2024 NFL offseason power ranking countdown and season preview

Our Frank Schwab begins his NFL power rankings and rates every team for the offseason, asks for any fantasy football tips and speculates what the 2024 season may hold in store for each team.

We will link up with our No. 1 team on July 31, the eve of the annual Hall of Fame Game that launches the preseason between the Chicago Bears and the Houston Texans.

When you point your cursor over a Schwab team, you are able to get more information about them by clicking on the team’s name.

Carolina Panthers 

The Panthers also had to get a new head coach in Dave Canales who emerged from a very good season as Tampa’s offensive coordinator. He did wonders for Baker Mayfield, and Cleveland had to catch the Panthers’ attention to at least try and deter him. Carolina invested $153 million for the guards Robert Hunt and Damien Lewis, traded with receiver Diontae Johnson, drafted receiver Xavier Legette, running back Jonathon Brooks, and tight end Ja’Vation Sanders. They were the first measures in developing QB Bryce Young to the best that he could be.

It is not like the dark cloud has dispersed. David Tepper is still the team owner, raising hell with bar owners who take a shot at him, poised to make the Panthers a U-turn all their plans when entrenched in being losing again. Young still has a very long way to go and it may take a long time for him to be even half the player that Stroud is or even be able to pay back what the panthers lost in that trade. That roster still has major shortcomings on both offense and on defense.

New England Patriots 

New England Patriots selected North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye, and together with Head Coach Jerod Mayo the team will enter a brand-new epoch. That many franchises, such as the Giants and Viking, were eager to trade for that third overall pick should remind the Patriots that the right decision was made by simply selecting Maye in the position. The Patriots need to rebuild the roster, however, you do not let go of a quarterback who has the potential of being a franchise one. New England gets a lot easier to rebuild if Maye pans out.

The buzz that Maye had was enough since it could help the company offer its consumers or clients something unique compared to what Maye’s competitors were offering the market. Nate Tice of Yahoo Sports ranked him QB1 in this draft class. He has all of that aggression and skills to become a successful NFL player but turnovers issues might be an issue. Regarding this, one concern is that the Patriots still did not effectively strengthen the offense around him. They offered for the services of free-agent wide receiver Calvin Ridley and while team owner Robert Kraft claimed Ridley joined the Tennessee Titans to follow the directions of his girlfriend to the South, Kraft’s likely notion that ‘Part of it might be the quarterback situation as well,’ was more likely. The Patriots is not a specifically defined place for fans to head yet. That will take time. The first and therefore most obvious has to be Maye proving that he wants to be the type of player other want to play with.

Denver Broncos

Bo Nix is a freshman, he’s not guaranteed to start playing next season but he will be soon. The matter is the surrounding is empty, or at least he is the only one who noticed that. Patrick Surtain II is one of the best cornerbacks in the NFL, the offensive line isn’t too bad, the receiver, Courtland Sutton notched ten touchdowns last year and. . . well, that's about it. It’s not a team that is built to win now, even though getting the QB6 in this draft class is immediately becoming a starter. That is the price you have to pay if you want to bring Russell Wilson in as your quarterback or have sean payton as your coach. The Broncos somehow went only 8-9 last season because Payton is still a fine head coach, but it is going to be tough this year, next year and potentially 2026 as well.

Far from it, none of this ought to have been a surprise. After Payton arrived, people understood that the rebuilding from scratch is just around the corner while the team will pay for letting go of Wilson. One of these days, there will be something for Broncos fans to rejoice in, apart from remaining mementos of Peyton Manning and the 2015 squad.

Washington Commanders 

Catching a wanted coach, getting a GM, and selecting a quarterback who most people believed should be the second pick of the draft are all great for the offseason. That’s the type of nucleus that would change the face of a franchise within the shortest time possible.

Well, this examination does not reflect the fact that the Texans are used as an example of a team that hit an unprecedented number of ‘’green’’ lights in their performance. They got a fantastic head coach in DeMeco Ryans who most likely wouldn’t have given them the time of day if he was drafted by a different team back in the day. They were not blessed with the overall number one pick in the draft but, C. J. Stroud was available at the second number and turned out to be probably one of the greatest rookie quarterbacks of all times in NFL. To a large extent, many youths emerged at the same period. It has been difficult to emulate most of that.

