eventually returning from his own torn ACL, the Giants should be able to sort through this mix and find three starting wideouts as the season goes along.

The biggest addition was former Raiders tight end Darren Waller. I can’t fault Schoen for using a third-round pick to acquire Waller, given his production over 2020 and 2021, but Waller turns 31 in September and has played more than 50% of the offensive snaps just 16 times over the past two seasons because of various injuries. New York isn’t locked into Waller for long if it doesn’t work out, but it has to treat him as more of a luxury than a true top option.

What went wrong: The organization appears to have bought into its own hype. An unexpected trip to the postseason and a road victory once they got there was a pleasant surprise for the Giants, who had been treating 2023 as a year to get their salary cap right and begin a rebuild. Their underlying performance wasn’t quite as impressive; they were outscored on the season and finished 21st in DVOA. They went 8-4-1 in games decided by eight or fewer points and were lucky to draw an even worse playoff opponent in the Vikings, whose DVOA ranked them as the sixth-worst team in the league.

In response, the Giants appear to be running it back. They franchise-tagged Saquon Barkley and committed to Jones, signing the same player who wasn’t worth a fifth-year option 12 months earlier to a four-year, $160 million deal with $81 million guaranteed over the first two seasons. They brought back Slayton and Shepard, who seemed to be on the way out, and while those weren’t major deals, the move for Jones certainly was just that.

Jones ranked sixth in Total QBR last season, so I won’t be arguing that he played poorly. In terms of Jones’ development, though, coach Brian Daboll squeezed just about everything out of him. The 2019 first-rounder threw the shortest average pass of any quarterback (6.0 air yards per attempt), which helped drop his interception rate to an unsustainably-low mark of 1.1%. Jones was incredible as a scrambler, but his 708 rushing yards nearly doubled his career rushing total from Years 1 through 3. He averaged just 6.8 yards per attempt and still managed to take sacks on nearly 9% of his dropbacks. Plus, he attempted just 29.5 passes per game.

On a rookie deal, that sort of production is incredibly valuable. At $40 million per year, it wouldn’t be a good use of resources. Jones has to improve as a passer to justify that sort of contract, and the steps he has to take as a downfield thrower and a post-snap processor likely open him up to the turnovers he avoided in 2022.

The cap space the Giants were supposed to be clearing last year went to Jones and Barkley, which limited what they could do to upgrade a defense that ranked 29th in DVOA last season. I liked the addition of A’Shawn Robinson to one of the league’s worst rush defenses, but a four-year, $40 million deal for off-ball linebacker Bobby Okereke was too aggressive at a position where the majority of useful players settled for much smaller commitments. Schoen used the team’s first-round pick on much-needed cornerback Deonte Banks, but this secondary is going to struggle against an NFC East full of imposing receivers.

What’s left to do: Resolve the Barkley situation. The Giants haven’t sounded close to a deal with their star back, who had his best season since 2018 while playing out his fifth-year option. It’s reasonable to wonder whether committing a long-term deal to him would be a good idea given his injury history, but he helps the Giants overcome their lack of impactful playmakers at wide receiver. Barkley playing out the 2023 season on the tag feels like the most likely outcome.

ARIZONA

Apparently, WR DeANDRE HOPKINS has a list of teams he is sure would jump at the chance to acquire his talents if only the Cardinals would make a reasonable deal.  Mike Jones of The Athletic:

Wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins returned to the spotlight this week after he was a no-show at Arizona Cardinals organized team activities but participated in a high-profile podcast interview that renewed interest about his future.

The five-time Pro Bowl wideout’s decision to skip the first week of offseason practices comes months after the Cardinals reportedly shopped him to other NFL teams leading up to the 2023 NFL Draft. Arizona’s efforts proved fruitless, but Hopkins’ absence this week, and an interview in which he shared his picks for the five quarterbacks with whom he would most like to play (omitting teammate Kyler Murray), only further stoked speculation that Hopkins could be on the move.

@Kyle_Odegard

D-Hop, on @IAMATHLETEpod, said QB play is important at this stage of his career.

“Kyler is a quarterback who loves the game, but he’s injured. Right now, I’m playing with Colt McCoy – who I love – but who knows? Right now I don’t currently have a Pro Bowl quarterback.”

