NFL Power Rankings: Eagles, Falcons jump up after free agency frenzy; Cowboys, Titans slip

With Chris Jones staying put, all that’s left to figure out is L’Jarius Sneed‘s situation and the draft, and that has to be a pretty good feeling for the champs. Maybe they won’t be everyone’s No. 1 team to start next season, and it would be tough to lose Sneed if he’s traded, but the Chiefs remain relatively intact and still have the best quarterback on the planet. Patrick Mahomes hasn’t yet been given major upgrades at receiver (the Hollywood Brown signing has the potential to hit big, but Brown is such a wild card, having finished last season on a down note). Even so, the Chiefs remain my No. 1 because they’re not tangibly worse than they were a season ago, and we’ve now seen that they don’t even need a great regular season to win it all.

The front seven was put through the blender early in free agency. Inside, the Niners are swapping out Arik Armstead, Javon Kinlaw and Sebastian Joseph-Day for Maliek Collins and Jordan Elliott. On the edge, they’re counting on Leonard Floyd and Yetur Gross-Matos to replace Randy Gregory, Chase Young and Clelin Ferrell. Will those moves be an upgrade? Tough to tell. Plus, the 49ers figure to add more to their defense. And maybe at quarterback. Brandon Allen returns to back up Brock Purdy, but a year ago, San Francisco aggressively added Sam Darnold, and they could look for a similar reclamation project. Kyle Shanahan always has wandering eyes at that spot.

I thought about ranking the Ravens first or second, and they’d be entirely deserving of a spot that lofty, but I do want to see how they handle the depth they’ve lost; plus, replacing the impact of former defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald (who left to head up the Seahawks) isn’t a finger-snap operation. Yes, Eric DeCosta and a great scouting staff always seem to find a way. They nail the draft more often than not and have a keen eye for reclamation projects. They kept Justin Madubuike, added Derrick Henry and still have Lamar Jackson and the makings of another competitive team around him. So, no, the ship is not listing; it’s just taking on a little water right now. Come May, the Ravens might be full steam ahead again, as they often are by that time of year. 

Losing Jonah Jackson to free agency was a hit, as was saying goodbye to C.J. Gardner-Johnson. But it’s hard not to smile at the value the Lions appeared to receive by upgrading their defensive front and the secondary before April has even arrived. D.J. Reader and Carlton Davis will help immediately, with Marcus Davenport and Amik Robertson looking like possible upside bargains. If I’m general manager Brad Holmes (and I’m not), I’m dangling that No. 29 pick all day long to the Chiefs and Bengals, for either L’Jarius Sneed or Tee Higgins. Those feel like pie-in-sky targets, and there’s the question of whether either player is legitimately available. But even if the Lions had to add a little sweetener to the deal, they still have an extra third-rounder this year from the 2022 trade of T.J. Hockenson to the Vikings. Make it happen, Detroit. It would cost the team a chance to make a pick Thursday night in front of the home fans, but introducing Sneed or Higgins would go over just as well with those in the crowd. They want a Super Bowl badly, too.

The Bills lost Gabe Davis and some depth on defense, which can’t be glossed over. But free-agent signee Curtis Samuel is an interesting replacement for Davis. Samuel has connections to both GM Brandon Beane (who was on the Panthers staff that drafted him in 2017) and offensive coordinator Joe Brady (who coached Samuel for a year in Carolina) and can be used in different ways. Cash-wise, Buffalo will be a bit strapped through the draft, although Tre’Davious White‘s release as a post-June 1 cut will open up some more funds down the road. I wouldn’t be shocked if the Bills are able to make a late-summer move after that point to add to their roster.