New York Giants 

This is why it is now difficult for the Giants to move on from quarterbacks, though the franchise could have done so with Daniel Jones had they not failed to qualify for playoffs two years ago. Neither Franchise has been to a playoff game, let alone a win, that I believe cost the team $92 million in guaranteed money to Jones.

It might have also led to them delay a comprehensive evaluation of the roster and the fact that they were nearly a contender. Logic lacking briefly they might have not made some decisions such as trading a third round pick number 100 to Las Vegas Raiders for a thirty-year-old tight end Waller. He had 552 yards, one touchdown and then retired this offseason that gentle giant did. When regression hit a little too hard and the Giants struggled to a 6-11 season all of 2023 looked like a massive waste.

Tennessee Titans

Although M. Vrabel, the ex-head coach, achieved certain positive results during his time in Tennessee, the new beginning will hardly retain much resemblance to the previous one.

The Titans offered Cincinnati Bengals’ offensive coordinator Brian Callahan the job left vacant by Vrabel. Callahan did not attempt to call plays for the bengal though he has been known to be a pretty smart ofensive coordinator. Vrabel, who used to be an NFL linebacker, Tennessee Titans early seasons, Titan’s defense dominated, everything was built around Derrick Henry, and a minimal use of play-action passing. Of course Callahan’s Titans will pass way more and probably most of it will be from the shotgun.

The quarterback position will not be all too foreign because Titans fans got a glimpse of who Will Levis is in the last year of the regular season. However, there were the highlights of the show, like four touchdown spree on his first week against the Atlanta Falcons and a shocking fight back against the Miami Dolphins. In some games it was also seen that Levis resembles to a free spirit which NFL before the draft hyped a lot but due to some reasons he had to settle for the second round. The ebbs and flows were not something for which a rookie could be discredited, but Levis starts the following season having to convince the new coaching staff.

Las Vegas Raiders 

The most the Raiders can hope for this season is to ensure whoever turns out as the franchise quarterback of the future, is placed in the right environment when the time comes. Tight end Brock Bowers can be the base. Adams is still young and is in the prime of his career: therefore, Las Vegas could trade their weapons like Davante Adams in the possible future. Because of Kenneseth, too things in the defensive line should be very good now, especially with the $110 million free-agent addition of Christian Wilkins from the Miami Dolphins. Year could have head coach Antonio Pierce locked in for years.

The raiders are still in that rather odd position. They are entering a new epoch with the kind of movement, but a huge portion of reconstruction work is still unclear. They splashed cash on Wilkins like they are a top side, but that might not be the case for some time now. Well, if there was anything fans of the Raiders had to endure in recent years, at least now they no longer have to endure the Josh McDaniels period.

Arizona Cardinals 

The Cardinals were one of the ‘four-win’ teams of the calendar year, although they had some great successes in their matches. They defeated the Dallas Cowboys before the start of the season. In one they beat the Steelers and in the other they defeated the Eagles, two roads wins against playoff teams. Arizona had four wins overall, but more so you know quality wins than some of the teams in the playoffs. The Cardinals might have been better, had their star player, Kyler Murray not spend the first half of the season on the sidelines due to his torn ACL. The season was far from being successful but the Cardinals should have entered the subsequent seasons with some element of confidence in things that they saw from what Gannon brought to the table in his first season.

The greatest piece of news may be that none of those victories draw the Cardinals away from Marvin Harrison Jr The Cardinals tumbled down to the fourth general selection however , the captains of the Arizona essentially were optimistically the first three franchises in the draft all of whom intended to require a quarterback. That enabled the Cardinals who are paying Murray a huge salary to select arguably the best player in the draft irrespective of the position. Harrison was a load coupled in Ohio State and perhaps the most prominent college receiver of many years. More so, for a player at the receiver position, he could turn out to be that player who defines a franchise for that decade.

New Orleans Saints 

 The only avenue for the Saints to become something over average is, most probably, through Derek Carr. This was by no means he was appalling in the last season. Typically, for the Saints, he ranked 19 of 38 qualified quarterbacks in PFF grades, which sits right in the middle. Average inasmuch as we are talking about a $150 million asset, a quarterback that is to adapt in a brand-new plain. It must be noted that the replacement of the former Saints’ Offensive Coordinator Pete Carmichael, who held the position since 2009, with Klint Kubiak might help revive the offense. That better happen, because the Saints have started the restructuring game with Carr’s contract. They traded $23M of the cap in a restructure with Carr to fix a large salary cap issue. That printed money into the future, and could make it more difficult to release Carr if he struggles in the next season.