The Cardinals are starting over with first-year head coach Jonathan Gannon after four unsuccessful seasons under Kliff Kingsbury. The talented but inconsistent and oft-injured Murray is rehabbing from a season-ending torn ACL in his right knee. And Arizona is in the midst of a retool/rebuild on the fly after loading up on future draft picks and looking to unload hefty contracts (Hopkins’ $29.9 million salary-cap hit is the largest on the team).

Hopkins told the “I Am Athlete” podcast, hosted by former NFL star Brandon Marshall, that he is training in Toronto to ensure he best positions himself for an impactful 11th NFL season. He didn’t classify his absence as a holdout, and Gannon said he isn’t concerned about Hopkins’ absence during this voluntary period of the offseason program. However, the uncertainty persists in part because of how Hopkins, in his interview with Marshall, vacillated between speaking as if he intends to remain with the Cardinals and sounding as if he would like a change of scenery.

Regardless of the desires of Hopkins or the Cardinals, the wide receiver might have to stay put for now. Front-office executives around the league believe it’s unlikely that any team would pull the trigger on a deal this offseason for a number of reasons, which include Hopkins’ contract terms, the belief that he wants a new multiyear deal and the salary-cap situations of teams that would fit the receiver’s criteria for a desired destination.

Hopkins’ frustrations with the Cardinals are understandable. He wanted stability with Houston and then Arizona yet has endured frequent changes at both general manager and head coach.

Hopkins said he would like to play with a “QB who loves the game, a QB who brings everybody on board with him and pushes not just himself but everybody around him.” An intentional shot at Murray (who is frequently criticized for a lack of maturity and dedication) or no? Hard to say. Hopkins later praised Murray as a fierce competitor and his “brother.” But he listed Josh Allen, Jalen Hurts, Patrick Mahomes, Justin Herbert and Lamar Jackson as the top five quarterbacks with whom he would like to play.

Hopkins also said he wanted to play for a team with a great defense because defense wins championships.

So, the overall wish list: great GM and coach, great quarterback and supporting defense. Welcome to the club.

But here’s the problem.

Hopkins, set to make $19.45 million in 2023 and $15.915 million in 2024, doesn’t possess a cap-friendly deal. The teams he listed lack the financial flexibility to take on a massive contract. Kansas City and Buffalo both have just more than $1 million in cap space right now. Philadelphia, Baltimore and the Chargers each have roughly $12 million in cap space.

Also, Baltimore already committed $15 million to Odell Beckham Jr. That basically kills the Ravens as an option for Hopkins.

Meanwhile, New England, a team rumored to have inquired about Hopkins at some point this offseason, has just more than $12 million in cap space and an unstable quarterback situation to boot.

Hopkins could consider a contract restructure to lower his cap figure if that would help his chances of playing for a contender. But Hopkins played in just 10 games in 2021 and only nine in 2022, missing six last season due to suspension. Teams would oppose the idea of committing long-term money to a wide receiver on the wrong side of 30 who missed time with injuries in each of the last two seasons.

There are teams with more cap space but also unproven quarterback situations. Such teams aren’t any closer to contention than is Arizona. Hopkins also told Marshall he doesn’t want to play with a young quarterback because at this point in his career, he’s in win-now mode.

All of the above lead league insiders to believe that no Hopkins trade is coming any time soon. Six front-office executives said they have heard no chatter about teams in pursuit of Hopkins. Two predicted that Hopkins would likely have to wait until the November trade deadline, when teams could prove more desperate for a move.

And so, as badly as Hopkins wants to win as his window of high-level football begins to shrink, dreams of a trade seemingly are just that: a dream. His remaining course of action may involve a patient approach and hopes that Murray can recover, play at a high level and help the Cardinals exceed expectations in the coming seasons.

LOS ANGELES RAMS

Ranking the teams 1 to 32 in terms of their offseason, Bill Barnwell of ESPN has the Rams at #31:

31. Los Angeles Rams

What went right: The Rams pulled the rip cord on an aggressive rebuild. They are virtually unrecognizable from the team we saw last season, let alone the one that won the Super Bowl on home turf 15 months ago. It can’t be easy for an organization that had been successful for nearly the entirety of the Sean McVay era to admit it wasn’t going to be able to get back with its core, but L.A. moved on from Jalen Ramsey, Leonard Floyd and Bobby Wagner this offseason. The Rams ate money to deal away Allen Robinson, too.

