May is graduation season, a perfect time to hand out accolades to NFL teams. With organizations having signed all the free agents they desired and feeling fortunate that the best players on their lists have arrived in each round of April’s draft, there are 32 teams feeling optimistic about the situation of their rosters heading into training camps later this summer. It’s easy for them to be optimistic at this moment.
What stood out in the way each franchise handled the offseason? How did the teams fill the weak spots in their lineups? What was notable about the decisions they made (or didn’t make)? And what does all that tell us about their performance in 2025?
I am handing out recognitions and analyzing what I found interesting about the offseason of each AFC team. Next week I will address the NFC. Let’s start with the AFC East, where one of the best-managed franchises in the league seems to have learned from a rare misstep.
AFC East
Buffalo Bills
The recognition: Higher probability of staying the course
Three years ago, general manager Brandon Beane responded to a painful playoff defeat against the Chiefs by doing something unusual: betting big. After years of using free agency to sign solid veterans around their young core, he gave Von Miller a six-year, $120 million contract, with three seasons almost fully guaranteed. The hope was that signing the former All-Pro defensive end would be enough for the Bills to overcome the obstacle, but Miller was limited by injuries and an off-field suspension, and only had 14 sacks in three seasons. The move didn’t work.
With the Bills cutting Miller this offseason after another painful loss to Kansas City, all eyes were on what Beane would do next. Would he make another play to get the player who could make the difference and turn the tide of a close game against the Chiefs?
No. While the Bills spent a lot of money this offseason, it was used to secure the top players from their 2021 and 2022 draft classes. Cornerback Christian Benford, linebacker Terrel Bernard, defensive end Greg Rousseau, and wide receiver Khalil Shakir signed extensions, and their four contracts total more than $61 million per year on average. Linebacker Matt Milano accepted a pay cut to return for another season after two injury-plagued campaigns. To top it off, Josh Allen signed a new six-year, $330 million contract, with Beane convincing his star quarterback to leave millions of dollars per year on the table in exchange for the security of $250 million in practical guarantees.
Instead, Buffalo has stuck to its strategy of targeting mid-level players in free agency. It signed defensive end Michael Hoecht from the Rams and imported AFC North veteran defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi for about $7 million each. Wide receiver Joshua Palmer joined from the Chargers on a three-year, $29 million contract. The Bills’ biggest gamble was on another former Chargers player, injury-prone defensive end Joey Bosa; however, unlike the Miller signing, they are only obligated for one year and $12.6 million.
Should the Bills have taken a bigger swing? Beane probably played this correctly. It’s tempting to look at the Eagles and their impressive 2024 free agency class as proof he should have been more aggressive, but keep in mind that Howie Roseman’s most successful signings last year were in the mid-market. Running back Saquon Barkley’s contract ranked 20th in average value, while linebacker Zack Baun’s one-year deal was for just $3.5 million. The biggest move Roseman made was a three-year, $51.1 million contract for defensive end Bryce Huff, a rare Philadelphia move that didn’t work out.
After their mistake with Miller, the Bills seem like they will stay on their path of building a roster in the future.
Miami Dolphins
The recognition: Less likely to find a solution to your most pressing problem
The Dolphins are facing a stalemate with veteran cornerback Jalen Ramsey, and they have no one to blame but themselves. When they traded a third-round pick and tight end Hunter Long to the Rams for Ramsey in the spring of 2023, they signed Ramsey to a new contract with two years of guarantees. That money would have run out after the 2024 season, but Miami extended it with a three-year, $72 million contract right before Week 1 last year, essentially adding an additional $25 million in guarantees to his contract for the 2025 campaign.
Well, the Dolphins and Ramsey seem to want another team to be responsible for those guarantees. In mid-April, long after teams had spent most of their offseason budget for new player additions, the two sides mutually decided they should part ways. The deadline for that split won’t arrive until Week 1, when Ramsey’s $19 million option bonus comes due. Miami already paid him a $4 million bonus in March, so a new team would be on the hook for $21 million in 2025.
