Are NFL teams overthinking how to rebuild rosters for long-term success?

The modern-day NFL is much more centered around the offensive side of the ball, but with all of the changes the league has seen in its history, the proper way to rebuild a team has largely stayed the same. Too many times have teams made goofy and flat-out bad decisions when trying to build the best roster possible for NFL success.

It's a bit confusing, and part of the issue seems to be general managers and front offices trying to reinvent the wheel and getting a bit too fancy. Right now, we're in an era where teams seem to be racing to the top; teams have gotten way more aggressive in trying to build the best roster possible, and that aggression looks like teams paying a ton of money in the free agency market and also not being afraid to trade draft capital for a franchise QB.

The first and objectively most important aspect of a team that has to be solid is the QB. If a team doesn't have a viable QB on the roster, they won't success. To me, it's simple to figure out if a team has that QB or not. If there is any question as to whether or not a team has the franchise QB, any hesitation at all, then they don't.

Guys like Derek Carr and Kirk Cousins have their place in the NFL, but are they truly franchise passers? No. Other QBs like Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow, and Matthew Stafford are unquestionably franchise quarterbacks, as there's no hesitation or argument to prove otherwise.

After a team gets the QB, what's the next step? Folks, good teams in the NFL that are built for the long-term are built from the inside, out. Teams win in the trenches, and there isn't a debate otherwise. Without being strong in front, teams will get beat continually. And it's no coincidence that the teams represented in the conference championship games each year have at least two things in common, and those would be a franchise QB and being stout up front.

More specifically, after getting the QB, a team set-up for the long-term needs to then get players that help them get to the QB. Without a strong defensive line, teams aren't going to win in the long-term. When you build an NFL roster from the inside, out, what comes next?

After the QB, OL, and DL are secured, that's when teams should begin to prioritize positions like wide receiver, tight end, cornerback, even safeties. Teams don't win Super Bowls with elite wide receivers and elite cornerbacks, which is why they should not be addressed until after the OL and DL get shored up.

In today's NFL, I believe that team's overthink this process and simply try too hard. The league has changed, but the way to win has not.