Something needs to happen. For a while now, it has just looked like the saints are the team that needs to rebuild things but just can’t. The notion that it will all suddenly ‘click,’ and they’ll take their big step is undermined by the fact that last season the Saints had the oldest roster in the whole of the NFL according to ESPN’s Bill Barnwell. What the Saints have been the past couple seasons is the likely what they will be again provided the intensity they showed into this season. They would probably not be good enough to content for the Premier League title and will more than likely not be bad enough to force a massive change. They're just stuck.

Los Angeles Chargers 

Throughout each and every one of these stations, Jim Harbaugh has won. He went 29-6 at The University of San Diego, took a Stanford team with a 1-11 record when Helms was hired and finished the season with a 12-1 record and an orange bowl win in 2010 season, revived the San Francisco 49ers from dysfunction and brought them from a 2-14 record to a radical 9-7 record in their first season with him, and almost had them win Four times he got a head coaching position and four times he made something out of a team.

From this equation, the Chargers are hoping to get relevance and/or wins, in any combination that is possible. Harbaugh should bring both.

The roster begins with a quarterback Justin Herbert, a promising player who did not contribute to the Chargers many team accomplishments. Due to salary cap problems, the Chargers had to release the premier wideouts Mike Williams besides Keenan Allen. Also, the team lost a competent running back in Austin Ekeler who practiced for another team in free agency. They were able to keep Joey Bosa and Khalil Mack in the fold when the pass rushers agreed to reductions in pay, but the team is probably less talented than 2019’s 5-12 Chargers.

Minnesota Vikings 

Perhaps that is why it felt so scary for the Minnesota Vikings to break up with Kirk Cousins.

It was somewhat reassuring having Cousins. Minnesota always had the inside knowledge that they would be getting a stable, reliable alternative at quarterback. That was reassuring if the Vikings had to come to the sobering understanding that Super Bowl with Cousins is never going to happen. They had three more seasons with a record below . 500, or 29 or worse, in the six-year Cousins era than seasons they were a playoff team. That was not all cousins’ fault, and even if he was not delivering the vikings where they wanted to be, he was safe. Which is why the Minnesota team kept on negotiating the contract given to him repeatedly for some reasons.

I am sure those weeks before the NFL Draft had to be a nervous time for the Vikings, but all ended well. J. J. McCarthy Michigan was another quarterback that went way up and down in mock drafts, but he eventually slipped to #10 and the Vikings again made a cheap move to trade up one spot and draft this player. But I have no clue if McCarthy is ever going to be as good as Cousins and yet the vikings are in a better place for sure.

Seattle Seahawks 

Pete Carroll established the identity of the Seahawks in more than a decade. The target audience will be surprised to have someone else guide them.

There are many other high-quality coaches out there but bringing in Mike Macdonald will be a tough task given the fact that he has to fill the shoes of Carroll, still, he was a fantastic hire. After two very strong years as Ozzie Newsome’s right hand man running the Baltimore Ravens defense, players positively compare him to Pettine’s football intellect. Macdonald is 36, which is young although Carroll is 72 years old but as we well know, energy was never an issue with him. Carroll was great but maybe it was time for a change. Macdonald is none too shabby of a successor implication.

If Macdonald can get the Seahawks back into the playoffs in his first year, it’s likely because Geno Smith this year resembled more of the 2022 iteration as opposed to the 2021 one. Smith arrived in 2022 hailing at 32 as a journeyman with little tangible success in the NFL to speak of but then proceeded to lead the league in completion percentage, throw for 4,282 yards and a further 30 touchdowns to boot. Signing a three-year, $75 million deal in Seattle, Suddenly in 2023 he came back to reality. The Seahawks signed him back for one more season though he has to play much better than that to make it till the end of 2025.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers 

Mayfield went from a one-year deal last year to still better than Sam Darnold who is yet to pen down a three-year, $90m contact where the first-year earnings are $10m or Jacoby Brissett getting $8m for one year but Baker Mayfield joined Cleveland Browns to sign a three-year, $100m contract, $50m guaranteed.

