The NFL’s offseason hasn’t concluded. There are still four months until the start of the 2025 regular season. There are notable free agents available and significant trades can still be finalized.
However, the major player acquisitions have already happened. Free agency and the draft are where most of the significant moves occur, and once they’re over, fans begin to get impatient for the questions that their teams’ rosters still need to answer.
Therefore, we will analyze 10 of those unanswered questions. This is for the teams whose fan bases might be thinking, “Yes, those moves were great, but what are we doing with _____?” Here, we will try to answer your questions about what your team didn’t do this offseason, and why.
Why didn’t the Falcons get rid of Kirk Cousins?
With Atlanta set to start Michael Penix Jr. at quarterback this season, Cousins surely would have enjoyed the opportunity to become a free agent and find a team that offered him a starting opportunity. But the Falcons didn’t release Cousins before free agency, even allowing a $10 million bonus from 2026 on his contract to become guaranteed when he was still on their roster five days after the start of the new league year. They also didn’t trade him before or during the draft.
From now on, Cousins is scheduled to earn $27.5 million in fully guaranteed salary this season as Penix’s backup. And any team that acquires him at this moment would have to pay him that money, plus the $10 million bonus next spring.
So, why didn’t the Falcons cut their losses? Stubbornness probably had something to do with it. They signed Cousins for $100 million in guaranteed money 14 months ago, and the team’s ownership wasn’t thrilled about the idea of releasing him after shelling out all that money for 14 not-so-good games in 2024. And when it came time to discuss a trade, the Falcons were asking interested teams to pay a significant portion of the remaining $37.5 million in guaranteed money. That meant those teams weren’t offering the Falcons a return that Atlanta considered valuable.
So, at this point, the Falcons maintain they are comfortable with Cousins as a backup for $27.5 million. Sure, his cap number is $40 million, but Penix’s is only $5.2 million. If you add those two figures, it’s not a ridiculous amount to allocate to the most important position. Cousins could still be traded before the season. If Aaron Rodgers decides he doesn’t want to play for the Steelers, Pittsburgh could be interested. If another team’s starter gets injured in minicamp or training camp, a new market could emerge.
But, given the way the offseason has gone, it’s probably time we take the Falcons at their word when they say they’re fine with Cousins as a backup in 2025.
Why didn’t the Cowboys do more at the running back position?
Only five teams ran for fewer yards in 2024 than Dallas (1,705), and the team’s six rushing touchdowns ranked last in the league. The retirement of standout interior offensive lineman Zack Martin is not likely to help the Cowboys improve their running game. They also let last season’s leading rusher, Rico Dowdle, walk in free agency when they surely could have topped the one-year, $2.75 million deal he got from Carolina.
Dallas did sign a couple of reclamation projects in free agency in former Eagles/Panthers running back Miles Sanders and former Broncos running back Javonte Williams. Then they selected Jaydon Blue from Texas in the fifth round and Phil Mafah from Clemson in the seventh. So you can’t say the Cowboys didn’t do anything at the position.
The answer to the question really has to do with Dallas’ current stance on the value of the running back relative to other positions on the roster. The Cowboys are paying Dak Prescott more than any other quarterback in the NFL. CeeDee Lamb makes more than all but two other receivers. And Dallas is likely about to pay edge rusher Micah Parsons more than any other defensive player. The front office has to find ways to cut costs on the salary cap.
Over the past two years, the Cowboys have made it clear that they intend to find bargains at the running back position. Dowdle’s journey from the middle of the depth chart to a 1,000-yard rushing season in 2024 supports their idea that they can find production at RB without spending much. Williams got one year and $3 million, while Sanders got one year and $1.34 million. Sanders was a Pro Bowler who rushed for 1,269 yards with the Eagles in 2022, while Williams was an explosive tackle-breaker before tearing his ACL in October of that 2022 season. Williams is also only 25 years old.
Stephen A. Smith explains why the George Pickens trade doesn’t elevate the Cowboys in the NFC East.
Especially given the prices they paid, the Cowboys believe these are exactly the kind of opportunities they should be taking in the position, and that one of Williams, Sanders, Blue, and Mafah will emerge in the same way Dowdle did last season. So I wouldn’t necessarily get my hopes up about the possibility of Dallas signing Nick Chubb or J.K. Dobbins. Never say never, but in talking to sources familiar with this situation, I don’t get the sense that the Cowboys are desperate to add to their RB group.
Why didn’t the Bengals extend Trey Hendrickson?
As with many of these cases, it’s important to note that they could still get something done. The Bengals have been working to find common ground with last season’s NFL sack leader (17.5) on a contract extension this offseason. But unlike receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, who secured big extensions in March, Hendrickson is still waiting for a deal.
