The league saw a lot of action during free agency and now we look at how that impacts the upcoming season with our post-ree agency 2021 NFL Power Rankings
The offseason is always full of hope as teams in the NFL go out to try and fill the holes on their roster. There will always be some players who get overpaid as well as a good mix of incredible finds as a team lands a talented player who just needed a change of scenery.
Whatever side of the spectrum your team lands on, every franchise is changed during the free agency period.
Here, we look at the league after the biggest moves have been completed with our post-free agency 2021 NFL Power Rankings — and it’s probably not hard to guess which team comes in at No. 32.
No team has had more negative press over the past couple of seasons than the Houston Texans. Former head coach Bill O’Brien effectively ran off every important player before being fired and then the front office decided to alienate their biggest remaining star — Deshaun Watson.
Of course, now Watson is in the news for a whole different reason. Even without the legal allegations circling around, Houston was a mess. This team made one of the more questionable offseason hires — hiring David Culley who was the passing game coordinator in Baltimore where they struggled to pass.
They also lost J.J. Watt, which was a huge leader of their defense. Don’t be surprised to see this team in the mix for the No. 1 overall pick in 2022.
Last season, the Detroit Lions weren’t great. This year, it probably won’t be much better.
Detroit traded away Matt Stafford and will now have Jared Goff as their starter under center. Goff has been taking a lot of heat and is better than he’s getting credit for — but he is a downgrade from Stafford.
On top of that, Detroit lost Kenny Golladay and Marvin Jones while replacing them with Tyrell Williams and Breshad Perriman. Simply put, there are no areas where they improved. And this is all without even considering that their new head coach, Dan Campbell, wants them to bite knee caps. This could be an interesting season in Detroit, but it won’t be a good one.
Owners of the No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, the Jacksonville Jaguars have the ability to finally turn their franchise around by selecting Trevor Lawrence. While adding him will give them some hope, there are still a lot of questions surrounding this team.
The biggest is whether or not they made the right call with Urban Meyer. The former Ohio State head coach has won everywhere he has been but he’s never been in the NFL. It’s going to be a huge test for him and while the Jags did add Marvin Jones and Shaquill Griffin in free agency, the roster still doesn’t strike fear into anyone.
This offseason has been full of head-scratching moves from the Las Vegas Raiders who are about to enter year four of their second Jon Gruden era. Gruden, who has been working with general manager Mike Mayock since 2018 had the Raiders at 8-8 last season which marked their first non-losing season since they came on board.
Since that campaign ended, they have been making some weird moves which included completely destroying their offensive line — which was really the strength of their offense. As if that wasn’t confusing enough, Vegas signed Kenyan Drake to a sizable contract despite having Josh Jacobs on their roster.
They did add Yannick Ngakoue in free agency but that’s also more of a reminder that they might have whiffed on Clelin Ferrell as their top pass rusher. The seats in Las Vegas are about to get real hot.
The Philadelphia Eagles made a solid move when they dropped to No. 12 in the 2021 NFL Draft in a trade with the Miami Dolphins. Sure, they lose six spots in the draft but they gained another first-round pick in 2022 and will also have a shot at a third one if the conditions of the Carson Wentz trade are met.
However, they also may have upset their new starting quarterback as reports surfaced that Philly only decided to move back once they realized they weren’t going to be able to move up to No. 3 in order to get a quarterback to replace Jalen Hurts.
Philly also stayed very inactive in free agency so they now have a quarterback with who they may have damaged their relationship with and a bad supporting cast. This sounds so familiar.
Losing Carl Lawson and replacing him with Trey Hendrickson wasn’t great. Neither was losing William Jackson and replacing him with Chidobe Awuzie.
Sure, both players are fine but their predecessors were better which means the Cincinnati Bengals hopes of improving in 2021 will rest squarely on the shoulders of Joe Burrow — or should we say on the knee.
The No. 1 overall pick from 2020 suffered a serious knee injury during his rookie campaign but before he went down, it was obvious he was the real thing. As long as he’s healthy, they should improve but we need to see that first.
After losing Curtis Samuel, the Carolina Panthers passing attack looks a lot less frightening. They also need to improve their running back depth after losing Mike Davis in free agency. On top of that, the San Francisco 49ers moving up in the draft could mean they need to stick with Teddy Bridgewater as the starting quarterback for at least one more season.