Mayfield after the season Buccaneers had, they had quite a good season it was unexpected.

The Buccaneers had problems to start, as they consider themselves to be in the midst of the transition from the Brady era and new they have Brady’s dead cap hit to deal with, but they finished the season with a 9:8 record, they clinched the NFC South title and then demolished the Philadelphia Eagles on the wild-card round 32:9. Mayfield produced 4,044 passing yards as well as 30 TDs. He perhaps should have received more votes for the NFL Comeback Player of the Year award given to Joe Flacco but few people know the criteria for awarding of the said award. It was all a fun surprise for the Buccaneers, who got within terrifying range of eliminating the Detroit Lions from the playoffs of your collective memory. The Buccaneers and Lions were at 21 all when the fourth quarter began but Detroit was able to stretch it. This relate to the performance of Tampa Bay that was realized by the end of the last season.

It’s just difficult to identify how much of that can be scaled. Plus, the Buccaneers cannot rely on their NFC South competition to be awful, but they are in the present.

Jacksonville Jaguars 

Bashing Trevor Lawrence is a dangerous thing; you better be ready to defend it. It is also true that there are many Lawrence guardians out there in social media networking sites that will sit up, especially when the NFL escapade of the quarterback from the Jacksonville Jaguars is in discussion.

However, before we cue up the sports allegory, arguably the film’s central claim that Lawrence has played like a $55 million-per-year quarterback has yet to fully be realized. If there was anybody who could stand up for him, he was their most valued client, but they would take a second to think before they said it.

If the same Lawrence got a high ankle sprain with the Bengals, the Jaguars may not have lost five of their last six matches. Perhaps they would have contested for the AFC South and some of the expectations on C. J. Stroud would be shifted to Lawrence that leads Jacksonville to the 2022 AFC South title. It is unlikely that such an extent of sticker shock was encountered on the particular contract renewal.

Yes, there are ways to psycho them into the kind of player Lawrence was supposed to be when he came out of Clemson. The Jaguars seem convinced. Now the going is to get serious for Lawrence if he has to justify the pay he is being accorded.

Atlanta Falcons 

Every NFL Draft first rounder is a little bit iconic. Some make you feel like you have slightly sat up in your chair, but only a few will be hotly discussed many years later.

The minute Michael Penix Jr. was taken by the Atlanta Falcons using the eighth total selection in the choice of the NFL, that will doubtless become a discussion forum topic for the following ten or more years. Good or bad.

The Atlanta Falcons were perhaps the most talked about team this off season. They began it by changing coaches by releasing the overburdened Arthur Smith and promoting Raheem Morris for another season. Then they signed one of the biggest quarterback free agents, Kirk Cousins, to a whopping deal of $180 million. Which in turn brought several weeks of speculation in which people tried to envision the falcons using a staff to put together a team that requires the best players on offense, with a quarterback in order to get the ball. But if the offseason would have ended there, then it was all positives for the Falcons.

But to be fair, the Penix pick could very well be the win. Consider how for three years, almost everyone doubted the Green Bay Packers Jordan Love pick. Based on the conclusion, what do you think about the debate, do you think the Packers look smart now? Of course. But this was also not like the Penix pick was the Packers choosing Love, or most first-round “quarterback in waiting” examples this generation has ever seen.

All I can say, more so to the Falcons franchise is, hey, at least they kept fans busy this off season.

Indianapolis Colts 

As a rookie member of the Indianapolis Colts Anthony Richardson featured in 173 snaps which is slightly over 15% of the total number of plays on the field by the Colts’ offense in the last season.

And that was enough to get the Colts excited for the future ’27 and ’28 season [Seasons]. Perhaps Richardson will get exposed playing the full season – this is assuming that he will be able to get past more than four games without landing himself another major injury – but what the kid did, he produce in the little time that was afforded him was breathtaking. Richardson passed for 577 yards, and through for three touchdowns, one interception, rushed for 136 yards and four touchdowns in roughly two and a half games. He was knocked out early in three of his four games by an injury, that is a worry, but there was no aspect of his entire package of skills that was not brought out during his rookie year.

