The Ringer NFL Show - Most Improved and Least Improved in the AFC

Episode Date: May 1, 2024

The Dream Team returns to Tom Brady’s roast, Bo Nix’s backpack, and which teams improved and didn’t in the AFC. The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please check out rg-help.com to find out more, or listen to the end of the episode for additional details. Hosts: Nora Princiotti, Austin Gayle, and Steven Ruiz Producer: Stefan Anderson Additional Production Supervision: Arjuna Ramgopal and Conor Nevins Musical Elements: Devon Renaldo Social: Kiera Givens and Eduardo Ocampo Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey there, humanoids. It's the Maskman David Shoemaker. It's a new era in professional wrestling, and that means a new era here at the Ringer Wrestling show. Kaz here, every Monday and Thursday hang out with me and my guys' shoes on the Masked Man show. And Ben Cruz here. Come kick it with me, Cal, and Brian on Tuesdays for Ringer Wrestling Worldwide, where we hit on the most interesting headlines and even react to some of masked men's and even your hottest takes. Don't tap out, tap in to the Ringer Wrestling show feed now on.

Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Worldwide. Hello and welcome to Dual Threat. I'm Nora Pinciotti and I am joined by the whole squad this week, Dream Team. Lindsay Jones. Hi, Lindsay. Hi. Austin Gale.

How we doing? Fantastic. Internet aside, fantastic. Thrilled to hear it. Austin was having some connectivity issues before we started the pod. And for a moment, we were blessed with multiple Austins on our riverside. It was two Austin, two, Gale. So we'll see if we get any of that energy because it's good stuff.

And Stephen Ruiz, of course, is here, Stephen. Hello. Happy Wednesday. I have to say my internet is doing well. It's doing really well. It's just crisp connection. I'm sure all the listeners really, really care about our various Wi-Fi speeds and connectivity problems or lack thereof.

So you're welcome. That's the type of content that you get on the Ringer NFL show. We've got a fun show. We're going to start with just some news and notes. There's some fun little stories that have popped up both in sort of the week following the draft and also just some random stuff that's going on. And then we're going to go through the AFC and we're going to do most improved, least improved by each division. We're going to debate the teams that have helped themselves through the draft and through free agents. and any other offseason moves up to this point and the ones that maybe haven't made as many strides. But let's start with the news notes. First of all, I want to know if you guys are going to be watching the roast of Tom Brady, which is this weekend.

It's live on Netflix. It's at 8 p.m. Eastern on Sunday. It's going to be hosted by Kevin Hart. And the confirmed attendees include Jeff Ross, Randy Moss, Julian Edelman, Gronk. And according to Greg Rosenthal of NFL Network, Bill Belichick, Austin, are you a big roast guy? I feel like you would be in the roast Roast matrix. I'm actually anti-Roast. I don't know if I'm out there for that.

I haven't laughed at a roast in a while. I do feel like there were in the early parts of like the Comedy Central roasts some really good stuff. But since then, they've kind of become in ways, like, just like kind of like grabby and not necessarily cut throw. enough to really push me to watch them. But if Belichick's there, I'm definitely going to tune in. Steven, I think you've been on the Bill Belichick media circuit

watch train this spring. Will you be watching the roast of Tom Brady? See if he has any singers? No, I think we've moved beyond the point where we need a roast anymore. We have Twitter now. I don't need to watch this. I can see the best clips. I don't have to sit through gronk. You guys are not excited enough about the roast. I'm sorry.

This is not the energy. I'm very excited that it's happening. And I can't wait to see the best clips from it. But I'm not going to spend my time watching Gronk and Julian Edelman try to tell jokes and do stand-up. I'm sorry, I have better ways to spend my time. Now, Bill Belichick, on the other hand, I will watch every second of his segment or whatever he ends up doing. Because, first of all, I want to hear Bill Belichick make jokes about Tom Brady. I think everyone wants to hear that.