Following their sudden and shocking crash to close out the 2023 season, the Eagles were busy early in free agency, adding Saquon Barkley, C.J. Gardner-Johnson, Devin White and Bryce Huff, plus completing a fascinating trade for Kenny Pickett. Of all the moves they’ve made, the Barkley one feels the most out of character for Philadelphia. Running back traditionally hasn’t been valued highly by the Eagles when it comes to their team-building methods, but they saw a chance to add someone who is a premier playmaker (when healthy) while stinging a division opponent in the process, so they took it. It doesn’t feel like “Trader Howie” Roseman is done, though. There’s still the draft, where the Eagles always look to make noise, and there are vacancies at cornerback (perhaps two spots), offensive line and wide receiver that must be addressed.

It has been a good start to free agency for the Texans, even if they missed out on Saquon Barkley. Pivoting to Joe Mixon made sense, and signee Danielle Hunter was the big fish they had to land, even while losing some pieces to the market. Keeping Noah Brown and Dalton Schultz also maintains some nice continuity on offense, which can only help C.J. Stroud in Year 2. I also really appreciated the long-range vision of dealing a first-round pick to Minnesota. Sliding down 19 spots (from No. 23 overall to No. 42) allowed the Texans to upgrade their Day 3 portfolio and add a second-round pick in 2025 that could prove to be extremely valuable. There’s a temptation to say Houston needs to go full-throttle after Stroud’s breakout rookie season, but the Texans can’t rush this operation. This move seems to suggest they’re not.

The Packers were highly aggressive in targeting Josh Jacobs and Xavier McKinney, and they still have the assets and flexibility to make more impactful moves. Jacobs’ contract is essentially a one-year deal, reinforcing the idea that this is a team with Super Bowl aspirations, even after losing some experience and depth in free agency. The secondary is an area where I’d like to see Green Bay add resources, and there are several interesting veteran options, as well as some possibilities in the draft, both at safety and cornerback. Other spots need sprucing, too: offensive line, defensive line and linebacker come to mind. The Packers aren’t complete, but they are getting closer to being the kind of team that can build on last year’s strong finish.

The coming return of Joe Burrow from a torn wrist ligament bumps the Bengals up from their post-Super Bowl ranking of No. 18, but the Tee Higgins situation keeps me from taking them much higher. I don’t know how this episode will end. Cincinnati already lost a pretty big chunk of experience this offseason, and it feels like a team still in that Super Bowl window would want to keep as many of its stars as possible. I liked the Bengals getting Vonn Bell back. I feel like he might have played a bigger role during his previous stop in Cincinnati (2020-22) than I first realized, and the group was a mess without him (and Jessie Bates) last season. There’s no Bates on the roster, but the rest of the secondary should be better with another year of cohesion together. They might also be slightly better at tight end and running back with the changes they’ve made there. Tanner Hudson might be a sleeper if he can fend off Mike Gesicki for a pass-catching role. But the hope is anyone at that position will only see so many passes thrown their way, unless a Higgins trade becomes inevitable. 

The Cowboys have lost quite a bit early on, including two starting offensive linemen, their starting running back, two pass rushers who combined for nearly 700 snaps in 2023, plus depth in other spots. Can Dallas fill all those voids simply through the draft, even with the team currently set to pick at the ends of most rounds? Given the limited salary-cap space available, the Cowboys might have to make a cheap but smart veteran addition or two along the way. The need at running back should be the easiest to meet, even if this year does not feature a banner draft class at that position. Dallas will have to work to address the other holes. It’s understandable that some Cowboys fans are on edge this offseason. 

They’ve made a flurry of moves, but are the Dolphins better today than they were a few weeks ago? That’s debatable. Several of the transactions either displaced pieces lost or perhaps represented small upgrades to the depth and talent. But two big defections — DT Christian Wilkins and OG Robert Hunt — can’t be overlooked. Miami has yet to make a notable addition on the offensive line, and the defensive linemen that have been brought in don’t come close to replacing Wilkins. The secondary has some new parts, but again, is that group better than last year’s unit? I am not sure. We won’t be judging this roster-building approach until all the dust has settled on the offseason, but given the Dolphins’ lack of salary-cap flexibility, there’s no obvious route to making more splash moves outside of the draft. This will be a very interesting season for Tua Tagovailoa, who is entering a contract year, and head coach Mike McDaniel, who owns a 20-14 regular-season record but an 0-2 mark in the playoffs.

