NFL Teams Primed to Make Leap to Contender Status in 2023
Parity is alive and well in the NFL. In each of the last two seasons, seven teams went on to make the playoffs that hadn't been in the field the previous year.
With the league's landscape constantly shifting thanks to factors like free agency, salary cap and draft, that parity should have little trouble continuing for years to come.
Several teams that failed to secure a postseason berth last year have already made significant strides towards cinching one up in 2023. Whether they swung a blockbuster trade, added key free agents, drafted impact rookies or utilized a combination of all three roster-building methods, these five squads are now poised to make some noise and contend during the upcoming campaign.
Chicago Bears
1 of 5
After finishing at the bottom of the league standings last year, the Chicago Bears can only go up in 2023. Technically they could finish dead-last again too, but it's unlikely in wake of Chicago's tremendous offseason, one in which the team brought in a wave of fresh talent to patch numerous holes across the roster.
Following Justin Fields' development into a promising quarterback last year, the Bears seem set at the most important position on the field and one they have long struggled to find capable players to fill. Going into a critical third season, Fields will oversee an offense that has improved markedly thanks to acquisitions like D.J. Moore—one of the key assets the club received when trading out from the No. 1 overall spot in the 2023 draft—D'Onta Foreman, Robert Tonyan and fourth-round rookie Roschon Johnson. The offensive line also added a building block in the form of first-round pick Darnell Wright, a player who will tremendously help a unit that has allowed a league-high 116 sacks since the start of the 2021 season.
Chicago's defense also underwent a much-needed facelift this spring. Tremaine Edmunds and T.J. Edwards were brought in to overhaul a linebacking unit that was left severely devoid of talent after Roquan Smith was dealt. The interior of the defensive line was reinforced with a pair of Day 2 picks in Zacch Pickens and Gervon Dexter Sr., while DeMarcus Walker's pass-rushing prowess will add some much-needed firepower to the edge and bolster a unit that recorded a paltry 20 sacks all last season.
The biggest challenge facing this team is integrating all the new veteran and rookie additions successfully. It'll be a tall task for head coach Matt Eberflus, but if he can successfully pull it off the Bears have a real chance to contend in a wide-open NFC North race.
Denver Broncos
2 of 5
The Denver Broncos were one of the most disappointing teams of 2022. Going into the year with high hopes of a Super Bowl thanks to the acquisition of Russell Wilson—the first Pro Bowl passer to line up under center for this organization since Peyton Manning's retirement after the 2015 season—the team instead failed spectacularly, finishing a five-win campaign with plenty of issues to sort out in the offseason.
Fortunately for fans in the Mile High City, many of those questions have since been answered. After canning a seemingly in-over-his-head Nathaniel Hackett, the club was able to fill its head coaching vacancy with Sean Payton, widely considered to be the best option available this hiring cycle. Payton brings a Super Bowl resume and a long history of winning with him to Denver, with the main goals of rehabilitating Wilson's career following his worst season as a pro and turning this program into a winner again.
The Broncos did well in free agency, making several pickups who will help their goals of contending again. They came to terms with Mike McGlinchey and Ben Powers, a pair of offensive line starters who will keep the pressure off Wilson. Samaje Perine was a nice addition and gives Denver a capable third-down and pass-catching back whose presence will make it easier for Javonte Williams to ease back into the lineup after recovering from a torn ACL. Zach Allen's signing may not have made too many headlines, but the versatile defensive lineman will be a major boon in the trenches for a squad that struggled with consistency there last season.
The Broncos had a noticeable lack of draft capital because of the price they paid to acquire their quarterback. However, they came away with a nice addition to their receiving corps in Marvin Mims Jr. and reinforced the defense with linebacker Drew Sanders and cornerback Riley Moss on Day 2. Denver will have a chance to make a playoff push next year if these new additions live up to expectations and the young prospects step up early in their careers.
Las Vegas Raiders
3 of 5
The Las Vegas Raiders were another AFC West team who came out of the 2022 offseason with grand expectations but were never able to match those with their on-field play. The team made several splashy acquisitions—notably hiring head coach Josh McDaniels and trading for wide receiver Davante Adams—but the Raiders came out of the gate with just two wins in their first seven games and couldn't recover from that sluggish start.
The most noticeable change in 2023 will be the absence of Derek Carr. The team's former starting quarterback was benched for poor play toward the end of last season and was ultimately released after the season. He's been replaced by another veteran in Jimmy Garoppolo, who flashed promise in McDaniels' system during the pair's tenure with the New England Patriots but has struggled with injuries in recent years.