Second of all, Bill Belichick has some good roasts out there. Like, if you look through his history of roasting other players and coaches, like, yeah, he'll throw shots at everyone. Charlie Casterly, I think we've covered that on the pot extensively. Marve Levy, he's dunked on Dominic Raola, a former center, I think, for the Lions, he's dunked on. Like, this guy just shits on people all the time, and he's done it throughout his career. And now that he doesn't have to worry about, like, media backlash for it, and now that he's in this setting for the roast, I think he might be the top performer. I mean, the funniest thing in the world would be if Phil Belichick comes out and just does a tight five on Charlie Casserly and Weatherman. And Dominic Raola.

It just doesn't, right, like, doesn't mention Brady whatsoever. By the way, Dominic Raola's son is, like, the top recruit, quarterback recruit in the country last year, I believe. And it would be very interesting if Belichick does get a job and that guy is the quarterback, his team has to draft because there's beef between those families. You learn something new every day. I did not come on here expecting for the Dominic Raola chatter, but I'm thrilled to have it. Lindsay, are you going to be, are you sitting on Sunday evening in front of Netflix? I will be, but with like AirPods in because I don't think it's something that I should probably expose my seven-year-old child. Sure.

Based on previous roads. But yeah, it feels like one of those events that will be, yes, it will be clipped and put all over Twitter. But it'll probably be more fun to like watch it with a second screen and get our jokes off all together as it's actually. happening. So I will do my best and I will do to my best to not traumatize my child as well. Don't expose your child to Rob Grankowski. Limit her exposure to Rob Gruncowski. I don't let her watch the Fox NFL Sunday for that very good. Terry Bradson, you're killing two birds with one stuff because Terry Bradshaw's on my chair.

Terry Bradshaw, not, we can't be doing that. Nora, I did I did prep a list of jokes on looking for at this rose and ones that I feel like I am expecting to see the cheating of the Brady-Belichick deflategate era is going to come up. I don't think any of those jokes are going to be funny. I think it's a high bar to clear. If the Brady brand and its failure is not brought up, that is a move. My favorite thing about the trailer? My favorite thing about the trailer, sorry, I want to let you keep going.

I want to let you cook. But I just feel like I have to bring up that in the trailer, Tom Brady says something like I'm unroastable. which the sheer lack of self-awareness that it takes for Tom Brady, an incredibly roastable person. I think he physically means his face cannot burn at this point. He's had so much injunctuous. Oh, wait, this is too hydrated. Had too much water.

Okay, Austin, continue. Sorry, I was not letting you cook, but I would like you to continue to do so. No, no, I'm just saying the failure of the Brady brand has to be included. They deleted the website from the internet. They've deleted all of their posts on Instagram. They've merged with Noble, which is like sponsored the NFL Combine the last couple of years. They've also the Brady brand merged with TB12 and then Noble bought that merger or whatever shell of that is left. Brady made a brand where all the clothes just set his name on it and it failed.

If he's on Rosstable, I mean, what are we even talking about here? Austin knows that the failure of the Brady brand and Tom Brady, incredibly successful athlete, not so much in the outside endeavors. Austin knows that this is something of like a hobby horse of mine. Stemming from an incident when I realized that Brady brand like a year or so into its existence

was just like doing a lot of sample sales, which didn't seem like a great sign. So I personally would love for that to happen. I'm not sure that the greater public has the background info for those jokes to hit, but I'm rooting for it. I'm really excited for this. I love a roast. I think the roasts of, let's see, the Bieber one was great. And then I think the Pete Davidson one was the other, the other like sort of canonically excellent roast. I'm excited for this. I have to say the one thing that bummed me out or made me less in was the guest list.

That's too many athletes. You need stand-up comedians with nothing to lose. It's a great take. And I just don't need, like, Randy Moss, Julian Edelman, Rob Grunkowski is perhaps three too many, but it's at least two too many. Former Brady teammates.

