Ricky Dimon
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As always, it has been a loud offseason in the NFL. We are now in the midst of the calm before the storm, but in the spring and also earlier in the summer there was plenty of moving and shaking among coaches and players. There were a total of seven head-coaching changes this offseason, while the player personnel shake-up has included Julio Jones going from the Atlanta Falcons to the Tennessee Titans and Matt Stafford leaving the Detroit Lions for the Los Angeles Rams.
You can check out all of our latest NFL futures articles under our NFL news tab. It includes our bets on teams to either make or miss in the playoffs in both the AFC and NFC. For now, let’s take a look at some offseason changes.
Coaching changes
Atlanta Falcons OUT – Dan Quinn; IN – Arthur Smith
Detroit Lions OUT – Matt Patricia; IN – Dan Campbell
Houston Texans OUT – Bill O’Brien; IN – David Culley
Jacksonville Jaguars OUT – Doug Marrone; IN – Urban Meyer
Los Angeles Chargers OUT – Anthony Lynn; IN – Brandon Staley
New York Jets OUT – Adam Gase; IN – Robert Saleh
Philadelphia Eagles OUT – Doug Pederson; IN – Nick Sirianni
For the most part, the coaching changes this offseason were marked by questionable decisions (Houston with David Culley, for example) and bizarre introductory press conferences (Dan Campbell with Detroit and Nick Sirianni with Philadelphia). Obviously, the jury is still out on everyone, but you have to feel good about the Jets hitting the reset button with Robert Saleh. Although he has no head-coaching experience, his returns as the San Francisco 49ers’ defensive coordinator were encouraging. The Jets’ turnaround may not be especially soon, but you have to think it comes at some point before the Saleh era is over.
CREDIT – Vincent Carchietta (USA Today)
Key player additions and subtractions
Arizona Cardinals IN – DE JJ Watt
Atlanta Falcons OUT – WR Julio Jones, C- Alex Mack; IN – RB Mike Davis
Baltimore Ravens OUT – OT Orlando Brown; IN – WR Sammy Watkins, OG Kevin Zeitler
Carolina Panthers OUT – Teddy Bridgewater; IN – Sam Darnold
Chicago Bears OUT – QB Mitchell Trubisky; IN – QB Andy Dalton
Cincinnati Bengals OUT – WR AJ Green; DT Geno Atkins; IN – DE Trey Hendrickson
Cleveland Browns OUT – DT Sheldon Richardson; IN – DE Jadeveon Clowney, S John Johnson III
Denver Broncos IN – CB Kyle Fuller, CB Ronald Darby
Detroit Lions OUT – QB Matthew Stafford, WR Kenny Golladay; IN – QB Jared Goff
Green Bay Packers OUT – C Corey Linsley
Houston Texans OUT – DE JJ Watt, WR Will Fuller; IN – LB Christian Kirksey
Indianapolis Colts OUT – QB Philip Rivers; IN – QB Carson Wentz
Kansas City Chiefs OUT – WR Sammy Watkins, OT Eric Fisher, RB Damien Williams; IN – OT Orlando Brown
Los Angeles Chargers IN – C Corey Linsley
Los Angeles Rams OUT – QB Jared Goff, S John Johnson III; IN – QB Matthew Stafford
Miami Dolphins OUT – QB Ryan Fitzpatrick, LB – Shaq Lawson; IN – WR Will Fuller
Minnesota Vikings IN – CB Patrick Peterson, CB Bashaud Breeland
New England Patriots OUT – S Patrick Chung; IN – TE Jonnu Smith, TE Hunter Henry, OT Trent Brown
New York Giants OUT – OG Kevin Zeitler; IN – WR Kenny Golladay
New York Jets OUT – QB Sam Darnold, WR Breshad Perriman; IN – DE Carl Lawson, WR Corey Davis, RB Tevin Coleman, DT Sheldon Rankins
New Orleans Saints OUT – QB Drew Brees, DE Trey Hendrickson
Philadelphia Eagles OUT – Carson Wentz
Pittsburgh Steelers OUT – DE Bud Dupree, C Maurkice Pouncey; IN – LB Melvin Ingram
San Francisco 49ers OUT – OT Trent Williams, RB Tevin Coleman
Tennessee Titans OUT – WR Corey Davis, TE Jonnu Smith, DE Jadeveon Clowney; IN – WR Julio Jones
Washington Football Team OUT – CB Ronald Darby; IN – QB Ryan Fitzpatrick
The Saints may not have made the most transactions on either side of the add/subtract equation, but Drew Brees’ departure is reason enough for concern. Jameis Winston is a turnover machine and Taysom Hill is unproven at the quarterback position. Losing defensive end Trey Hendrickson will be tough for the defense to overcome.
Meanwhile, you have to like what the Jets are doing. Sure they are in a rebuilding process; unless Zach Wilson is an All-Pro right away, it will probably take at least a few years for New York to compete in the AFC East. That being said, new head coach Robert Saleh has every reason to get his team going in the right direction. The Jets did well to address both sides of the ball in the offseason, and not just by taking Wilson No. 2 overall in the draft.
As a result of either coaching changes, player departures/acquisitions, and the NFL Draft, here are our picks for teams that could improve or decline in 2021.
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