Bengals executive vice president Katie Blackburn told reporters at the owners’ meetings in March that Hendrickson “should be happy with certain rates that he may not think would make him happy,” which certainly indicates that the team and the player have yet to agree on his value. Hendrickson called the comments “a little disappointing.” He went public with his frustrations again this week, telling ESPN’s Adam Schefter that there has been no communication from the team about this since before the draft.
Historically, the Bengals have refused to include guarantees for future years in veteran contracts. Ironically, this is the main reason Hendrickson became a Bengal in the first place. During free agency in 2021, Cincinnati tried to bring back edge rusher Carl Lawson, but he went to the Jets because they guaranteed the money in the second year. Instead, Cincinnati signed Hendrickson because he was agreeable to the structure of his contract.
The Bengals’ long-standing rule was not to guarantee money beyond the first year, specifically, the signing bonus. They broke this rule for quarterback Joe Burrow a couple of years ago and broke it again this year for Chase and Higgins. I don’t know for sure if guarantees for future years are the obstacle in the Hendrickson deal, but it’s a fair assumption based on what I’ve heard from sources.
And if you’re wondering why it would be an obstacle for Hendrickson when it wasn’t for Burrow, Chase, and Higgins, the answer is age. Burrow, Chase, and Higgins were 26 years old at the time of their contract extensions. Hendrickson is 30 years old. For a team that absolutely hates guaranteeing money in future years, it’s much easier to deviate from those principles if those years are the player’s 27 and 28-year-old seasons, rather than his 31 and 32-year-old seasons.
There’s still a good chance Hendrickson ends up on the Bengals’ roster in 2025. But it’s been ugly getting there so far, and it feels like there’s a good chance this could end in a training camp holdout. He said Tuesday he won’t play for the Bengals this season under his current contract, so something has to give.
Dan Graziano reports on the latest of the contract saga between Trey Hendrickson and the Bengals.
Why didn’t the Steelers take the quarterback position more seriously?
The Steelers let go of the two quarterbacks who started games for them last season, Russell Wilson and Justin Fields, as free agents for non-outrageous money. They brought back Mason Rudolph, who started 13 games for them in five seasons from 2019 to ’23. They also signed former Dolphins backup Skylar Thompson and selected Will Howard from Ohio State in the sixth round.
General manager Omar Khan has made it clear that the Steelers intend to go to camp with their usual four quarterbacks, which means there’s an open spot. The Steelers have had conversations with Aaron Rodgers, but, as of now, they are still waiting for him to decide if he wants to play, let alone for them. The investment Pittsburgh made in receiver DK Metcalf, trading a second-round pick to the Seahawks and then signing him to a four-year, $132 million contract extension, has justifiably led many to wonder why the Steelers didn’t attack the quarterback position more forcefully in free agency or the draft.
But when talking to sources about this situation, I don’t get the sense that the Steelers are as concerned about their quarterback room as everyone else is. First, they remain optimistic that Rodgers will sign and be their starter, and that he will play better than he played last season for the Jets now that he is a year removed from his 2023 Achilles injury. Second, they like Rudolph and have recent memories of him saving their 2023 season and getting them to the playoffs when 2022 first-round pick Kenny Pickett struggled.
Entering the draft, the Steelers believed they needed to find their long-term answer at quarterback in one of the next two drafts, not necessarily this one. And like many other teams, they believe the 2026 class will have more to offer at the position than the 2025 class. So they didn’t want to force a first-round pick and find themselves in a similar position to the one the Pickett selection put them in.
It’s an interesting strategy in a league where teams tend to trip over themselves to overspend and over-secure at the position (hello, Falcons!). But if the Steelers believe in their defense and their running game, they don’t think they need superstar production from the quarterback position to succeed in 2025. It’s better to wait and get the right guy than to panic and end up with the wrong one.
Why didn’t the Bills add a star receiver?
Buffalo has had, in the opinion of most people I talk to in the league, an excellent offseason. It focused on getting several of its key players, such as Khalil Shakir, Terrel Bernard, Christian Benford, and Greg Rousseau, to sign long-term extensions. It added veterans Joey Bosa and Larry Ogunjobi to complement the defensive line. It used its first-round pick on Kentucky cornerback speedster Maxwell Hairston and spent the next three rounds stacking defensive linemen. The Bills are five-time AFC East defending champions coming off a 13-win season and an AFC Championship appearance, so it’s hard to argue they needed to do much.
However, after trading Stefon Diggs this past offseason and getting very little from the Amari Cooper acquisition at the 2024 deadline, the Bills’ unwillingness to play big in the receiver market continues to confuse fans who want a major playmaker for quarterback Josh Allen. Free agent signings like Joshua Palmer, Elijah Moore, and Laviska Shenault Jr. offer veteran stability and potential, but none have star power in a league where the big-play pass is carrying the day.