I will say this. I will say this. If you've seen the old shack roast, the roast of Emmett Smith, there's a lot of athletes there. One of the best roast of all time, actually. Go look that up on YouTube. Very funny. Oh, I don't know that one. Okay, I'll

sneak that out. What a gem. At one point, Jeff Ross is like, oh, Daryl Moose Johnson stole all my shit before he went on. It was very good. I mean, some of the... This might be a bit of a hot take, but like, and it's hard for him to hear, I'm sure, but Gronk's not funny. No, he's not.

I mean, like, Gronk is not funny. I don't, I don't, I'm not, I don't get the schick. It's not for me. I'm out on it. I don't think that's going to be great. I think if I was betting on who's the funniest athlete or person connected to the NFL there, it's going to be Belichick.

I honestly think Belichick throws the best things. I think I honestly, that's my I agree. The Tate. I think that's probably right. I think that's probably right. Randy Moss, I wouldn't be surprised if he has some good moments.

I mean, you know, they get help. And it's not as though a lot of the athletes that have done the roast in the past have been really good. Like Peyton Manning's been good. Blake Griffin was there for one, and I think he was really good. it's just too many.

It's too much of a critical like Shaq has always been good it's just too much of a critical mass of like oh all of these guys know him are friends with him. I need like Natasha Ligero who just like simply could not give less of a shit and is going to rip him to shreds.

And I don't think it seems like they're bringing that type of energy. But you know, Jeff Ross, a lot on your shoulders, man. A guy like, see, a guy like me would just bring out Jimmy G and no jokes necessary from there. You just bring them out

and just have them stand next to Tom Brady and look younger and more handsome than him. It would kill Brady. That's the best bit. Netflix gets Stephen the best. Maybe they'll do it. Like when they did, when Demi Moore came up for the

in the Bruce Willis roast and started just like zinging him about their marriage. You have an extensive knowledge of roast. No, I love a roast. You do. You really do. Roasts should not be in my cultural wheelhouse.

It's like two. broy and that's just like not nor. I love a roast. I watch like I've seen most roasts. And sometimes when I'm like brushing my teeth, I pull up old roast clips and just like watch them while I'm brushing my teeth. So anyway, we're going to move on now. But I'm excited for it. And

we'll certainly follow up if it's any good. Here's another thing that made me giggle this week. So Albert Breer had a really informative MMQB column after the draft. And there was a lot of interesting info in it. But I'm going to read you something that I'm going to read you guys something that really stood out to me, which was an anecdote from a meeting that Bo Nix had during the pre-draft process with Sean Payton. So this is from the call-up. It was closing in on noon

on a sunny, mild, late winter morning in Eugene, Oregon, and Bo Nix was reaching down to grab his bag as he and the Denver Broncos Brain Trust were wrapping up three hours of meeting time, getting set to head out onto the field for his workout. What's in your backpack? Sean Payton asked. Nix reached inside and grabbed a roll of tape that he explained he'd need for his ankles if he were going to train. He also pulled out a spare pair of football cleats and a lacrosse ball that he said he'd use for rolling out his back. And what wasn't in the bag was just as significant. Everything was football related. All of it.

So here's the deal. Along with roasts, me long time enthusiast of the what's in your bag style of celebrity profiling. Just like just the what's in your bag content universe. That said, this is everything that's wrong with scouting. I'm sorry, this is the dumbest thing I've ever heard. It's everything and worse. I have a tweet out from like a year ago where I'm like,

how the NFL evaluates, hires, fires, coaches, and, like, scouts and even, like, just, like, player evaluation is very, very flawed. And this is, like, lower than what I even thought in terms of, like, driving decision-making for, and I always bring this up. I think we forget it. Multi-million-dollar decisions. Like, these are multi-million dollar decisions. This isn't share something at class in fifth grade.

