Top 5 Losing Teams from the NFL Offseason

Welcome to another offseason analysis. Today we will be taking a look at the top 5 losing teams in this year’s offseason. As always, feel free to let me know your thoughts in the comments section below. Let’s get started.

1. Los Angeles Rams

The more I look at this offseason, the more it spells a rebuild for me. The Rams had a great run through their very unique strategy of acquiring players through draft picks, but with cap problems and aging players I think it's safe to say that the Rams are in a little bit of a rebuild. Over this offseason, they lost a considerable amount of talent - players such as Jalen Ramsey, Bobby Wagner, and Leonard Floyd all signed to different teams in free agency. Additionally, they added virtually no significant talent to a team that desperately had holes on both sides of the ball. Seeing how bad last year went and the significant loss of talent in the offseason, it is clear that overall the Rams roster has gotten worse. How can they fix the roster? One of the best ways to build sustainable success is to build through the draft which is a little foreign to the Rams. However, given that the Rams don’t have a first round pick, and the fact that they haven’t actually drafted a whole lot in the past couple of years, I don’t trust their organization to select impactful players with their picks. It will be interesting to see how this team fairs next year.

2. Baltimore Ravens

Sometimes I wonder what the Ravens franchise has become. Believe it or not there was once a time when the Ravens were a prosperous organization - filled without controversy. Today, all we hear about is tension between management and many of the Ravens players: most notably, QB Lamar Jackson. His contract dilemma with the Ravens 90% of why this offseason has been so horrendous for them. In addition, new reports have emerged that Jackson requested a trade from the organization meaning that the chances of him being in a Ravens uniform are diminishing rapidly. To put it honestly, the Ravens are nothing without Lamar Jackson and the more I look at this roster the worse I feel about their future. Not only did they lose key players on their defense such as CB Marcus Peters and DL Calais Campbell, but they did nothing to replace and/or add talent to a roster that significantly lacked a playmaker on the offensive side of the ball. They signed 1 new player on offense - just 1! He goes by the name Nelson Agholor who hasn’t been an impactful player in his career. For a team that is trying to apparently keep Lamar, doing nothing to add talent to a weak offense around him is not a good look.

3. Arizona Cardinals

The Cardinals are another one of those teams that have just lost a ton of free agents. Let me list a few: AJ Green, Rodney Hudson, JJ Watt, Byron Murphy. Additionally, they didn’t do a ton in free agency and mostly resigned or signed decent starters to fill out their roster. Additionally, controversy surrounding Kyler Murray and his dedication to being an NFL QB I’m curious to see how this next season will play out. And oh right, there’s also rumors swirling that DeAndre Hopkins will be traded. Another thing that makes me worried is the hiring of former Eagles defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon to be the new Cardinals head coach. To be completely honest, I’m not completely sold on this one. Yes, the Eagles had a good defense in 2022, but how much of that was actually because of Gannon? The Eagles defense should have been good - if you look at the talent on the 2022 Eagles defense they clearly have the most talented defense in the NFL. When you look at their performance in the Super Bowl, they got completely outcoached in the 2nd half, and a lot of that has to do with Gannon’s scheming and play calling. Regardless, next season will be interesting for this team.

4. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Any team that loses the Greatest Player of All Time is going to have a losing offseason. Unfortunately for the Bucs, Tom Brady retired again after 23 years in the league. Beyond that however, questions have started to arise about the future of the Bucs team moving forward. A mid 2022 campaign exposed some of the fatal flaws in specifically the Buccaneers offense as they struggled to put points on the board. I think a large part of that had to do with coaching issues which hopefully will be resolved this year since the Bucs fired Byron Leftwhich and hired new OC Dave Canales. Quarterback is a huge question for this team and I’m not sure how serviceable Kyle Trask & Baker Mayfield are in the NFL as starting QBs. I think they would do well to move up in the draft to grab their next signal caller as I don’t believe that either of the 2 aforementioned quarterbacks have a high enough ceiling to take the Bucs into a deep playoff run.

5. Indianapolis Colts

The Colts lost a lot of good talent this offseason including players such as Bobby Okereke, Stephon Gilmore, and Yannick Ngakoue. For a team desperately lacking talent, the Colts didn’t try to add much in free agency and took a much more conservative approach. Additionally, they got fleeced in the Stephon Gilmore trade with the Cowboys as they got virtually nothing while giving up a former All-Pro cornerback. Overall, the roster just looks dry - sure there are a few nice pieces including star RB Jonathan Taylor and WR Michael Pittman, but most of their roster is up in the air. The draft will be pivotal for the Colts since they will likely look to address many of their needs through fresh young talent. In addition, there is a real possibility that they try and find their new franchise signal caller for years to come.