Now they have $32.6 million in cap space for the 2024 season, giving general manager Les Snead meaningful flexibility in a city that is always going to attract free agents. They also traded down twice in the third round of April’s draft, landing sorely needed draft capital in the process.

What went wrong: The Rams are stuck between stations. Moving on from their veterans made sense, but they still held on to some of their core in the hopes those players could be difference-makers in 2024 and 2025. Aaron Donald is 32. Matthew Stafford is 35. Cooper Kupp is 29. Tyler Higbee is 30. Donald is a once-in-a-generation player and could still be productive in 2024, but he also could have netted the team serious draft picks. (To be fair, Donald does have a no-trade clause, but there were no suggestions the Rams were considering trading him.)

If you’re keeping those guys, there’s a way to build around them without compromising 2024 flexibility. The Rams could sign players to short-term deals or go after players who were cut by other teams to avoid missing out on compensatory selections. Targeting free agents in their mid-20s would have been one way to add contributing help, considering they will be trying to start back up after what projects to be a difficult 2023.

Instead, the Rams … didn’t sign anyone? The only free agent they imported from another team is backup quarterback Brett Rypien, who projects to be the third quarterback behind Stafford and rookie Stetson Bennett. Snead finally used an early pick on an offensive lineman when he drafted guard Steve Avila, but he didn’t make any other significant investments to supplement a line that didn’t look good on paper even before being destroyed by injuries a year ago.

All of that would be fine if the Rams had done much on defense, but even after moving on from key players at each level this offseason, they have not added a single veteran on that side of the ball. They will be running out Donald and a defense full of players on rookie deals. It’s one thing to do that when they have first-round picks there, but they project to start five Day 3 picks in the secondary and a rotation of Day 3 picks and practice squad additions on the edge this upcoming season. Defensive coordinator Raheem Morris should be applying for hazard pay.

If the Rams are tanking for local quarterback Caleb Williams (USC), nobody would fault their choice. But by keeping Donald, Stafford and Kupp in the same division with the Cardinals, they project to be just good enough to avoid landing a top-five pick in next year’s draft. And although we know the Rams have no qualms about dealing multiple first-rounders to land the star they want, there might not be any trade package that lands them Williams if a quarterback-needy team holds the No. 1 pick.

What’s left to do: Add literally any defensive player. Throw Morris a bone. I’ve advocated for John Johnson III, the 27-year-old safety who excelled in Los Angeles before a frustrating run in Cleveland. Eli Apple was a starting corner on a good defense in Cincinnati last season. Edge rusher Yannick Ngakoue is 28 and could net something at the trade deadline if he gets hot playing next to Donald. It’s difficult to think of a more inexperienced defense than what the Rams are set to roll out next to their future Hall of Famer.

SEATTLE

As you read his offseason rankings, Bill Barnwell reminds you he thought the Seahawks had the NFL’s worst offseason:

Last year, I had the Seahawks pegged for the worst offseason of any team. A year later, that looks foolish for reasons that should seem obvious. Geno Smith emerged from Seattle’s quarterback battle and delivered a stunning Pro Bowl season, while a draft class with Charles Cross, Tariq Woolen and Abraham Lucas made an instant impact. The Broncos, who added a franchise quarterback in Russell Wilson, ranked No. 1. If anything, it would have been more accurate to flip those rankings.

This year he has them at #18:

18. Seattle Seahawks

What went right: Geno Smith is back on a reasonable deal. After his stunning 2022 season, he always seemed likely to return to Seattle. Unlike the Giants, who committed more than $80 million to lock up Daniel Jones over the next two years, the Seahawks were able to get a much more sensible deal done with their breakout quarterback. Smith will make $27.5 million in 2023 and has no further guaranteed money remaining on his deal afterward. It’s a nice payday for him and a flexible deal for the Seahawks, who even brought back Drew Lock on a one-year deal to be the backup.