However, there are several teams in the NFL that believe the receiver market has grown too much, above $30 million per year for the best, and don’t want to follow it there. The Bills, as indicated by the Diggs trade from last offseason, are one of those teams. The amount of talented receivers entering the draft each year means that teams can now find good production with cheap rookie deals.
The Bills would point out that they used the No. 33 overall pick in last year’s draft on Keon Coleman, a player they expect to make a second-year leap in 2025. Shakir, for his part, caught 76 passes for 821 yards and four touchdowns last season and just turned 25. They also expect to get more from 2023 first-round tight end Dalton Kincaid, and they like to throw to their running backs. Buffalo finished second in the NFL in points per game last season (30.9) without a star receiver, and as general manager Brandon Beane noted in a post-draft radio appearance, that should offer fans some comfort and confidence that the team knows what it’s doing.
Why didn’t the Lions bring in a pass rusher to pair with Aidan Hutchinson?
One of the best teams from last season somehow only managed 37 sacks (tied for 23rd). Even worse, 20% of the Lions’ sacks came from Hutchinson (7.5), who was injured in the fifth game and didn’t play again. There’s a fairly universal recognition that, even once he’s healthy from a broken leg, Hutchinson will need some help if the Lions want to field a pass rush worthy of a 15-2 team with Super Bowl aspirations.
They still have Marcus Davenport, who tore a triceps muscle in Week 3 and missed the rest of the season, opposite Hutchinson, but largely stayed away from the position in free agency. And with players like Nic Scourton and Donovan Ezeiruaku still on the board at No. 28, the Lions selected defensive tackle Tyleik Williams with their first-round pick in the draft. Their only edge rusher selection came in Round 6 with Ahmed Hassanein.
With Hutchinson and many other Lions stars soon to have contract extensions, Lions general manager Brad Holmes has signaled that big free agency spending at premium positions will be difficult for Detroit. The free agent edge rusher market wasn’t great either. The biggest contracts went to players like Josh Sweat, Chase Young, and Harold Landry III. One-year prove-it deals went to players like Haason Reddick, Joey Bosa, and Leonard Floyd. Could (or should) the Lions have tried to outbid teams for those defenders? Maybe. But then again, they have to think about using their cap dollars to keep their excellent core together over the next two offseasons.
Holmes also said the team tried to move up in the first round for a wide receiver, but couldn’t. And when it came time for the Lions to pick, they went with the best player on their board, as they always do when they don’t trade. If a team’s biggest current problem is trying to figure out how to pay all the excellent players it has drafted over the last four or five years, it probably deserves the benefit of the doubt when it comes to the draft.
Why didn’t the Rams try to address their future at the quarterback position?
This offseason began with the real possibility of the Rams losing quarterback Matthew Stafford due to a contract dispute. Stafford ultimately decided to stay in Los Angeles, but he is 37 years old, and his status appears to be year-to-year. The Rams brought back Jimmy Garoppolo as their veteran backup, and they still have 2023 fourth-round pick Stetson Bennett. But in a situation where they could need a Stafford replacement as early as 2026, they appear to be operating without a net at the most important position.
So, why not select one? Well, I mentioned this with the Steelers before, but teams didn’t think very highly of this year’s draft crop of quarterbacks. Forcing a selection on a quarterback of the future that you don’t feel good about isn’t the best path for a defending division champion that sees itself as a Super Bowl contender.
And remember, the Rams obtained an extra first-round pick from 2026 as a result of their draft night trade with the Falcons. Therefore, if next year’s draft quarterback group is, as most teams seem to expect, better and deeper than this year’s, the Rams have the resources they might need to maneuver in the early rounds and address this situation in 2026.
Why didn’t the Bears add a renowned running back?
When Chicago hired former Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson as their new coach, many people began to fantasize about him replicating Detroit’s running game with his new team. The Lions have been crushing their opponents in recent seasons with a one-two punch of running backs David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs. And after the Bears beefed up the interior of their offensive line in free agency, mock drafts strained to find a way to bring Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty to Chicago to form a similar thunder-and-lightning duo with D’Andre Swift.
By choosing at number 10, the Bears couldn’t get Jeanty; he went to the Raiders at number 6. When it was time for the Bears to pick, they selected a different offensive skill player in Michigan tight end Colston Loveland. In fact, they didn’t select a running back until the seventh round (Kyle Monangai from Rutgers), nor did they add to their running back room in free agency. At this point, the Bears appear to be running it back with Swift, Roschon Johnson, Travis Homer, and a seventh-round rookie, even after Chicago’s 4.0 yards per carry tied for the third-worst in the NFL last season.
Last year’s free agent running back class was unique, featuring Saquon Barkley and Josh Jacobs. Teams acted on that by signing running backs to larger contracts than they had been getting in recent years. It was a value proposition. The deals still weren’t massive compared to other positions, and the level of talent dictated that it was worth stretching a bit to get one of these guys.
