Each Team's Primary Objective

I really enjoyed this season, even if COVID made things somewhat bumpy. And now that the regular season has finished, I’m going to cap it off by looking ahead at what I believe should be each team's primary objective this offseason.

Arizona Cardinals: Kingsbury and Murray. That’s the story of Arizona and it will remain the story until Murray flops (spoiler alert, not gonna happen), or Kingsbury gets fired. Arizona invested a lot when they made the decision to hire Kingsbury and draft Murray, and this year we got a pretty good glimpse of what they can do. An 8-8 finish and just barely missing the playoffs is just the beginning. Their focus this offseason has to be on their defense, the last thing they want is for the defensive unit to drag the team down.

Atlanta Falcons: Dan Quinn and Thomas Dimitroff are gone, but the Falcons still found new ways to blow it in the fourth quarter. No, I don’t think Raheem Morris should be the next guy up. Personally, if I was Atlanta I would target Joe Brady, Todd Bowles or Byron Leftwich. Three talented coordinators, and each are currently coaching for their divisional rivals. That’s called double-dipping, a chance to hire a brilliant mind while screwing over a rival.

Baltimore Ravens: If Lamar Jackson is going to be THE guy, the Ravens need to surround him with better targets. The reason why things got off to a slow start for this team is that their opponents knew he was going to be looking for Mark Andrews. Marquise Brown isn’t terrible, but he hasn’t been the take over WR1 that they were hoping for. Finding a true WR1 should be their primary objective this offseason.

Buffalo Bills: The offense finally takes a massive step forward and their defense spends most of the season trying to tank them. This offseason McDermott needs to figure out why their defense took a step backward and fix that problem. My suggestion, start in the trenches.

Carolina Panthers: Carolina won 2-3 more games than I expected them too, so I’d call Rhule’s first season as an NFL Head Coach a success. Next, Rhule needs to answer a question that could make or break his career, Quarterback or the rest of the offense? With where the Panthers are picking at least one of the top four QBs should still be on the board. That also may be a spot where most of the second tier Offensive Lineman (everyone not named Sewell), and Kyle Pitts should still be available. So Rhule will need to choose between preparing the offense for his future franchise QB, or selecting that franchise QB this year.

Chicago Bears: The Bears may have screwed themselves over by making the playoffs, unless of course Trubisky can actually be a consistent passer. But, before the draft is free agency and Allen Robinson has hit the end of his contract. Robinson is coming off back to back 1,000 yard seasons. He is their star at Receiver and retaining him should be their #1 priority.

Cincinnati Bengals: Joe Burrow. That is their offseason priority. Building around him. Making sure he’s better protected. Helping him get back on the field. And making sure they have a good backup plan in the event he’s not ready when the regular season kicks off.

Cleveland Browns: Kevin Stefanski was exactly what the Browns needed. He helped turn the team around, and he’s responsible for Mayfield’s growth after an awful second season. I’m excited to see how he and Andrew Berry continue to improve this team and make them a perennial Super Bowl contender. I think the first thing they need to do is find a trade partner to ship OBJ off to.

Dallas Cowboys: The defense! Prescott’s injury tanked Dallas’ season, though they did start to somewhat click with Dalton under Center. And that is largely due to the weapons Dallas has on offense. If they elect not to pay Prescott their top priority should still be their defense. They need to balance things out before they end up stuck in the same purgatory that the Colts were in prior to their Super Bowl, when Manning was under Center and the defense wasn’t up to snuff.

Denver Broncos: The next GM and the Drew Lock conundrum. Lock has the talent, but his play is spotty. Which means the next GM has to make the tough decision on how to handle the Quarterback position. But first, the Broncos have to make the tough decision on who to hire. With Elway still around things will be a little awkward, so it has to be someone who can deal with that aspect while meshing well with Fangio.

Detroit Lions: Their focus needs to be solely on getting a Head Coach in the building who knows how to rebuild a culture. Yes, the Lions need a lot of help in the talent department, but if they don’t re-image themselves they’ll forever be stuck in that mediocre state.

Green Bay Packers: As much as last off-season’s focus from the analysts was on Green Bay’s Receiving corps, the focus should have been more on their Inside Linebackers. They lost in the 2019 playoffs after Raheem Mostert ran all over them. This year was more of the same and if they fail to make it to the Super Bowl the reason won’t be a lack of pass catchers, it will be their inability to stop the run.