What went wrong: Did enough get done on defense? After a frustrating 2021 season saw the Seahawks finish 21st in defensive DVOA, Pete Carroll took action. He fired defensive coordinator Ken Norton, cut franchise stalwart Bobby Wagner, promised to move toward a more attacking, aggressive scheme, and imported one of the game’s brightest young minds in Sean Desai to work alongside new coordinator Clint Hurtt. Seattle then landed a potential franchise cornerback in fifth-round pick Tariq Woolen, who did his best Richard Sherman impression in a spectacular rookie season.

In 2022, the Seahawks finished … 21st in defensive DVOA. Not ideal. Now, Wagner is back, Desai has left for Philadelphia and Woolen is out until training camp after undergoing knee surgery. Jamal Adams, who missed most of the 2022 season with a torn quadriceps, might not be ready for the start of training camp. Jordyn Brooks just had his fifth-year option declined and is coming off a torn ACL. Wagner and Devin Bush were added to help at linebacker, and No. 5 pick Devon Witherspoon should be an immediate starter at corner, but this defense is already banged up before it has even put on pads.

Does Seattle have enough pass-rushers? Uchenna Nwosu returns after a breakout season on the edge, but the Seahawks ranked 19th in pressure rate even with Nwosu’s best campaign on the books. Darrell Taylor’s 9.5 sacks weren’t supported by his underlying pressure production; can second-round pick Derick Hall make an immediate impact in the same way so many players in last year’s class were able to for Seattle? Can Dre’Mont Jones justify a deal worth $17 million per season frequently enough to push the pocket from the interior? The expectations are higher than they were a year ago.

Another old concern is back: Is there enough along the offensive line? The Seahawks used two Day 3 picks on linemen, but starters Austin Blythe and Gabe Jackson departed without significant replacements. Evan Brown and Phil Haynes might be best as the sixth utility lineman on a great offense, but they’re likely starters in Seattle. Running back Kenneth Walker’s spectacular big plays were masked by one of the league’s worst success rates; the line needs to do more to open up reliable holes for him and rookie second-round pick Zach Charbonnet in 2023.

What’s left to do: Add interior line depth. Haynes got a one-year, $4 million deal to take over as the starting guard, but despite the Day 3 picks, the Seahawks should still add a veteran in case he isn’t up to the task.

LAS VEGAS

Ranking the teams 1 to 32 in terms of their offseason, Bill Barnwell of ESPN has the Raiders at #30:

30. Las Vegas Raiders

What went right: The Raiders actually addressed their defense in the first round. Using a first-round pick on edge rusher Tyree Wilson landed them a long-term replacement for free agent disappointment Chandler Jones, who is likely to be released after the 2023 season. Coach Josh McDaniels and general manager Dave Ziegler didn’t inherit much on the defensive side of the ball a year ago beyond Maxx Crosby, but going after a potential difference-maker at a critical position made sense for the roster in the long term, even if it wasn’t their most obvious need for the coming season.

What went wrong: The Raiders continued to make many of the same mistakes. For a team that whiffed on a generation of draft picks during the Jon Gruden era and traded away its top two picks in a foolishly aggressive move for Davante Adams last offseason, Las Vegas continued to give away draft capital to trade up this year. (Adams is reportedly already displeased with the organization, just 12 months into a five-year, $140 million deal.)

This team moved up in the second round (for Michael Mayer) and fourth round (twice, for Jakorian Bennett and for Aidan O’Connell). These weren’t dramatic moves from the coach who once moved up for Alphonso Smith and traded away the pick the Seahawks would use on Earl Thomas, but it’s the attitude toward picks that feels so off-putting. The Raiders aren’t a player away. They need cheap, homegrown talent more than any other team. If anything, they should have been trying to move down.

Jakobi Meyers is an underrated player, but I’m not sure the Raiders’ foray into free agency should have been for a wide receiver when they already had Adams and Hunter Renfrow. Meyers and Renfrow are best in the slot, but now one of them will have to shift outside, which might limit their effectiveness. Josh Jacobs, whom the organization was ready to move on from a year ago, was retained on the franchise tag. One year after loading up on playmakers and having the season fall apart because they didn’t have enough elsewhere, it feels as if the Raiders are just trying to push the square peg more forcefully into the round hole.