General Manager Chris Grier has yet to find a buyer, and that’s not surprising. The league has shown itself extremely reluctant to pay 30-year-old defensive players recently, which is why there was no further market for Ramsey’s services when the Rams traded him two years ago. He also suffered meniscus injuries in both 2016 and 2023, and each of them was repaired via trimming.
Ramsey helped the Dolphins’ defense surge toward the top of the league when he returned from that knee issue in 2023, but he wasn’t as effective in 2024. Receivers had more success in isolation against him, most notably when Jets wide receiver Garrett Wilson repeatedly left Ramsey in his wake in a December game. New defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver used Ramsey more frequently as a blitzer, and while he was effective at pressuring quarterbacks, Miami acquired him to be a shutdown cornerback.
Even if the Dolphins were willing to get rid of Ramsey for just a seventh-round pick to save salary, there won’t be many teams that have $21 million in their budget to work with at this point in the offseason. There’s also another cornerback at the same price who potentially remains on the market in Jaire Alexander, whose trade rumors haven’t produced anything resembling a deal.
Ramsey remains a good player, but unless he’s willing to forfeit a significant amount of guaranteed money or the Dolphins are willing to eat some of what he’s owed, it’s hard to find a way for this to end amicably for everyone involved. And given that this is the same cornerback who once showed up to training camp in an armored truck while seeking a new contract from the Jaguars, it would be surprising if he didn’t make his frustrations public in the coming months.
New England Patriots
The recognition: Higher probability of needing labels with names in the training field
Last offseason, the Patriots seemed hesitant to use free agency to address the holes on their roster. The highest average annual salary they gave to players who hadn’t been part of the organization in the past were the one-year, $4 million contracts they gave to wide receiver K.J. Osborn and left tackle Chukwuma Okorafor, the latter of whom left the team after being relegated in the first game. While quarterback Drake Maye and cornerback Christian Gonzalez were impressive in difficult circumstances, New England simply didn’t have enough talent in 2024.
Well, no one can accuse the Pats of resting on their laurels this offseason. They could have as many as 11 new starters in Week 1, most of whom were veteran free agent additions. General manager Eliot Wolf brought in six players who will earn at least $8 million per year in average salary, including two of the team’s four largest average salaries: defensive tackle Milton Williams ($26 million) and wide receiver Stefon Diggs ($21.17 million). Spending in free agency isn’t proof of a successful strategy, but New England needed the influx of talent.
While, understandably, the focus has been on the additions of Diggs and rookies Will Campbell (OT), TreVeyon Henderson (RB), and Kyle Williams (WR) to help Maye, I am more intrigued by what the Patriots did on defense. While the offense was almost impossible to watch at times last season, the defensive collapse may have cost coach Jerod Mayo his job. A defense that ranked first in the league in expected points added (EPA) per play during the second half of 2023 (without Gonzalez or defensive end Matthew Judon in the lineup) fell to 30th. The Patriots couldn’t pressure quarterbacks and made too many coverage mistakes.
Unlike the offense, the Pats focused their defensive efforts on adding players who could make an immediate difference. In addition to paying a premium to sign Williams, Wolf signed veterans such as cornerback Carlton Davis III, defensive end Harold Landry III, and linebacker Robert Spillane, who will start immediately in the hope of quickly changing the defense.
This is where new coach Mike Vrabel needs to make a difference. His Tennessee teams had a habit of getting more out of veterans than their previous employers did. While quarterback Ryan Tannehill was the most notable example, that list included defensive linemen Denico Autry and Mario Edwards Jr., and even cornerback Logan Ryan, one of the few defenders who left Bill Belichick and the Patriots and improved. If Vrabel can get his veterans to play at a high level and the defense straightens out quickly, the Patriots will have a foundation to build on this season.