Houston Texans: Pick a starting point and begin fixing the destruction brought about by Bill O’Brien. Watson is a special Quarterback, don’t let his career go to waste. I’d begin by fixing the O-Line and finding him another Receiver. Oh, and an intelligent Head Coach who knows how to work in a situation like what they’re dealing with. Someone like Jim Caldwell who dealt with it in Detroit, or perhaps Jay Gruden who dealt with it in Washington, or Chuck Pagano who rebuilt Indianapolis before they tapered off and he was fired.

Indianapolis Colts: This one is easy, they need to decide on where to go at Quarterback. Rivers was on a one year deal, he might have another year in the tank, but you can’t build a team that way. Do they maybe trade away a late round pick for Wentz and eat the cap in the hopes Reich can get him to play the way he did under him in 2017? Do they pull the trigger on a QB like Kyle Trask in the first round and bring Rivers back for a season? Or do they go a completely different route that isn’t currently visible in the landscape that lies before us?

Jacksonville Jaguars: Good luck and congratulations to the next GM of the Jacksonville Jaguars. Good luck because this team has some talent, but there are major deficiencies across the board. Congratulations, because Trevor Lawrence has entered the draft, so Quarterback will not be one of them. Getting Lawrence a blindside blocker should be priority number 1 before you start focusing on that sorry excuse for a defense.

Kansas City Chiefs: The Chiefs had a middle of the pack, at best, pass defense and a near bottom of the league run defense. They’ve invested a lot into their offense to help Mahomes out, but now is the time to do some more early-round investing into the unit so they can at least be presentable.

Las Vegas Raiders: Once again the Raiders fell flat on their faces at the end of the season. The primary objective for the Raiders this offseason is to figure out why this keeps happening. Maybe it’s Carr and they need to focus on upgrading under Center. Maybe it’s how poorly the defense has done and it’s wearing down the offense by the end of the season. Or maybe Gruden needs to take a more hands off approach (haha like that would happen).

Los Angeles Chargers: The Anthony Lynn firing was rough. The Chargers ended the season on a hot streak. Herbert was looking good under Lynn’s tutelage. And then pow, Lynn’s out. That’s why the Chargers priority needs to be bringing in a new Head Coach who can further help Herbert, not hinder him. And I have a theory on why Lynn was fired. The expectation is that Urban Meyer is heading to Jacksonville, which takes Trevor Lawrence out of the equation. So, out of the remaining teams and their Quarterback situations, the top two would be Deshaun Watson and Justin Herbert. But the situation in Houston, as previously covered, is awful. That means, if I’m a bright offensive mind and I’m looking for a Head Coaching job, the Chargers would be number 1 on my list. So, maybe LA felt like by the end of next season they’d be back in this situation (i.e. Lynn fired) and they believed guys like Eric Bienemy, Brian Daboll and Joe Brady would be long gone, and they decided to make their move now while they still had the chance.

Los Angeles Rams: Is Goff actually the long-term answer? That depends on what they’re looking for. If they expect him to suddenly morph into Patrick Mahomes, then they need to look elsewhere and that’s something they should start planning on now. If they just want him to be Matt Ryan (excluding his MVP season) then they need to start investing in the Line in front of him and add an explosive playmaker on the outside.

Miami Dolphins: Miami’s #1 goal this offseason should be determining a way to make Tagovailoa better. His rookie season was bumpy and benching him in the middle of games was definitely not going to help his confidence. A Devonta Smith or Jaylen Waddle should help his growth. And potentially a better groomer of young Quarterbacks. Maybe an up and comer from the college ranks like Graham Harrell over at USC, or Rhett Lashlee from Miami.

Minnesota Vikings: The Vikings have spent a lot of draft capital on the Cornerback position since Zimmer was named Head Coach and yet it was potentially the worst position group for any team in the entire league. They either need to re-examine the way they evaluate the position, or just target players in free agency who have shown the ability to excel as a pro.

New England Patriots: Cam Newton is not expected back, and based on his play he wouldn’t exactly be considered a reliable option for them under Center. A lot of valuable players will be returning to their defense, so while I’d like to say they need to seriously focus on fixing their Defensive Line, I’m gonna have to lean toward the Quarterback spot. Either Belichick will have to draft a Quarterback in the first round for the first time since he took over in New England, or he’s going to have to be willing to bite the cap bullet and trade for a Stafford, or maybe a Wentz.