I’m including the downgrade from Derek Carr to Jimmy Garoppolo here, given that Carr was still on the roster at the Super Bowl. Carr’s no-trade clause, which the Raiders handed him in their “contract extension” a year ago, prevented them from finding a trade partner for their deposed starter and cost them a useful quarterback for nothing. Garoppolo might be about as good as Carr when he’s on the field, but his dire track record of staying healthy looms for a team that hasn’t exactly committed to rebuilding. (And he reportedly had surgery on his foot in March).

For a guy who reportedly once said he could “turn a high school quarterback into an All-Pro” before using a first-round pick on Tim Tebow, McDaniels is resorting to becoming Patriots West, with the Raiders importing Garoppolo, Meyers and Brian Hoyer this offseason. Maybe they can get new partial team owner Tom Brady to fill in if Garoppolo gets injured.

What’s left to do: Resolve the Jacobs situation. Although he was legitimately impactful last season, it was an outlier. Paying for that level of play on a multiyear deal would be aggressive for a team with too many needs elsewhere; Doug Martin’s contract after a breakout fourth season with the Bucs is an example of how that can go south. Bill Belichick is confident in his ability to find valuable backs on the cheap; McDaniels should follow his old boss’s tactic.

HOUSTON

Ranking the teams 1 to 32 in terms of their offseason, Bill Barnwell of ESPN has the Texans at #22:

22. Houston Texans

What went right: The Texans finally landed their quarterback and their head coach. This column takes the agnostic approach in evaluating how draft picks will turn out, but at least Houston is done waiting for its future to begin. In hiring DeMeco Ryans to a six-year deal and using the No. 2 pick on C.J. Stroud, the Texans are out of the lull they were stuck in after firing Bill O’Brien and trading Deshaun Watson. What has felt like an irrelevant team over the past two seasons will be worth paying attention to in 2023 and beyond, and that’s valuable in its own right.

I liked some of the moves general manager Nick Caserio made to surround his new quarterback with talent, too. The Texans landed Dalton Schultz on a one-year deal when his market didn’t develop. Third-round pick Nathaniel “Tank” Dell should be a useful gadget player. Devin Singletary and Mike Boone have been effective backs when given the opportunity. Houston used a second-round pick on center Juice Scruggs and traded for Bucs guard Shaq Mason, further solidifying the interior of its offensive line.

It wasn’t all peaches and cream. Mason had been a cut candidate before being traded each of the previous two seasons, so I’m not sure how the Texans landed on giving him a three-year, $36 million extension. Caserio landed only fifth- and sixth-round picks in the trade for Brandin Cooks and then replaced him with Robert Woods, who wasn’t effective for the Titans a year ago. And then, there was that trade …

What went wrong: Houston valued edge rusher Will Anderson Jr. as a future Hall of Famer with a stunning draft-day trade. Anderson is a great prospect, but the Texans traded a staggering amount to move up to No. 3 and take the edge rusher. ESPN’s Seth Walder noted that they sent the equivalent of an extra top-10 pick to the Cardinals to move up. Even if we don’t consider what they included next year, swapping pick Nos. 12 and 33 for Nos. 3 and 105, as the Texans did in this deal, is almost a fair swap in its own right.

Instead, the Texans needed to include their first-round pick in 2024. Stroud and Anderson will make this team better, but there’s a reasonable chance this pick will land in the top five, and it could even be No. 1. If Caleb Williams lives up to expectations and is a Trevor Lawrence- or Andrew Luck-caliber prospect, the selection could have landed the Texans either an even better quarterback or a massive haul of draft picks in return. The best-case scenario is they traded for a superstar and landed one. Most other outcomes would turn this into a disappointing or even disastrous deal.

Beyond Anderson and the addition of Sheldon Rankins, I’m not sure the Texans did enough to address their defense. Caserio’s philosophy of adding umpteen veterans on one- and two-year deals hasn’t paid off the past couple of seasons, but he continued to go down that path again this offseason. He signed 18 veterans to one-year contracts this offseason, more than any other team in football.

