Each NFL Division's Biggest 2022 Offseason Winner
The events of the 2022 offseason are bound to create seismic shifts in the NFL landscape for years to come.
It's hard to remember an offseason that featured so much player movement. Between trades and free agency, we've seen elite talent at important positions change teams and redistribute the balance of power.
Those shifts in power will be most evident at the division level. The easiest way to guarantee a playoff spot is to win the division, and with divisional games making up a sizable chunk of the schedule, rising above your three division rivals is key to finding success in the NFL.
With that in mind, it makes sense to assess the biggest winners in each division post-Super Bowl. That is, who improved the most relative to their divisional counterparts, taking into account coaching/front-office changes, free agency and the draft.
AFC East: Buffalo Bills
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This is a tough decision between the Miami Dolphins and Buffalo Bills.
The Bills topped our recent power rankings for the best offense in the NFL and were also dubbed the top defense. Ultimately, the talent they added when they were already one of the league's best teams makes them too hard to pass up.
There's the obvious addition of Von Miller. He may be 33, but he's coming off a 9.5-sack season in which he played a pivotal role in bringing a championship to the Los Angeles Rams.
The Miller move wasn't the only one that will bolster the team, though. Rodger Saffold was an underappreciated signing that will strengthen the offensive line, and O.J. Howard, Jamison Crowder and Duke Johnson add more weapons to Josh Allen's arsenal.
The Dolphins' offensive overhaul gave them a strong case. They added wide receivers Tyreek Hill and Cedrick Wilson Jr., offensive linemen Terron Armstead and Connor Williams, and running backs Chase Edmonds, Raheem Mostert and Sony Michel to an offense now led by Mike McDaniel, which gives them the edge over the New England Patriots as the second-best team in the division.
The New York Jets deserve an honorable mention here as well. Their free-agency additions weren't as splashy as the Dolphins', but their draft class—including first-rounders Sauce Gardner, Garrett Wilson and Jermaine Johnson—could lay a sturdy foundation for years to come. Still, there are a lot more unproven assets compared to what the Dolphins and Bills brought in.
NFC East: Philadelphia Eagles
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We are just one season removed from every team in the NFC East finishing with a losing record. It's still among the weakest divisions in the NFL, but there isn't a team that really had a bad offseason.
The one franchise that can say it had a better offseason than the rest is the Philadelphia Eagles.
The New York Giants finally moved on from Dave Gettleman and Joe Judge. That should be considered a win after the roster moves Gettleman made, but that's still a situation that isn't going to be fixed in one offseason.
The Washington Commanders' biggest move of the offseason was acquiring quarterback Carson Wentz. Given his history of having a net-negative impact on teams, it's hard to declare that a win.
The Dallas Cowboys made a flurry of moves this offseason, but they may have done nothing more than break even. Losing Amari Cooper, Randy Gregory, Cedrick Wilson Jr. and Connor Williams hurts. Nearly every move made after that simply reshuffled the deck.
The Eagles made real improvements that stand out. A.J. Brown is the biggest star to move into the division. Haason Reddick is a legitimate upgrade to their pass rush, and they added first-round pick Jordan Davis to an already-stout defensive line.
They're in a good position to show their playoff berth last year wasn't a fluke.
AFC North: Cincinnati Bengals
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The Cincinnati Bengals made a run to the Super Bowl despite a fatal flaw that would hamstring both teams. Their offensive line was a liability, and Joe Burrow took more sacks (51) than anyone in the league.
Still, the rest of the Bengals roster was good enough to make a playoff run through the AFC.
In reality, that run was a little premature in terms of their expected growth as a team. The roster looks even better in 2022.
The Bengals managed to retain the majority of the core that led them to the Super Bowl while upgrading the offensive line in a meaningful way. C.J. Uzomah was the most significant loss, but they replaced him with Hayden Hurst.
The additions of Ted Karras, Alex Cappa and La'el Collins give the offensive line three new starters. That's a huge win for a team that has already reached this level of success.
The Browns obviously have a case here. They added an elite quarterback in Deshaun Watson along with Amari Cooper to the receiving corps in a robbery of a trade. However, there's a lot of uncertainty yet to play out. Watson's 22 civil lawsuits have yet to be resolved, and a league suspension could still be coming.
Throw in his nearly unprecedented contract that pays $230 million guaranteed and the fact that they haven't signed Jadeveon Clowney, and there are too many unknowns to declare them the outright winners of the offseason in the AFC North.
The Ravens had a great draft but trading away Marquise Brown leaves them with questions at wide receiver in a year where Lamar Jackson is on the final season of his contract.
The Steelers' offseason relies heavily on either Mith Trubisky or Kenny Pickett giving them good enough quarterback play to get back to the playoffs. That's not exactly a great position to be in.
NFC North: Detroit Lions
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The Green Bay Packers were a strong consideration here. Had they lost Aaron Rodgers to retirement or a trade demand, things could have been bleak. Instead, they'll get to run it back with their MVP quarterback, but losing Davante Adams is going to present a challenge.
That challenge isn't likely to manifest itself in the form of the Detroit Lions just yet, but Detroit is in better shape after the 2022 offseason.
The Lions are still working on building a competitive roster, but they needed to do two things this spring: Build a good enough roster to get a read on Dan Campbell, and make it a more appealing situation for a quarterback in 2023.
They were successful on both fronts.
The Lions weren't splashy in free agency, but they made several signings that could pay big dividends. Players like Mike Hughes, DeShon Elliott and Jarrad Davis bring underrated depth to the defense. Adding Aidan Hutchinson with the second overall pick gives them a potential star pass-rusher.