New Orleans Saints: It is widely believed that Brees is hanging up his hall of fame cleats at the end of the season. So, before the Saints can complete their primary objective, which of course is to find a replacement for Brees, they need to first determine if Taysom Hill or Jameis Winston are in fact that guy.

New York Giants: I was going to say that the Giants need to replace Dave Gettleman. Or at the very least move Gettleman somewhere else that allows him to still have a hand in who they target through free agency (an area he does really well in), while handing the draft reigns over to someone else. But it looks like he’s not going anywhere. So, New York’s primary objective is to make a decision on Daniel Jones. They’re picking high enough that they could potentially pull the trigger on a new young signal caller. But if they do want to stick it out with Jones for at least one more season, then they need to get him another playmaker on the outside!

New York Jets: Trevor Lawrence is pretty much guaranteed to be out of the picture. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. The Jets (and plenty of other teams) need to take note of what happened to Burrow. His knee injury could have been avoided if the Bengals had spent more time worrying about getting their line built up before sticking a shiny new Quarterback behind it. The Jets did a great job snagging Becton last season, but they can’t stop there. Penei Sewell should be a serious contender for their #2 overall pick. Plus, adding a Receiver, Tight End and Running Back would go a long way toward helping Darnold and/or a Quarterback they grab in the future.

Philadelphia Eagles: Trade Wentz. It’s not going to be easy to find a trade partner, but they need to make it happen, because the last thing they want is turmoil in the locker room. Getting rid of Doug Pederson and finding a new Head Coach who could better build the offense around Hurts is a close second, but getting Wentz out of town is definitely at the top of the list.

Pittsburgh Steelers: Use an early pick on a Running Back with some explosiveness. I really like Travis Etienne, as well as Najee Harris and Kenneth Gainwell. Any of those three would be a massive upgrade over what they dealt with this year. That’s not saying a whole lot though, they did finish dead last in YPC (3.6).

San Francisco 49ers: The Niners can cut Garoppolo and save over $20 million in each of the next two seasons. It’s a move they should strongly consider. In the three seasons after the trade that brought him to San Fran he’s managed to play in 25 games. He’s not a Quarterback who is going to break a game open by himself, so it’s not like they’re giving up a homerun hitter. They might even be able to find a trade partner *cough* Patriots *cough*.

Seattle Seahawks: Defense! When Wilson and the offense stopped wrecking teams and came back down to Earth, Seattle started losing games. That’s because every other team was lighting up the scoreboard on their defense. It’s difficult for most teams to win games when the offense has to be relied on to score consistently just to stay in the mix heading into the final minutes of the game. They’ve have to fix their Cornerback situation, and they have got to do a better job of bringing in talent on their D-Line.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers: They need to figure out if this is the end for Brady. If it is, they need to start laying out targets in free agency or via trade that can take over the starting job and keep them competitive. If it isn’t, they should strongly consider drafting a QB early, or grabbing a young signal caller like Dwayne Haskins, a guy who can learn behind Brady and minimize the drop off in 2023.

Tennessee Titans: They have to address their pass defense. The offense averaged 30.7 PPG, they have a solid Quarterback in Tannehill, two young talented Receivers in Brown and Davis, and one of the top Running Backs in the league in Henry. Yet, they went 11-5, barely won the AFC South and entered the playoffs as the 4 seed. That’s because the defense was terrible. They allowed an average of 27.4 PPG, and they had a bottom 5 pass defense. Their run defense was slightly worse than middle of the pack, but they couldn’t stop the pass to save their lives, which makes it the bigger need.

Washington Football Team: Alex Smith, Kyle Allen, or go in a different direction? Knowing Ron Rivera he’ll stick it out with Smith and Allen for at least one more season. That means they need to find a permanent solution to fill Trent Williams’ shoes, and they need a running mate for Terry McLaurin. But they should also do their homework on the Quarterbacks not named Lawrence and Fields. Guys that could potentially slide down the board and allow them to pay a much smaller price to move up a few spots and grab them. Essentially Washington, it’s time for you to finally invest in your offense, because your defense can only do so much.