There were promising signs from Derek Stingley Jr. and Dameon Pierce in the Texans’ 2022 draft class, but they were the league’s 18th-oldest team a year ago. They aren’t old, but teams that win 10 games over a three-year span should be giving young talent chances to grow on the job. Instead, they have aimed to be mediocre and have come up short. I’m not enthused to see that philosophy stretch into another season when it comes to free agency.

What’s left to do: Get John Metchie III ready for camp. A second-round pick last year, Metchie missed his entire rookie season after a leukemia diagnosis. He was able to return for Phase 1 of the team’s offseason program, only to strain a hamstring in the process. The Texans gave up three picks to move up for Metchie a year ago, so they clearly valued him as a future starter; the 22-year-old could be Stroud’s top target by the end of the season if things break right.

TENNESSEE

Ranking the teams 1 to 32 in terms of their offseason, Bill Barnwell of ESPN has the Titans at #32:

32. Tennessee Titans

What went right: New general manager Ran Carthon cleared out veterans who weren’t living up to expectations. While the Titans are only a year removed from finishing as the 1-seed in the AFC, their second-half collapse in 2022 spurred the firing of GM Jon Robinson and an aggressive retooling. Carthon & Co. released Taylor Lewan, Bud Dupree, Robert Woods and Zach Cunningham, moves that all made sense financially but might have been avoided by a team hoping to compete in 2023.

Carthon mostly stuck to importing former 49ers players, as he signed Daniel Brunskill, Azeez-Al Shaair and Arden Key (who was in San Francisco before spending last season with the Jaguars). Key is an underrated edge rusher, and none of those contracts was unreasonable. Hoping to rebuild the offensive line, the Titans used their first-round pick on Peter Skoronski, who should start at guard before possibly moving to left tackle. Carthon also moved up in the second round to grab Will Levis, who could start at quarterback for Tennessee in 2024.

What went wrong: I’m not sure whether the Titans are rebuilding. The two moves hanging over the organization’s head all offseason still haven’t been resolved, as Ryan Tannehill and Derrick Henry are still on the roster. Both are entering the final year of their respective deals and have declined over the past two seasons. Tannehill is 34 and Henry is 29; are they really going to be pushing this team forward next season, let alone in 2024 and beyond? Kevin Byard was asked to take a pay cut, but after he called Tennessee’s bluff, the team kept its starting safety on the roster.

Holding on to those three players compromised the moves Carthon could have made as he rebuilt the roster. The Titans needed a new left tackle after cutting Lewan, but the addition of Andre Dillard saw Carthon pay $10 million for a 2019 first-round pick who didn’t develop into a starter under standout offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland in Philadelphia. Is Dillard really likely to be better in Tennessee? A secondary that has missed on draft picks and free agent signings added only Sean Murphy-Bunting on a one-year deal.

At the league’s most critical positions — quarterback, offensive tackle, wide receiver, edge rusher and cornerback — the Titans are deficient. In past years, they were able to make up for that with what they had elsewhere, including with Henry, Byard, Jeffery Simmons and Denico Autry and an excellent interior offensive line. Simmons is a superstar, but Tennessee desperately needs Dillard, Harold Landry III and Treylon Burks to join him at that level in 2023.

What’s left to do: Add a receiver. Burks flashed at times during his rookie season, but he’s going to be asked to be the focal point of the passing attack in 2023, which is a big lift for a player who had 444 receiving yards. Chigoziem Okonkwo was a pleasant surprise as a rookie third-rounder, but he’s the only tight end of note on the roster. Would a reunion with Anthony Firkser make sense?

NEW ENGLAND

The Patriots were punished the loss of two OTA days not for anything they did on the field, but because the posting of office hours for one of the coaches was deemed to be an extra meeting that made their day too long for the NFLPA’s liking.  Jeff Howe of The Athletic:

The rules infraction had nothing to do with on-field activity. Rather, the Patriots posted a schedule of voluntary special teams office hours to let players know when coaches would be available if the players were interested in dropping by for a meeting, according to a source. An NFLPA representative noticed the posted schedule during a routine visit to the facility and informed the team the schedule could give off the impression that the office hours could be mandatory. According to league rules, all offseason workouts and meetings are voluntary.

The Patriots self-reported the violation and cooperated with the NFL after realizing they potentially broke a rule. According to the collective bargaining agreement, players aren’t permitted to be at the team facility longer than four hours per day during the second phase of the offseason workout program. The league determined the special teams office hours violated that provision because they were outside the parameters of that four-hour window.