While most of Garoppolo's supporting cast will look familiar with Adams and rushing crown winner Josh Jacobs back in the fold, the Raiders did bring in some additional firepower by signing Jakobi Meyers to augment the receiving corps. Free-agent pickup Austin Hooper will also play a key role, likely starting at the tight end spot after the team dealt Darren Waller to the New York Giants early in the offseason. The Raiders also have second-round pick Michael Mayer coming in at tight end.
The defense underwent more noteworthy changes, with veterans like Robert Spillane, Duke Shelley, Marcus Epps and David Long Jr. coming into a unit that ranked in the bottom five for yards allowed. No player may have more of an impact than Tyree Wilson, the team's first-round choice at No. 7 overall and a potential game-changing pass-rusher. The rookie will be instrumental in combating the likes of Patrick Mahomes and Justin Herbert during the team's tough divisional slate.
Despite the myriad of defensive changes, Vegas' success in 2023 still almost certainly hinges on Garoppolo's health. The 31-year-old looked good when he was thrust back into action last year—leading the San Francisco 49ers to seven wins in 10 starts—but went down with a broken foot late in the year and was replaced by rookie Brock Purdy. If Garoppolo can avoid missing significant amounts of time, an issue he's faced in three of the last five seasons, the Raiders will have a chance to contend.
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New England Patriots
4 of 5
The New England Patriots floundered through the 2022 campaign with an uninspired offense that hamstrung the team's shot at making it back to the playoffs. Much of the blame for this regression lies with Bill Belichick, who opted not to promote an offensive coordinator after Josh McDaniels' exit and instead put Matt Patricia and Joe Judge—a pair of failed head coaches with defensive and special teams backgrounds, respectively—in key decision-making roles for that side of the ball. Belichick corrected that mistake this offseason, bringing back Bill O'Brien and giving him the same offensive coordinator title he held with the team in 2011.
While the hiring of O'Brien won't cure all this team's ills, it should go a long way toward getting quarterback Mac Jones' career back on track. NBC Sports' Chris Simms reported on 98.5 The Sports Hub's Zolak & Bertrand that Jones ended up in Belichick's "doghouse" last year after he went outside the organization—reaching out to the staff at alma mater Alabama—for advice on how to jump-start a stagnant offense. Jones fell off hard after a Pro Bowl rookie season in 2021, with his completion percentage, passing yardage and touchdown numbers all dropping.
The biggest additions for New England's offense occurred in the trenches. The team not only added some much-needed reinforcements to the tackle spot by signing proven veteran Riley Reiff, but it also scooped up a trio of interior linemen on Day 3 of the draft in Atonio Mafi, Jake Andrews and Sidy Sow. The defense received more attention on the first two days, though, with first-round cornerback Christian Gonzalez, second-round edge-rusher Keion White and third-round linebacker Marte Mapu all projected to play big roles out of the gate.
New England may not have made many headlines for its adjustments this offseason, but the series of changes made to both its coaching staff and roster will go a long way toward elevating this team back to contending status.
New York Jets
5 of 5
The New York Jets made the biggest splash of the offseason when they acquired Aaron Rodgers from the Green Bay Packers. By upgrading the quarterback spot from one of the league's worst performers in Zach Wilson to one of the best to ever play the game, Gang Green has pried open a championship window and now has a real chance to win a Lombardi Trophy in 2023.
Despite New York making a herculean leap from the league's absolute worst defense the previous season to a top-five unit in terms of both yards and scores allowed, the offense remained pitiful with the 2021 No. 2 overall pick leading it. A season-ending injury to breakout rookie running back Breece Hall wound up sinking all hopes of reaching the playoffs for the first time since 2010.
Fortunately for the Jets, there's little reason to project a fall-off from the defense this year. The unit should only improve with the first-round addition of edge-rusher Will McDonald IV and a veteran defensive back in Chuck Clark, who came over via trade in March.
The offense should make significant strides. not only due to Rodgers' presence but also thanks to savvy pickups like his former Green Bay teammate Allen Lazard and Mecole Hardman, who has championship experience with the Kansas City Chiefs. They'll augment star rookie Garrett Wilson and a returning Hall to form the nucleus of a Jets offense that should make a major leap this year, potentially ending the long stretch of irrelevance in which this organization has been mired.
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