The most impressive part of the offseason was how they went about the receiver position. It wasn't easy to find value at receiver this offseason, and the Lions accomplished it with a one-year deal for DJ Chark and by landing Jameson Williams with the 12th pick.
There's now more than enough talent on the roster for Campbell to prove he's the right coach long-term. They also have a stable of young pass-catchers in Chark, Williams and Amon-Ra St. Brown that will make Detroit an attractive destination for a quarterback next season, when Jared Goff has a potential out in his contract.
The Vikings did not provide themselves the luxury of eventually moving on from their quarterback. Switching out Mike Zimmer for Kevin O'Connell was a necessary move but they committed to another year of Kirk Cousins to get his contract to a more palatable salary this season.
The Bears didn't do nearly enough to help Justin Fields after losing Allen Robinson II and not drafting a wide receiver until Velus Jones at No. 71.
AFC South: Indianapolis Colts
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On paper, the AFC South looks like the weakest division in the league. So essentially, maintaining a solid core and upgrading at the quarterback position is enough to make the Indianapolis Colts the biggest winner of the division.
The Colts were on their way to being a playoff team last year before their inexplicable collapse against the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 18. Then came the departure of Carson Wentz and the report from Zak Keefer of The Athletic that "Colts brass simply didn't trust him to be the franchise quarterback moving forward."
Yannick Ngakoue figures to be an impact addition as well. He was part of the trade that sent Rock Ya-Sin to the Las Vegas Raiders.
The Colts 2022 draft class is the most athletic. Not a single prospect they took had a relative athletic score under nine.
The Tennessee Titans won the division last year but were relatively quiet. Their biggest move was trading A.J. Brown.
The Jaguars made a ton of moves, but they overpaid just so Trevor Lawrence could have adequate support. They gave Brandon Scherff, Cam Robinson, Christian Kirk and Zay Jones a combined $114 million in guaranteed money.
The Houston Texans should be commended for a solid draft, but promoting Lovie Smith to head coach was a head-scratcher after going 4-13 last season, and they are still a contender for the No. 1 pick in next year's draft.
NFC South: Tampa Bay Buccaneers
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The Tampa Bay Buccaneers pretty much locked up this honor the day that Tom Brady decided he was coming out of retirement for at least one more go-round.
The quarterbacks in the NFC South now consist of: Brady, Marcus Mariota/Desmond Ridder (Atlanta Falcons), Jameis Winston (New Orleans Saints) coming off an ACL tear and Sam Darnold/Matt Corral (Carolina Panthers).
One of these is not like the others.
Bringing Brady back wasn't the only big win for the Bucs, though. They replaced Alex Cappa with Shaq Mason, stole Russell Gage from the Falcons and kept the majority of their dominant defense together with Ndamukong Suh and Jason Pierre-Paul still available.
Jordan Whitehead was the most significant loss, but the Bucs at least found a competent replacement for him in Logan Ryan.
The Bucs entered the offseason as the dominant team in an otherwise docile division. Had Brady retired, it could have thrown things into chaos. Instead, the Bucs remain the only dominant team in the division, and it's hard to argue their competition got much better.
AFC West: Denver Broncos
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When looking at the most improved teams this offseason, there's a good argument that three of the top five reside in the AFC West.
The only team in the division you can argue got worse happens to have Patrick Mahomes as its quarterback. Chances are, Andy Reid is still going to figure out how to construct a dynamic offense even without Tyreek Hill.
The Los Angeles Chargers had a ton of cap space going into the offseason, and they used it to make some big additions. Khalil Mack and J.C. Jackson are elite players at two of the most pivotal positions in a modern defense.
The Raiders added a top-five wide receiver in Davante Adams while making serious upgrades on the defensive side of the ball. Chandler Jones is going to fit in with what Josh McDaniels wants to do on defense, and Rock Ya-Sin offers them a legitimate starting corner.
But no one improved more under center this offseason than the Denver Broncos. The leap from Teddy Bridgewater and Drew Lock to Russell Wilson can't be understated. Wilson holds the keys to unlocking a lot of the potential the Broncos' young skill players have.
The improvements go beyond the quarterback position, though. Randy Gregory offers the high-end pass-rusher they needed after trading Von Miller, while replacing Vic Fangio with Nathaniel Hackett gives them an offensive-minded head coach who can tie it all together.
NFC West: Los Angeles Rams
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It's good to be the Super Bowl champs.
Especially when it's difficult to get too excited about anyone else's offseason in the division. The NFC West has been a grind for years, but there's more uncertainty within the division after this offseason.
The San Francisco 49ers are set to transition from Jimmy Garoppolo to Trey Lance, but they have yet to work out a trade for Jimmy G. The extra draft capital would have helped. Without a first-round pick, they'll be relying heavily on second-round pick Drake Jackson to make an immediate impact at linebacker.
It also helps they brought on former Seattle Seahawks Bobby Wagner to man the middle of the defense. Even at 31 he is still playing at an elite level as he was ranked 15th among all linebackers graded by PFF last season.
The Arizona Cardinals' relationship with Kyler Murray appeared to be touch-and-go for a while but looks to be on good terms now. Even the trade for Marquise Brown lost some of its luster when it was announced that DeAndre Hopkins would be suspended for the first six games of the season for a violation of the performance-enhancing drugs policy.
The Seattle Seahawks got a nice haul in return for Russell Wilson, but it could be a while before they contend again—especially beginning this new era with Drew Lock or Geno Smith barking out signals.
That leaves the Los Angeles Rams as the winner of the division by default. The loss of Von Miller will sting, but there's still plenty of talent on the defense, and adding Allen Robinson II with the possibility of getting Odell Beckham Jr. back still leaves the Rams in good shape to compete for the Lombardi Trophy again.
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