Photo courtesy of the NFL via Wikipedia.
For many arduous months, fans watched the same highlights of the Chiefs getting blown out in the Super Bowl on repeat. Now, the Lions and Chargers have kicked off the preseason with another blowout.
Fans of teams around the league are now undoubtedly worried that their team’s offseason moves were all for show, and that this year may not be the year their team goes all the way.
In particular, six teams have shown red flags all offseason that they are not going to be contenders — and that fans may need to start looking forward to next offseason.
The New York Jets:
If you are a Jets fan, you cannot seriously have faith in Justin Fields leading your team to a winning record, let alone the playoffs. The Steelers benched him after six games, where he won four. Despite the knock of being benched despite a winning record, the Jets went out and signed him anyway.
This team was gifted a second chance after cutting Aaron Rodgers loose. They have a talented young roster that pairs well with new head coach Aaron Glenn. The only signing they needed to get right this offseason was quarterback, and they somehow still screwed it up. Justin Fields is not a franchise quarterback, because if he was, the Steelers wouldn’t have let him sign elsewhere.
The Jets are definitely cursed when it comes to picking quarterbacks. Fans should not hold out hope that Justin Fields will be any different than previous quarterbacks that have played mediocre football for the team.
The Cincinnati Bengals:
For a team in desperate need of quality players on defense, the Bengals have hilariously mishandled their roster this offseason. The front office managed to yet again drag their feet on signing key offensive players Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins. As a result, the Bengals spent more money than they would have if they signed them at the beginning of the offseason.
Now that they have little money left to spend, they’re choosing not to give what’s left to the player they need the most. At the time of writing, Trey Hendrickson still has not signed a contract with the Bengals. The team finally signed its first-round pick Shemar Stewart, but his 4.5 sacks through three seasons in college don’t inspire faith in those thinking he can replace Hendrickson’s production on the defensive line.
The Bengals will no doubt have one of the most exciting, high-powered offenses in the league this coming year. If they don’t sign Hendrickson, their offense will have to be scoring touchdowns on every single drive just to keep the team in games.
The Pittsburgh Steelers:
Surely this has to be the year that Mike Tomlin has a losing record as a head coach. The Steelers started the offseason looking like they might actually be building toward a Super Bowl run. Between letting go of players like Russell Wilson and signing players like DK Metcalf, all signs were pointing to the team having a real shot at contending.
Then they traded away George Pickens and signed Aaron Rodgers. After all the hype the team was gaining through the offseason, it reset its roster to look exactly how it was last offseason. The team’s star receiver starts many fights and runs a lot of deep routes, no one takes its quarterback seriously, and its defense still looks like it will be the only reason it’s winning games.
The Steelers this year are the same team they were last year, now their quarterback just has an even bigger ego. Maybe if they kept Pickens they would be contending, but instead the Steelers are going to be lucky if they get close to winning nine games next year.
The Dallas Cowboys:
Now for the team that benefited from the Steelers being complete fools: the Cowboys finally have two extremely talented receivers for Dak Prescott to overthrow. When your team’s head coach calls your quarterback a developmental player, it’s not typically a problem. When that quarterback is heading into year 10 and is one of the most expensive players in the league, that should be setting alarm bells off for every fan.
While the Cowboys’ offense will likely be very hot and cold, their defense has an increasing likelihood of just being always cold. Jerry Jones made a point to revoke contract money from star defensive back Trevon Diggs for not rehabilitating an injury with the team. And he’s also done nothing to sign Micah Parsons, yet again showing how incompetent he is as a general manager.
The Cowboys will not be good until Jerry Jones is no longer running the team, end of story.
The New York Giants:
The Giants made the right pick with their first selection of the draft. Abdul Carter bolsters an already talented defensive line, making them one of the scariest units in the league. What’s baffling is their draft day trade up to select Jaxson Dart toward the end of the first round.
Dart is coming into a quarterback room with Russell Wilson, Tommy DeVito and Jameis Winston. None of them feel like starting quarterback material. In a situation eerily similar to the Jets, the Giants have a talented young roster and a solid head coach. Yet they still haven’t been able to find stability at quarterback since Eli Manning retired.
Head coach Brian Daboll has definitely staked his future with the team on coaching up Dart to be the franchise quarterback the Giants desperately need. It wouldn’t be surprising if he’s out as the team's head coach before the season is over.
The New Orleans Saints:
Ending off with a team that has also hilariously mismanaged its quarterback situation, the Saints are a mess. Fun fact, no quarterback listed on the team’s depth chart at the position has won a game in the NFL that they started in. Derek Carr may not have been the best quarterback in the league, but he did win a game or two for the Saints.
Combine that with veterans either being close to the end of their primes or retiring and the Saints season looks over before it’s started. The one hope for this team is new head coach Kellen Moore somehow squeezing wins out of the quarterbacks he has on the roster. He’s done it before as Dak Prescott’s offensive coordinator, maybe he can work some of his magic now.
With that said, the Saints have already shown last season how easily they can be derailed after starting off hot. With the team already being off the tracks before its first game of the preseason, it’s unlikely it will be remotely competitive this year.
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