So far, so good for the Browns’ offseason. They’ve lost a few parts defensively and appeared to supplant them with similar pieces, so no net loss there. The trade for receiver Jerry Jeudy was a solid one, too, value-wise. He might not be the star many believed he would be when he was coming out of Alabama, but he’s an upgrade over the other WR options Cleveland has that are not named Amari Cooper. We all know how important this coming season is for the Browns and Deshaun Watson, so there needed to be an addition like that. Most of the offensive pieces appear to be in place, including tight end David Njoku (coming off a breakout season) and (pending his return from a serious knee injury) running back Nick Chubb. The Browns aren’t going away. But can they hang with the elite teams of the NFL? 

Over the previous four seasons, Mike Tomlin has won 40 games and made the playoffs three times with his primary quarterbacks being a past-his-prime Ben Roethlisberger, Kenny Pickett and Mason Rudolph. Ben is retired. Pickett was shipped to the Eagles to be their backup. Rudolph signed with the Titans as the prospective No. 2 there. So on the surface, the fascinating double dip at QB with Russell Wilson and Justin Fields appears to be a promising upgrade. If Wilson fails, Fields could step in with 38 career starts and one clear superpower (running) that could keep the team afloat or even give it a shot in the arm. Hat tip to GM Omar Khan for finding a creative way to upgrade the position that has been the Steelers’ most frustrating over the past few seasons, and without an abundance of resources.

The Falcons are probably now the favorites (or perhaps co-favorites, with the Bucs) to win the NFC South. That’s what landing Kirk Cousins does for this team, assuming he’ll be all the way back from his Achilles injury at the start of camp, ahead of his age-36 season. The risks here are obvious. But Atlanta couldn’t afford to sit back and hope the right rookie QB would be within range to make a trade up and then hope again that said rookie is ready to start right away, something Desmond Ridder wasn’t able to prove in Year 2. I still want to see some pass rush added here, but almost everything else is at least in middling shape or better for a team that has clear and reasonable playoff aspirations, even if it appears right now to be short of Super Bowl expectations. 

I’ll be honest: I don’t quite get what the Jaguars are doing. On the one hand, I liked the idea of adding Arik Armstead, which fills a pretty significant void inside on defense. But given that Armstead is receiving fairly big money, the move carries some risk. Armstead once was a horse who rarely missed time, but he’s set to turn 31 this season, is coming off knee surgery and was out for a combined 13 games the past two seasons. Gabe Davis was another addition I wasn’t wild about, although I think the Jags were smart not to match Tennessee’s price on Calvin Ridley; that was just too much money for a player who didn’t quite deliver as advertised last season. I actually appreciate some of the smaller moves Jacksonville has made (like adding Mitch Morse, Ezra Cleveland and Darnell Savage), but it might not be enough to offset the potential failure of the more significant additions. Don’t forget how important this season is to Trevor Lawrence‘s future. There’s a lot riding on the line.

This is where I’m bracing for impact. No, you haven’t read this placement wrong — and I’m prepared for the worst. When I last ranked the Chargers, the hiring of Jim Harbaugh was still relatively fresh, and their slot at that time (No. 25) was more about 2023 than the future. The more I think about it, the clearer it is to me that the most difference-making move of any team so far this offseason was Harbaugh joining the Bolts. The guy wins. I don’t know how he’ll do that exactly, but he’ll definitely make this team more mentally tough and disciplined in Year 1. Everywhere he’s been, he’s done that. So prepare yourselves for some narrative-breaking. The Chargers have weathered a tough salary-trimming period, but they came out of it in decent enough shape. And very quietly, they’ve added some Harbaugh-ish signings (Gus Edwards, Will Dissly, Hayden Hurst) to beef up his run game and versatility. Sleep on them at your own peril.

