Biggest takeaways from NFL's so-called offseason
With nearly two dozen mandatory minicamps concluding over the past week, coaches, players and team personnel throughout the NFL get a rare stretch of summer downtime before training camps open in late July.
However, don't think that every team will be enjoying the vacation time with clear minds. Paste BN Sports' Nate Davis identifies many issues that still are outstanding and will generate water cooler fodder for weeks to come.
- Pending free agency wave: Pro Bowl RB Dalvin Cook1 and WR DeAndre Hopkins recently became available. Pass rushers Jadeveon Clowney and Yannick Ngakoue, running backs Ezekiel Elliott and Leonard Fournette, and kicker Robbie Gould are other prominent veteran players sill seeking contracts for the 2023 season.
- Pending contract issues: Franchise QBs Joe Burrow and Justin Herbert, franchise-tagged RBs Saquon Barkley and Josh Jacobs and All-Pro DTs Chris Jones and Quinnen Williams are among the most high-profile players at the head of the line for hefty extensions.
- Quarterback battles: A few QB1 roles could be up for grabs well into preseason2.
- Biggest free agency infusion beneficiaries: This year’s silly season wasn’t overly memorable, but a few clubs appear decidedly improved.
- Biggest draft infusion beneficiaries: There are perceived winners and losers in the aftermath of every NFL draft, and it’s natural to juice the hope quotient of teams with multiple bites at the first-round apple.
- Teams in trouble: For every 13-win team, there’s basically another squad that posts four victories – such is life in the zero-sum NFL.
- New coaches: Five teams that made coaching changes in 2022 (Buccaneers, Dolphins, Giants, Jaguars and Vikings) wound up in the playoffs. That gives hope to such teams as the Broncos, Colts, Texans, Panthers and Cardinals3.
- Hope for the downtrodden: Could this be the year that teams such as the Browns, Lions, Jaguars and Jets rise to prominence?
➤ PHOTOS: NFL offseason workouts
More from around the NFL
- Patrick Mahomes fires back at rival star with Super Bowl ring jab
- Former NFL MVP re-energized by drastic shift in scheme
- NFL's new kickoff return rule not scaring off special teams standout
- Packers taking a calculated gamble on David Bakhtiari's knee
- Mark your calendars! NFL to bring back supplemental draft in July4
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1 Where might Dalvin Cook land? Glad you asked! Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz has six possible destinations.
2 Except for in Carolina, where the Panthers have elevated rookie Bryce Young to QB1.
3 Three of those teams with new head coaches ― the Texans, Colts and Cardinals ― are the lowest-rated teams in Nate Davis' post-draft power rankings.
4 The last time the NFL held the supplemental draft was in 2019. The Cardinals selected Washington State safety Jalen Thompson in the fifth round. Thompson has started 42 games for Arizona, including all 17 last season.