On defense, they added Haason Reddick and Denzel Perryman in the offseason to revamp their linebacking corps. Having said that, they don’t appear to be drastically better than they were in 2020.
Somehow the Chicago Bears made the postseason in 2020 despite their inability to decide between Mitch Trubisky and Nick Foles — and the rollercoaster of win and loss streaks. They finally decided to make a call on their quarterback, going with Andy Dalton as the starter next season.
Dalton has had plenty of success in the NFL but he didn’t get it done with the Cowboys last season, a team that had more weapons than the Bears do. You could also say that the offensive line in Dallas was a mess due to injuries so 2020 wasn’t a fair assessment of Dalton.
What you can’t say, is that this offense is going to keep any defensive coordinators up at night trying to figure out a game plan.
Adding Kyle Fuller was the best move this offseason for the Denver Broncos as they look to improve their defense — which has long been the strength of their team. They did go all-in on trying to improve the offense last year but the results weren’t there. The main reason could be Drew Lock, who simply hasn’t taken the next step as an NFL quarterback.
Until that happens, the Broncos are going to continue to struggle. Especially in the AFC West which has the Kansas City Chiefs and a quickly improving Los Angeles Chargers franchise in it.
Robert Saleh was arguably the most impressive head coach signing of the offseason. Not only does he have an impressive resume as the defensive coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers, but he also seems to be a coach that players actually respect — which is a huge change from what they had with Adam Gase running the show.
The question will be what they do with the No. 2 pick. There’s a growing belief they will go for Zach Wilson and while he’s talented, it’s hard not to wonder if he should be ahead of Justin Fields.
As for their moves in free agency, New York landed Corey Davis to improve their receiving corps, Sheldon Richardson, Jarrad Davis, and Carl Lawson to improve their front seven and kept Marcus Maye in the secondary. This has been a good offseason for the Jets, but we still need to see it all come together before getting too excited.
After adding head coach Arthur Smith this offseason, the Atlanta Falcons were faced with questions about their roster — specifically, the veterans. Matt Ryan and Julio Jones are clearly on the back nine of their careers but they could still bring some value in a trade.
So far, Atlanta seems unwilling to make a trade so this season could be more of the same — which will mean they’re good enough to compete but not deep enough to get it done. They also got worse on defense with both starting safeties joining former head coach Dan Quinn in Dallas.
There’s a lot of change needed for the Dirty Birds and so far, they’re expecting most of that to come by way of their new coach.
This offseason, the Minnesota Vikings admitted their error in signing Riley Reiff, who is no longer going to be their left tackle. However, they don’t really have a great replacement on the roster, meaning they will likely be in the market for one in the upcoming draft — unless they feel like Ezra Cleveland can make the move.
As for their free agency moves, they landed defensive tackle Dalvin Tomlinson and signed Xavier Woods to play safety. They really haven’t done much to improve their roster, and that isn’t ideal considering how much they struggled in 2020.
This offseason has been pretty good for the New York Giants. They lost Dalvin Tomlinson but were able to keep Leonard Williams so the defensive line will remain competitive. They also added Adoreé Jackson to the secondary, which was an underrated move.
As for the offense, they got much better. New York signed Kenny Golladay, John Ross, andKyle Rudolph. All three of those players fill needs for them, with Golladay serving as the most important piece of the puzzle in terms of building their offense.
The Giants were 6-10 last year and still nearly won the NFC East. They were also improving down the stretch and not only will they have the new starters on offense but Saquon Barkley will return as well — meaning they could be a team to watch in 2021.
Justin Herbert had a season to remember for the Los Angeles Chargers in 2020. Herbert threw for an NFL rookie record 31 touchdown passes and 4,336 yards. As a starter, he was 6-9 and should be even better this season.
The issue with the Chargers is that they haven’t done much to improve around Herbert. They added Jared Cook but he simply is a stop-gap to help replace Hunter Henry and their offensive line still needs plenty of work. They’re improving, but there’s still room to grow.
There seem to be several pundits out there ecstatic about the moves made by the New England Patriots this offseason — but it’s not very easy to see why. Yes, they made a lot of moves but they weren’t exactly great moves. Jonnu Smith and Hunter Henry were both good additions but considering they were both given top-dollar at the tight end position, it’s a bit baffling.
New England also overpaid for Nelson Agholor and Kendrick Bourne feels like more of the same in their receiving corps. Throw in the loss of Joe Thuney and the offense doesn’t look nearly as good — especially after re-signing Cam Newton who really wasn’t a fit in the team’s offense.