There’s absolutely no way to overstate it: The loss of Aaron Donald is a huge one, and his presence is likely irreplaceable. He played more than 80 percent of the Rams’ defensive snaps in each of the past several seasons, even reaching the 90 percent mark a few times, and he was the center of every opposing offense’s focus on almost every one of those snaps. No two or three players can provide the sort of impact Donald had simply by being on the field. Credit to GM Les Snead for his foresight in adding Kobie Turner and Byron Young in last year’s draft. Both were big hits and vital pieces to secure prior to Donald stepping away. But between the loss of a generational talent and a change at defensive coordinator, plenty of pressure will be on the Rams’ offense to keep flying high if they want to keep pace with the 49ers in the NFC West.

The Bucs clearly are betting that last year’s hot finish — during which they won five of their last six regular-season games, beat the downtrodden Eagles in the playoffs and nearly pulled off an upset of the Lions in Detroit — was no mirage. They’re essentially running it back on offense and hoping that new coordinator Liam Coen is a one-for-one swap for the departed Dave Canales. There’s obviously risk in that approach, but Tampa Bay didn’t have a ton of other options that made sense. Defensively, they’ll need to find help for a unit that finished in the bottom half of several major categories and will be without Shaq Barrett, Carlton Davis, Devin White and William Gholston — that’s 2,400 defensive snaps lost from last season.

With the Justin Fields trade now done, even with the little return they received, the Bears can hone their search for his replacement. Not exactly breaking news here, but it would be a shock at this point if it’s anyone not named Caleb Williams. He would enter a pretty interesting skill-position situation, throwing to the likes of DJ Moore, Keenan Allen, Cole Kmet, Gerald Everett and D’Andre Swift. Whether the Bears will have enough complementary pieces to help the next QB succeed is up for debate, but a rookie can win with less, as C.J. Stroud showed us in 2023. GM Ryan Poles has churned and burned through much of the roster he’s inherited, with Kmet and Jaylon Johnson being two of the few major pieces that remain from two years ago. With more left to be achieved in the draft, the changes will keep rolling in Chicago.

I appreciate Joe Douglas finding multiple sources through which to address his blighted offensive line, especially with a relatively cost-effective approach. But the Jets can’t stop at bringing in Tyron Smith, John Simpson and Morgan Moses. At best, this is a one-year fix, which could fit the win-or-bust vibe that seems to be swirling around the Aaron Rodgers-led offense. You know what else would fit that vibe? Signing a wide receiver to a one-year, prove-it type deal. (EDITOR’S UPDATE: After publishing on Tuesday, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported that the Jets are signing free-agent WR Mike Williams to a one-year deal worth up to $15 million.) Now that the Jets have gone all in on recreating last year’s masterplan after the false-start injury to Rodgers, they should do whatever it takes to keep adding. If there’s a chance you’re going to go down, you might as well go down swinging big.

On the one hand, it has to be disappointing for Colts fans to see that, even though the team has handed out a hefty sum of money this offseason, the roster still doesn’t look markedly different. Raekwon Davis will help keep the D-line fresh, and I’m not overlooking what Joe Flacco could do to help Anthony Richardson‘s development, while also giving the team a sturdy safety net in case Richardson suffers another injury at some point. But that only understates how important it is for Richardson to thrive this season as a starter, or at the very least show some tangible growth. We saw so little of him a year ago, it’s hard to know what fair expectations are. But if the Colts can add one or two more pass catchers and keep building on the defense (the secondary and pass rush are big areas to target for me), it wouldn’t be stunning to see them finish what they couldn’t in 2023 and make the postseason. 

