AFC East
New York Jets: Paying big money for Justin Fields
It’s not like the New York Jets gave Justin Fields an outrageous contract. In today’s NFL, they took a calculated risk, but it’s a pretty big one overall and it could end up pushing this team into “sell” mode at the 2025 NFL trade deadline. There are a lot of important contract players on this roster in New York and new GM Darren Mougey might be looking to build his NFL Draft war chest in the middle of this season if the Fields move doesn’t work out.
Buffalo Bills: Signing defensive linemen without proper due diligence
The Buffalo Bills had to improve on the defensive front in 2025, and they did, but they didn’t do proper due diligence on the players they signed. Although Larry Ogunjobi and Michael Hoecht will eventually help the Buffalo defensive line, it won’t be during the first six games of the year as both guys were popped for violating the NFL’s PED policy. If it was just one guy, maybe you could argue that the Bills knew about it beforehand but two guys with PED suspensions is indicative that they didn’t do enough research.
New England Patriots: Paying Stefon Diggs like it’s 2022
Everyone is interested to see if the Patriots can be a team that takes a big leap in 2025, but the New England Patriots were obviously desperate to reach the salary cap floor this offseason. They signed Stefon Diggs, who hasn’t played overly well in a couple of years and is coming off of a serious knee injury at the age of 31, to a contract worth north of $20 million per year. You’ve got to overpay sometimes to get big-name players into tough situations, but paying Diggs like this means the Pats are also going to ensure he gets time on the field and targets, and what young players will be sacrificed?
Miami Dolphins: Day late, dollar short on addressing roster holes
The Miami Dolphins just feel like they are a day late and a dollar short on a number of moves they’ve been making lately. They drafted Kenneth Grant in the 1st round this year, but that feels like a response to losing Christian Wilkins a year too late. The Dolphins haven’t adequately addressed their secondary. They haven’t gotten enough pieces for their offensive line. They should have traded Tyreek Hill last year. It feels like this team is a step or two behind in the roster-building process.