On defense, they added a lot of talent but a great defense might not be enough to get it done. And if we are being honest, the additions don’t really scream “great” defense.
The most underrated move of the 2021 offseason was signing Ryan Fitzpatrick. Okay, that might be a bit much but the man is a wizard and might be one of the most enjoyable quarterbacks to watch in the league. Now, he gets a chance to start again and the Washington Football Team also added Curtis Samuel, meaning their offense could look much better in 2021.
If it can come anywhere close to matching the high-caliber defense in Washington, the Football Team could be a tough out for anyone.
With Drew Brees heading off into the sunset, things will be different for the New Orleans Saints. It’s also really confusing what their plan is without him. They gave Taysom Hill a weird contract that is apparently completely voidable which makes less sense than the fact that they signed Jameis Winston right after giving Hill a deal that made him look like the starter.
For a team that’s always in cap hell, this felt like the perfect year to let Hill see what he could do while eating as much of the dead cap space as they could. Instead, they created more and released many of their starters.
This will be the biggest test ever for Sean Payton and while he’s one of the greatest coaches ever, this feels like it’s going to be a rough year in New Orleans.
2020 was a good season for the Tennessee Titans but they now have to figure out how to replace Corey Davis following a breakout campaign. They also lost offensive coordinator Arthur Smith who will be the head coach for the Atlanta Falcons.
With him gone, there will be questions about whether or not Ryan Tannehill will continue to shine. They also have to get their secondary figured out after moving on from Adoreé Jackson and Malcolm Butler. All their moves were understandable but they don’t make them better in 2021.
This offseason, the Indianapolis Colts said goodbye to Philip Rivers as he elected to retire. In his place will be Carson Wentz who was added in a trade with the Philadelphia Eagles. Wentz struggled down the stretch in Philly but was an MVP-caliber player for them in 2017 when he worked with Frank Reich — who will now be his head coach in Indy.
Whether or not the Colts are going to contend in the AFC South this season will depend mainly on what Wentz can do in this offense. Chances are, the change of scenery and reunion with Reich will be enough for them to be in the mix when the playoffs approach.
There are plenty of people drinking the Arizona Cardinals Kool-Aid. Following an 8-8 campaign in 2020, they went out and signed J.J. Watt and A.J. Green which would have been fantastic additions roughly five or six years ago. Sure, both could be solid contributors in 2021 but neither player will deliver production close to what their name recognition offers.
What will likely happen is both will come out of the gates hot but fizzle as the season goes on — which isn’t a knock on them, just what happens with players who are approaching the end of their careers. In the end, there won’t be a lot of change from the Cardinals of 2020 to the Cardinals of 2021.
The San Francisco 49ers are finally ready to move on from Jimmy Garoppolo, which is the right move. Sure, he’s good enough to win but the fact is, he can’t be trusted to stay on the field. And while they can win with him, they don’t win because of him. So due to that, the 49ers moved up in a deal with the Miami Dolphins to land the No. 3 overall pick in this draft.
They’ll likely end up with either Justin Fields or Zach Wilson but Trey Lance could be an option as well. Whoever they get, it will be an upgrade from Jimmy G. Having said that, they still need to improve some on offense, but they’re going to be better in 2021 with a new quarterback.
Are the Los Angeles Rams better with Matt Stafford than they were with Jared Goff? Yes. Are they much better? No.
Stafford is a talented quarterback but for some reason, none of the shortcomings during his tenure in Detroit have ever been put on his shoulders. But the fact is, he has never delivered them the success they wanted. The belief is that putting him on the same team as Sean McVay will take him to the next level, but the cost to do so was insane.
Los Angeles continually trades away draft picks and they won’t have a first-round selection until the time when we will start talking about whether or not Stafford is going to retire. On top of that, they’re in such bad cap space that they had to say goodbye to key players such as John Johnson and Troy Hill while overpaying to keep Leonard Floyd — which could come back to haunt them.
Adding Keanu Neal and Damontae Kazee will be big for the Dallas Cowboys defense which has struggled for years — mainly since the front office has largely ignored the safety position. The only worry is whether or not they will actually let these safeties play, or if they will release them before Week 1, which is something they like to do with the position for some reason.