I suppose I’d be a bit disappointed if the Raiders went headlong into the 2024 season with Gardner Minshew and Aidan O’Connell as the only realistic starting options at quarterback, but I am starting to prepare myself for that possibility. It’s funny, because as supportive as I was of Minshew as a prospect coming out in the 2019 NFL Draft, I’d be underwhelmed with the idea of him being presented as anything more than a high-end backup or bridge QB at this stage of his career. That’s not to pick on Minshew; rather, I’m attempting to point out the potential limiting factor for a team that plays in the same division as Patrick Mahomes and Justin Herbert. The Raiders appear to be countering that reality with a full-scale investment in a defense that was playing like a top-10 group by the end of last season, headlined by the addition of Christian Wilkins up front. It’s an interesting approach, for sure.

The problem with going about business the way the Vikings have, letting Kirk Cousins depart for Atlanta and signing an obvious bridge-QB candidate in Sam Darnold, is that the entire NFL universe knows Minnesota still needs a quarterback. After seeing the bulk of the QB draft class of 2021 being sent to the recycle bin and the remainder of the free-agent crop outside of Cousins being devalued, there’s a good chance the Vikings will have to pay a premium to move up for a quarterback in the 2024 NFL Draft. Reminiscent of the Bills’ approach when they landed Josh Allen in 2018, the Vikings have made a (potentially precursory) move to acquire a second first-round pick and at least give themselves a chance to jump into fertile QB-drafting range. But after shipping out next year’s second-rounder, they’re getting dangerously thin when it comes to future picks.

The Seahawks have peppered the defense with several lower-end free-agent deals and re-signings, letting a few older, non-system fits walk as Mike Macdonald has begun the process of remaking his defensive personnel. Honestly, I thought they might be a bit more active in terms of adding talent on that side of the ball, but GM John Schneider has resisted that approach at times, outside of a few whopper trades Seattle has pulled off over the years. My favorite move by this team this offseason might be trading for Sam Howell. The Seahawks surely saw the writing on the wall in Washington for Howell, as well as the accessible trade market for quarterbacks. Howell arrived at a relatively inexpensive price, and he might be a suitable replacement for Geno Smith down the road, assuming the trade allows him to reset and thrive in a better situation. That’s the kind of value I can get behind, even if acquiring Howell offers only so much in the way of an immediate return.

The Saints haven’t truly been gutted in free agency, and they managed to sign Chase Young in spite of their salary-cap constraints, but they also haven’t truly upgraded in any one obvious way, either. Both lines of scrimmage need multiple additions, and wide receiver is pretty barren. It’s going to be hard to make the offensive talent significantly better around QB Derek Carr, based on what’s available and what they can spend. New Orleans should be able to seek help at receiver and on the offensive line in the draft, but they had better find ready-made talents who can step in Year 1. Carr and Dennis Allen can’t yet be sleeping too easily, given the state of the roster. If this coming season is a failure, it’s hard to have confidence in the futures of either beyond 2024.

They haven’t made any truly banner-worthy moves to this point, but the Cardinals keep quietly building the roster bulwarks and dutifully addressing needs, even if some of them have been of the minor (or low-expectation) variety. Jonah Williams was a nice first building block for the offense; he’s able to play either tackle spot and allows Arizona to move Paris Johnson to the left side when he’s truly ready. Defensively, the Cards are still adding pieces, but Mack Wilson played pretty well in a limited role for a bad New England team, and Bilal Nichols and Sean Murphy-Bunting might end up sneaky-good additions. I’ve really appreciated the way Monti Ossenfort has gathered talent over the past year-plus, and Jonathan Gannon’s squad played better than I imagined it would last year. I’m suddenly interested in this team again, even if it might be another year away from truly competing, realistically.

The trade acquisition of Brian Burns looks like a big winner on paper right now, even if the Giants had to pay him top dollar. If he can play at a Pro Bowl level over the next few seasons, it will have been more than worth what they spent to get him. The quarterback approach isn’t quite as exciting yet, with Drew Lock coming in to supplement an incomplete QB room, but there’s time. Daniel Jones‘ health isn’t yet known, outside of the boilerplate updates that always come with these sorts of things, and Lock doesn’t yet look like a long-term fix, so the expectations should be low for him. But how Joe Schoen handles the draft — and whether or not he adds a QB — will tell us a lot about the realistic outlook for the Giants coming off a near-disaster of a season.