NEW YORK JETS

Brian Fonseca at NJ.com:

The Jets will be down one defensive back when they open the 2023 season.

Cornerback Brandin Echols will be suspended for one game to start the campaign, according to the NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, who cited the league’s transaction wire. The Jets open their 2023 season at home against the Buffalo Bills on Monday, September 11, at MetLife Stadium.

The reason for the suspension was not reported, but the league may be punishing Echols under its personal conduct policy stemming from a high-speed crash near the team’s facility last year.

Earlier this year, Echols entered a pre-trial diversionary program to avoid assault by auto charges.

Court records show that Echols faced several other charges stemming from the wreck, which was reported at 2 p.m. on April 26, 2022 on Ridgedale Ave., a few miles from the team’s facility. Echols was charged with reckless driving, speeding by 30-34 mph (he was cited for traveling 84 mph in a 50 mph zone), unsafe lane change, improper passing, and failure to wear a seat belt.

Echols is expected to play a backup role in the defensive backfield, with reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year Sauce Gardner, D.J. Reed and Michael Carter II (slot) expected to start at the three cornerback spots, per a projection from NJ Advance Media’s Andy Vasquez.

– – –

Ranking the teams 1 to 32 in terms of their offseason, Bill Barnwell of ESPN has the Jets at #23:

23. New York Jets

What went right: They upgraded from Zach Wilson to Aaron Rodgers. I wrote all about this trade when it happened in April, but I don’t think this side of the equation is particularly complicated. The Jets were building around a quarterback who has looked hopeless for most of his career. Now, they have a future Hall of Famer who won back-to-back MVP awards in 2020 and 2021.

Upgrading at the most important position in sports is essential. It’s even more important for the Jets, who haven’t had a player rack up a single MVP vote in 50 years or won a playoff game in more than a decade. Outside of the Bears, no franchise is more starved for a great quarterback. Rodgers won’t be around for long, but with New York returning an excellent defense and a compelling group of young playmakers, you can’t fault general manager Joe Douglas & Co. for taking a big swing.

What went wrong: They’re paying a lot for that upgrade. If Rodgers gets the Jets to a Super Bowl, nobody will care what they paid. We know they needed to upgrade at quarterback, but they also just acquired a 39-year-old quarterback who just posted the league’s 26th-best QBR, wedging Rodgers firmly between Matt Ryan and Russell Wilson. For that privilege, they had to do the following:

Trade away their second-round pick in 2023 and what will likely be a first-round pick in 2024. If Rodgers doesn’t turn the conditional pick in 2024 into a first-rounder, it’ll mean he failed to play 65% of the snaps in 2023, which would be an even bigger disaster.

Moved down two spots in the first round. It seems exceedingly likely that this deal cost the Jets left tackle Broderick Jones, who was poached by the Steelers in a move up to the 14th pick. The Jets landed exciting pass-rusher Will McDonald IV, but they sorely needed an offensive tackle, given the uncertain futures of Duane Brown and Mekhi Becton.

Pay Rodgers more than any other quarterback in NFL history. Rodgers is expected to take home $60 million for the 2023 season. He would earn an additional $49.3 million if he comes back in 2024. In addition to him making nearly $110 million over the next two years, the Jets are incurring the cost of trading away first- and second-round picks, which are themselves worth millions of dollars. The cost of acquiring and playing him likely comes in somewhere around $130 million over the next two seasons, which is a staggering amount of money.

Hope Rodgers doesn’t retire after 2023. The Jets are trading those picks for a player who considered retirement this offseason and might very well move on from the game after 2023. Giving up a first-rounder and a second-rounder and $60 million for one season of Rodgers would require them to win a Super Bowl to avoid making this one of the worst trades in recent memory. It’s even tough to make the deal work for anything short of a trip to the Super Bowl if Rodgers plays two years.

Add Rodgers’ friends to come along for the ride. It’s possible the Jets wanted to hire Nathaniel Hackett as offensive coordinator. Maybe they thought it made sense to target Allen Lazard in free agency for $11 million per season. Perhaps they really loved the veteran presence of Billy Turner and Tim Boyle. OK, I won’t even pretend that they were going to sign Randall Cobb without Rodgers in the fold.