Still, the best thing they did was finally extend Dak Prescott. Of course, in typical Dallas fashion, they shot themselves in the foot during all the negotiations by dragging their feet and now pay him $40 million per season when it could have been solved for far less had they extended him two years ago.
Alas, this is where they are. A good team that’s overpaying some key players and still trying to figure out why their defense stinks. But at least they have a quarterback with a lot of weapons who can help them outscore many of their opponents.
Retaining JuJu Smith-Schuster might have seemed unlikely but the Pittsburgh Steelers were able to find a way, and that could help them tremendously in 2021. They also found a way to make sure to keep Ben Roethlisberger in town, after it seemed that might not be in the cards.
Pittsburgh should still contend in 2021 but their fumbling down the stretch in 2020 brings up a lot of questions. They also continue to show a lack of discipline with Smith-Schuster and Chase Claypool constantly giving opposing teams bulletin-board material. If that doesn’t change, this could be another season with a lot of wins that prove to be empty in the end.
The Miami Dolphins made some interesting moves recently when they traded back from the No. 3 spot in the 2021 NFL Draft to the No. 12 position. After making that move with the San Francisco 49ers, they immediately traded with the Philadelphia Eagles to move back up to No. 6. Now, they can likely still get the same player they wanted at No. 3 and added more draft capital in the process.
They were already a 10-win team that just missed the playoffs in 2020 and now they can get a lot better in the draft. They also improved in the free agency portion of the season with the addition of Will Fuller and they made a trade for linebacker Benardrick McKinney as well.
Miami should improve in 2021, as long as Tua Tagovailoa takes the next step in his development.
Releasing Jarran Reed was less than ideal for the Seattle Seahawks who will miss his ability to generate pressure from the interior of the defensive line. But they at least won’t be looking for a new quarterback.
Russell Wilson was in the news a lot this offseason as a player who could be moved but that never happened — and instead, the Seahawks actually improved their offensive line by bringing in Gabe Jackson. They should still be in the mix for the NFC West but they need to show that the offseason concerns won’t carry over into the regular season before they can be considered a true contender for the Super Bowl.
Landing Sammy Watkins was an underrated move for the Baltimore Ravens who really need to get better at wide receiver. Of course with Watkins, the concern is whether or not he will be active for 16 games as injuries have continually been an issue for him.
Baltimore also lost one of their defensive leaders with Matt Judon bolting for New England. Still, they constantly find a way to replace players they lose and they continue to be one of the best-coached teams in the NFL. They should continue to be in the mix for the AFC North once again this coming season.
It’s hard to find a team that put together two consecutive offseasons that were as successful as what the Cleveland Browns have done under Andrew Berry. In 2020, he attacked the holes on their offensive line with a vengeance, then did the same thing in 2021 to their secondary.
The addition of John Johnson III was one of the best moves by any team and he got him at an affordable rate. Then throwing in Troy Hill only made things look better. On top of that, the Browns added Takk McKinely and Malik Jackson to improve the defensive line and Anthony Walker to help at linebacker.
Cleveland was 11-5 and won a playoff game last year and now, they only got better in 2021. They do still need to improve at cornerback which may be where they go with the 26th pick, but it’s hard to bet against them right now.
After making the AFC Championship Game in 2020, the Buffalo Bills proved they’re a team on the rise. They improved tremendously thanks to the steps made by Josh Allen and now, added another weapon for him with Emmanuel Sanders who joins Stefon Diggs and Cole Beasley.
On defense, they kept Matt Milano which didn’t seem to be a guarantee by any means. They can still use some more help in the secondary but as it stands now, this is a team that should still be favored to win the AFC East and could be the only one in the conference capable of contending with the Kansas City Chiefs.
We follow up the AFC runner-up with the NFC runner-up as the Green Bay Packers come in at No. 3. The champions of the NFC North, the Packers fell to the Tamps Bay Buccaneers who ended up winning it all, but there’s no denying that Green Bay is a team that can win the Super Bowl with the roster they have.
They do still need to improve at wideout opposite Davante Adams and their confusing 2020 draft was even more head-scratching when they elected to re-sign Aaron Jones to a massive contract despite drafting A.J. Dillon in Round 2.
It’s also confusing that they paid Jones with how often running backs don’t live up to their second contracts but the fact is Jones can still help them win and with Aaron Rodgers getting into his late 30s, they may be more concerned with the next season or two than what the contract will look like in the second half.
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.