Like the Vikings, the Broncos are desperate for a quarterback — and everyone knows it. How is Sean Payton prepared to get his guy? The veteran market has dried up, so it feels all the more likely that a rookie is on the way. Trading up is a possibility, but that will be costly, assuming there’s a worthy prospect in range. Will someone Denver likes still be there at No. 12 overall? Oregon’s Bo Nix might be a reach at that spot, but if four quarterbacks go off the board inside the top 10, which isn’t unrealistic, then Nix could be an option. The Broncos might be inclined to hedge a bit and take a quarterback slightly lower in the draft who could still be capable of competing with Jarrett Stidham and starting eventually. Maybe Michael Penix Jr.? Michael Pratt? Right now, it’s all a little dicey.

I didn’t love the Calvin Ridley signing for what the Titans paid, but that doesn’t mean it can’t help this offense evolve. After all, Ridley still broke the 1,000-yard barrier after 18 months away from football, even if he never quite took over in Jacksonville the way some expected. If Will Levis earns the job, as many expect him to, throwing to Ridley, DeAndre Hopkins, Chig Okonkwo and Treylon Burks wouldn’t be the worst environment in which to work. Maybe the defensive looks the Titans get won’t be as enticing as the ones they faced with Derrick Henry on the team, but Brian Callahan can take the Cincinnati template and apply it here pretty easily, I think, assuming Tennessee adds a premier left tackle talent through the draft, presumably at No. 7 overall. Defensively, this team might have its issues. But Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither will the Titans be.

Talk radio has enjoyed taking shots at new coach Jerod Mayo for his “burn some cash” quote this winter, given that it really hasn’t panned out that way. Sure, the Patriots have retained a big chunk of their core and secured some parts that were worth retaining, but as far as shopping outside Foxborough, the returns have been surprisingly tame in the big-ticket department. I still see the light a bit as far as plugging holes and not overspending during a period of rebuilding, even without a massive QB salary on the roster. They can make selective big-money signings in the future, when the picture is a bit clearer. Right now, I just want to find out how they’ll handle the draft and who’ll be at quarterback other than Jacoby Brissett.

I actually really like some of the moves new GM Adam Peters is making. There’s now competition and improved talent at several positions, and the Commanders really needed some new blood and professionalism in the building. You don’t draft a quarterback with the No. 2 overall pick and ask him to make a bad roster better; you have to fix the second part first, and even then, it’ll be a reach. As for which QB they’ll take, I’m starting to think Jayden Daniels might be the guy. Drake Maye has a higher rating on my personal board, but Daniels could have a higher Year 1 ceiling and might be an outstanding fit for the offense Peters and Dan Quinn hope to build. If that’s the way it ends up going, Daniels’ elite running ability and his deep-shot throwing talent could make for a surprisingly fun season in Washington — something that has been sorely lacking for way too long.

I’ve heard the reasoning for the Panthers’ massive spending to build up the interior of the offensive line, with everything from “that’s how Sean Payton did it for Drew Brees,” to “they needed to overspend to attract badly needed talent.” There’s probably truth to both of those notions, but that doesn’t mean the approach will bear fruit. The Diontae Johnson trade was a high-risk, high-reward move that I kind of liked, and they’ve added more depth and flexibility on defense, even if a lot of these moves shored up the middle and bottom of the roster. The obvious elephant in the room is the need for Dave Canales to coax the best he possibly can from quarterback Bryce Young and allow him to thrive in more reasonable conditions. There’s still a lot to be done, but they’re off to as good a start as you probably could have hoped for, even if spending so heavily on the interior line will limit them in other ways.