New York Jets
The recognition: Higher probability of making a bulk purchase at the end of summer
The high point of the Joe Douglas era came during the 2022 draft. With additional picks from the Jamal Adams and Sam Darnold trades, the then-general manager easily assembled his best draft. A new young core excited the Jets enough to trade for quarterback Aaron Rodgers the following spring, and well, you know the rest.
Now, new general manager Darren Mougey is the one who will pay the bill for Douglas’s star players. The 2022 class became eligible for extensions this offseason, and although the franchise was focusing on rebuilding its post-Rodgers offense in March and April, the time has come to make decisions regarding the four players who were going to be the pillars of the next great “Gang Green” team. None of them have taken a clear path to Year 4.
Sauce Gardner was the immediate superstar and a legitimate candidate as the league’s best cornerback as a rookie. But like many Jets defenders, he didn’t look like himself after coach Robert Saleh was fired last October. Tackling has been a consistent problem, and his passer rating allowed has risen from 62.7 as a rookie to 86.9 in 2024. Gardner is a very good player, but the Jets may not be as excited to make him the league’s highest-paid cornerback as they had hoped.
Wide receiver Garrett Wilson has already caught passes from eight different quarterbacks during his first three seasons, a list that includes journeymen Trevor Siemian, Tim Boyle, and Chris Streveler. He has made them collectively look better than they are, making impossible catches on poorly thrown passes, most memorably when he deflected a Zach Wilson pass to himself for a touchdown against the Bills in 2023. The inconsistent quarterback play has left him in the 1100-yard range through his first three seasons. Though there were teams that inquired about a possible trade for him last fall, one of Mougey’s top priorities should be to sign Wilson to a new contract, which will likely cost upwards of $30 million per season.
Defensive end Jermaine Johnson appeared poised to break out in 2023, when a 7.5-sack, 16-tackle season earned him a Pro Bowl nomination, only for an Achilles injury to end his 2024 campaign after two weeks. His first-round mate Will McDonald IV broke out in Johnson’s absence. With Haason Reddick’s infamous tenure with the Jets ending after one season, Johnson should return to the starting lineup, but it would make sense for both sides to wait and see how Johnson recovers from his injury before deciding on a new contract.
The situation of running back Breece Hall, who looked like an instant-impact runner as a rookie before tearing his ACL, is the most tenuous. He marked his return to the Jets with an 83-yard run in the aforementioned 2023 victory over the Bills, but he has been a high-risk runner since the injury. His 33.8% success rate over the past two seasons ranks second-to-last in the league among running backs with 200 or more carries in that span, ahead of only Javonte Williams. He has also lost a league-high eight fumbles over the past two seasons, including six in 2024.
Although the three first-round selections from 2022 are under contract through 2026 after their fifth-year options were exercised, Hall is in the final year of his contract. The Jets did not make any major additions to their running back group, meaning he will compete with Braelon Allen and Isaiah Davis for carries alongside new quarterback Justin Fields. An improved offensive line and the presence of Fields could help create bigger holes for Hall, but does this regime still view Hall as a cornerstone?
AFC North
Baltimore Ravens
The recognition: Higher probability of signing a free agent after June 1st
Every team values compensatory draft picks, but few teams invest in the process as much as the Ravens. With a steady flow of talented draftees passing through the organization, general manager Eric DeCosta has felt comfortable letting players walk in free agency while using the draft and post-June 1 market to supplement his roster. After June 1, free agent additions no longer affect the compensatory pick formula, allowing DeCosta & Co. to secure their picks for the upcoming draft.
With the Ravens currently projected to add two fifth-round picks and one seventh-round pick in the 2026 draft, it’s not surprising that they have been relatively quiet in free agency. The only player they have signed that affects the compensatory formula is wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins, who received a one-year contract for $5 million. Cornerback Chidobe Awuzie, quarterback Cooper Rush, and offensive tackle Joe Noteboom do not earn enough to reach the compensatory pick threshold and/or were released by their previous team, preventing them from canceling picks.