It's funny though. Why Richardson was considered as polarizing was due to the fact that he was managing only 13 starts in college and this is indeed low for a player drafted in the top five. Compared to this, the team did not have enough pieces of tape to determine what Richardson was as a player. It remains to add that the high lights and physical skills were so marvelous that one can easily dream of his fabulous ceiling. And now, that is Richardson’s NFL story as well In this case, the NFL records depict him as a talented player with exceptional skills that could have helped him perform remarkably had it not been for the injuries.

Chicago Bears 

It is not unprecedented to consider that we will eventually refer to the Bears-Panthers trade that aided Chicago in securing the No. 1 overall pick in the drafts and Williams in the same bracket as the Herschel Walker trade that is acclaimed for kicking off the Dallas Cowboys’ success.

Unlike some other quarterbacks who go No. 1 overall, Williams gets it right and lands in a good situation. To be specific, the Bears were improving at the end of the previous season. They swine D. J. Moore in that Panthers trade, then traded for Keenan Allen, and drafted Rome Odunze ninth overall. Since the Bears were among the worst teams when it comes to the receiver room as of the last year, they might have the best within the next two offseasons. The line is getting better and partly due to drafting of 2023 top-10 pick Darnell Wright but the job is not yet fully done. The running game will be assisted by free agent addition in D’Andre Swift. This is not David Carr FS being sacked 76 times in his rookie year or Bryce Young scrambling for his life while being surrounded by a bad 2023 Carolina Panthers team. Williams might not perform well as a rookie due to the reason that playing quarterback in the NFL is quite a challenging thing, but the conditions will not be made deliberately unfavourable for him like it is for most rookie quarterbacks.

You can take that finish last season for the Bears and imagine that it will be far better this coming year with Williams, Allen, Odunze, Swift and other talents. Perhaps the defense will not equal the offense, Matt Eberflus is not as good in the second half of the season last year, Williams is not the huge hit that the team was expecting or anything that just slows a team’s progress that finished last year with ten losses. However, what the Bears are presenting, and more specifically a quarterback, is different than what has been seen for some time.

Pittsburgh Steelers 

The Mike Tomlin string of no losing seasons just will not go away.

Getting middle in between means that in solving problems at quarterback, there are no ultimate decisions. They attempted to play Kenny Pickett, the 20th overall draft pick, in a thin 2022 QB crop, and he is already exorcised. Their solutions this offseason were inventive — they signed Russell Wilson to a one-year, $1. 0 million while the other $37 million is afforded by the Denver Broncos. 8 million of his salary, and Pittsburgh traded a sixth-round pick for Justin Fields — but no one can buy a quarterback for the long term. The Steelers establishment – and the fans who crave far more than the franchise playing peek-a-boo in the playoffs only to get pummeled in the first month of January, as has happened twice in the last three seasons. Such additions can hardly be made with the help of the current roster; after all, it is hard to see a higher ceiling than that.

Speaking of the Steelers ’ line up, one will notice a slight change on the side of the quarterback but overall, the team will appear rather familiar. Tomlin will be able to elicit the best out of his team. The team’s defense, especially T. J. Watt and Minkah Fitzpatrick’s should be good again. Desperation W leads the offense, that oddly is now short of receivers after trading away Diontae Johnson will be running the ball with hopefully middling quality QB play from Wilson or potentially Fields down the line. This team will continue to squeeze out victories to close games and be in the mix for a playoff spot well into the month of December. Not bad, but it is not thrilling in that way anymore. ”

Tomlin does have some rather unique sayings and there is one that will ring so true for fan bases of a some teams and especially that of the Pittsburgh Steelers ‘The standard is the standard’. After multiple seasons that have been far from Super Bowl relevance and a host of concerns regarding the quarterback position, fans of Pittsburgh Steelers might be wondering what has happened to the standard is the standard?

Los Angeles Rams 

Thus the new challenge for an evidently rejuvenated Sean McVay – place kicken for one of the NFL all-time greats. When it comes to grouping defensive players in the same league as the more glamorous stars on offense, there aren’t many that can single handedly lay the foundation for a championship reign like Aaron Donald. He has points to make regarding defensive backfield player as the most effective in NFL history. Therefore, he retired in the middle of the tenth NFL seasons. Whoever said it cannot be replaced is right, but it is probably wiser not to rule the Rams out all together.