Rodgers doesn’t like the idea that he handed the Jets a “wish list,” but it’s clear the team made a series of moves to do whatever it took to make its dream quarterback feel more comfortable. Most of those moves are marginal: Cobb has only $250,000 guaranteed and might not make the roster; Boyle is going to be the third-string quarterback; and Turner is going to be the swing tackle.

Well, Lazard is making $11 million per season over the next couple of years when the Jets might have used that money for Jakobi Meyers or JuJu Smith-Schuster, both of whom have been more productive. Hackett’s résumé away from Rodgers as an offensive coordinator or head coach has been middling to dismal, and he wasn’t the one overseeing the offense or calling plays when Rodgers thrived in Green Bay.

Yes, the Jets needed to upgrade at quarterback. Let’s say that they could have had Teddy Bridgewater, who has been perfectly acceptable for teams with great defenses in the past, with his tenures in Minnesota and New Orleans as recent examples. Bridgewater is nine years younger than Rodgers, has been beloved everywhere he has gone as a pro and is still available as an unrestricted free agent.

Would you rather have Rodgers than Bridgewater? Of course, but that’s not the question. The Jets chose between Rodgers and (somebody like) Bridgewater, first- and second-round picks, the right not to have Hackett as their offensive coordinator and about $50 million in money to spend elsewhere on their roster per season over the next two years. If you don’t like Bridgewater, plug in Derek Carr and replace that $50 million with $15 million or so to work with per season, or Jacoby Brissett and an extra $40 million in money to throw around each year. You get the idea. Nothing short of peak Rodgers will make this work for New York.

What’s left to do: Figure out the Corey Davis situation. Once a prized free agent pickup from Tennessee, Davis has fallen down the depth chart in New York. The wideout is owed an $11 million base salary in the final year of his deal, but none of that money is guaranteed. The Jets can cut him to clear out cap space, but they’re likely hoping a team will deal with an injury and send them a draft pick to acquire the 2017 No. 5 pick.

THIS AND THAT

BROADCAST NEWS

NFL Sunday Ticket will be available in bars and restaurants – but not through YouTubeTV.  John Ourand of Sports Business Journal:

DirecTV will continue to make “ NFL Sunday Ticket” available to bars and restaurants through a multiyear deal it signed with EverPass. A formal announcement is expected this afternoon and the deal will kick in this fall. The deal includes NFL games on Thursday, Sunday and Monday nights, as well as Sunday afternoons. DirecTV, which has held “Sunday Ticket’s” commercial license for around three decades, has licenses with more than 300,000 commercial businesses — bars, restaurants, hotels, casinos, retail shops, military bases, etc. It also holds the commercial rights to MLB’s “Friday Night Baseball,” which runs on AppleTV+, MLS’s out-of-market package “Season Pass” and “Thursday Night Football” though Prime Video.

DirecTV’s involvement with “Sunday Ticket” was thought to be over in March. That’s when the NFL and private-equity firm RedBird Capital set up EverPass Media, and allowed it to become the commercial distributor for the package. Just a few months early, YouTube TV signed a seven year deal taking the out-of-market’s consumer rights away from DirecTV. EverPass is helmed by former DirecTV executives Derek Chang and Alex Kaplan, and lists the NFL’s investment arm 32 Equity as one of its investors.

And this news about “simultaneous streams” from Mike Florio:

For customers of the base YouTube TV package, each account permits up to three simultaneous streams. Originally, that wasn’t going to apply to Sunday Ticket.

It now will. And apparently then some.

YouTube announced on Thursday that, in response to customer feedback, Sunday Ticket includes “unlimited simultaneous streams” for home viewing.

Also, for streaming on the go, users will have access to two additional streams.

This means that, for people watching from home, they will be able to watch as many games as they want, if they have the TVs/devices to permit it — along with two extra streams outside the home.

That’s a significant development for those who intend to create the ability to watch as many games as possible at once, especially with up to nine or 10 games starting at 1:00 p.m. ET on a Sunday.

A reduced rate remains available through June 6, either via YouTube TV or the You Tube Premium Channels.