Post-free agency 2021 NFL Power Rankings: Browns on rise, Raiders cratering

After winning the Super Bowl following the 2019 season, the Kansas City Chiefs were trying to defend their title this season and came close to winning it all. They fell just short as the Bucs knocked them off in the Super Bowl, but this team is still one of the best in the business.

Patrick Mahomes is still the best quarterback in the game and they’ll be returning the majority of their key players in 2021 as they look to get back on top of the league.

Kansas City should have no problem being the favored team in the AFC but they still come in at No. 2 simply because the reigning champions had the better free agency period than they did.

Usually, when a team wins the Super Bowl, they lose many of their starters as players want to cash in. That didn’t happen with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers who will be bringing back all their free-agent starters from Chris Godwin to Rob Gronkowski to Shaq Barrett. They even retained Ndamukong Suh, which keeps all their starters intact.

The players in Tampa Bay have it figured out. Rather than maximizing every dollar in free agency, they have seen the value in taking a fair deal so the team can stay together and that will pay off in the end as they should continue to win.

Tom Brady clearly got this started as he has always been willing to re-work his deal to make sure his team can stick together. It paid off in New England and should pay off here as well.