The same as in the case of McVay, as for Matthew Stafford, he also seems to look much more refreshed after having an incredible season at the age of 35. Kyren Williams was a 12 touchdown machine true workhorse back, and Blake Corum such rookie running back could attempt this year and succeed. Puka Nacua was record setting in catching footballs for the Rams with a record NFL rookie catches of 105 with 1,486 yards, in the Rams loss to the Detroit Lions in the playoffs he had 181 yards. Cooper Kupp has faced spate of injuries but still you can catch up with a big time player. A young defense was even better than anticipated, that is until the Buccaneers’ defen se coordinator Raheem Morris departed for the position of the Atlanta Falcons head coach. The Rams then hired their own linebackers coach Chris Shula as the defensive coordinator though the latter had no experience in holding such a position in the NFL.

The Rams made it to the playoffs and were beaten 24-23 in the wild card game by the Lions who many forecast will win this season’s Super Bowl. That was a rather poor ending but it did not dampen McVay’s spirits. Late in the middle of last year, it looked for a time that McVay was going to take a year off. Fortunately for the Rams, they no longer have to concern themselves with a coach of their quaint. So that may be plentifully bright for the future, even if Donald is ready to hang up his hat.

Cincinnati Bengals 

Here's how history will look back at the 2023 season of the Joe Burrow era with the Cincinnati Bengals: Burrow got his wrist injured and was done for the season; that was the main hind that kept the Bengals from reaching the playoffs and a chance at a first Super Bowl.

That will not be completely true either. Not having an NFL caliber quarterback and losing one of the best in the league in Burrow of course did not assist. However, the Bengals had different problems Sunday.

This could all be heading back to normalcy provided Burrow is not injured. Phillip Burrow states that he is okay but without seeing him in the games, it cannot be ascertained. Burrow said he tried to look up his specific injury, a tear in the scapholunate ligament on his right wrist, and he could not find another quarterback who had it. That's a bit scary. But if Burrow plays anywhere near his normal level, Cincinnati should feel like it can get back to the levels of 2021 and 2022, when it lost very close games in the Super Bowl and AFC championship. Ja’ Marr Chase is a beast; there is no doubt about it. In transition Tee Higgins is still around, but it could be argued that he isn’t that happy playing on a one year contract. Some upgrades were made in the area of the AP offence line and one or two signings at the defence, albeit some losses. Burrow, in particular, can be an MVP caliber guy.

Well, time will tell if the Bengals are still of the calibre of teams of the NFL. They for only two seasons. A very questionable holding penalty on a third-and-goal late in Super Bowl LVI could be why Burrow is not a champion yet. Last season derailed Bengals a little but that could be a fluke. Burrow’s health is one part of the equation. So is fixing whatever was wrong with Cincinnati the previous year.

Miami Dolphins 

And in that regard, that fun, creative offense of the 2023 Dolphins is what we should recall. No they were not the ‘Greatest Show on Turf Rams’ as you may have heard some times last season, but they where fun. And good. When it came to scoring they were second only to the National Football League and as far as yardage was concerned, no team could hold a candle to them. Offensively once again Mike McDaniel’s team was able to strike deep when they needed to.

But at the end it felt like the movie’s soul was missing. The division title was not at stake here, but Miami blew it down the stretch. There was no playoff win also. The dolphins was beaten 26-7 in a game that was played in extremely cold weather to the Kansas City chiefs. The Miami franchise is hoping to begin a playoff victory streak after the last one in the year 2000 and division championship since 2008. Thus even the 11 regular season wins seem slightly pedestrian because of what was achieved with only one of them against a team that was going to post a winning record for the regular season.

This season will tell a lot as to whether the Dolphins are going to remain as a playoff team and possibly, a contender for awhile. Another problem the Miami Dolphins will have to deal with is Tua Tagovailoa’s contract situation, for he will either receive a 50 million plus against the cap salary annually or the Dolphins will be seeking for a new franchise quarterback . Since then, Miami was already dealing with its salary cap this off-season and let alone Tagovailoa’s future. All have been on the increase since the appointment of McDaniel as the controller. The World at large hopes that the probes proved that the Dolphins was merely having a bad season and not the beginning of a sharp decline.