What's in your backpack bow next? Oh, a football sticker. Like, it's not that. This is a multi-million dollar. franchise defining decision at total overall and we're picking it over stuff in their backpack. Like, I feel like we continue to create new ways to make

fun of the league for how they evaluate coaches, how they evaluate players, all this stuff. We create. Hearing that come out. And the fact... Sean Payton did this all by himself. No, I don't know. It comes in various forms. I think that... It comes in various forms. I think that the fact that, like,

this story is like something he's... Like, that's getting out and, like, someone whoever is, like, telling it is banging their chest with it is a problem. That's the problem. You need to keep that close to the vest. I don't want to know that you made the decision based on him having a football sticker and some tape in his backpack. That makes no sense to me. I mean, first of all, let's just, let's break this down a little bit. Everything, every one of these football related items that collectively represent Bonix's undying commitment to the game that he is being drafted to play, there are things that also

imply the fact that Bowenix is old. It's all like, yeah, everything on me hurts. So I need all this stuff. There's a way to spin this that's not a great. I mean, you know, I'm kidding a little bit. Every football player tapes their ankles and does stuff like that.

But come on, man. I mean, I can just like, kidding aside, I can see the universe. And I'm so serious in which there's like, also a book in there? And it turns into like, oh, books are woke. You can't have a book in there.

You can't have a book. Can't be reading. Book bag to be a football player. Like, even beyond this, Austin's talking about them basing million-dollar decisions on this. Like, there's another quote from Payton, like, not in the Breer story where he's talking about how he had his analytics team take out all the RPO throws and all the behind the line of scrimmage throws

to figure out if pro Knicks could still throw down field. And it's like, you need your analytics team, which you're dedicated, I'm assuming millions of dollars to to just use an air yards filter you can find that on ESPN.com splits like they have they have chips in the shoulder pads now Sean you can tell you how fast they're running

they can tell you how fast their heart is beating and you're using air yards filters that I can get on pro football reference and then book stuff in his book bag and then like the Falcons had a similar thing where they fell in love with Phoenix in part because they asked all the quarterbacks

who would they model their work ethic after and they all said penics. And it's like, yeah, these are like 22 year old kids. Who cares what they think? You wouldn't trust them to pick this guy. Also, presumably if they're asking the top six, the top, you know, maybe the top seven or something,

they're asking the quarterbacks including the top three who are all sort of competing with each other, maybe even four if we throw in McCarthy. The incentive is either. The incentive is not to say Caleb Williams, Drake May, Jaden Daniels, even J.J. McCarthy, right? Like the incentive is to say like, oh yeah, Bo Nix is really cool. Because that's who you should be talking up because he's not perceived as a threat because he shouldn't have been drafted as high as he won.

Well, and you also, why Michael Penick said to work so hard is because he's had like 18 ACL repairs and a busted up shoulder that he had to work hard. He wouldn't be able to play football to begin with. I really think we've jumped the, we've jumped the shark on how we're interviewing players and trying to get creative. I was a pro for the top golf thing. I was about to say. If we get to the point where we're like, where we're like, what's in your backpack? Ooh, just football stuff? You're going to make $22 million for our football team.

It's like, I just, in my. backpack, there is a spilled bottle of allergy medicine that I've yet to put back in the bottle and I'm still plucking each day. I have two different laptop covers that I don't use. I have a frayed book that I'm trying to read that I haven't picked up yet. Like, if I get interviewed based off the backpack, I'm cooked. So maybe this is just me kind of projecting. But I still don't think we should definitely, we should definitely not include these questions in our decision making process. Yeah, I don't think my bag reflects well on me. A lot of like used straw wrappers. I don't think Sean Payton would be into that. Can we also point out that Bo Nix was attending like a football team's facility where like working out was very much on the table?

That would be like me going to the gym with a gym bag and be like, whoa, this guy only has gym stuff in his bag. He must really be about the gym. He's out, he's working out for a football team. This story is so looney tunes. It didn't even make. It didn't even make draft day. Like it didn't even make the fictional movie draft day. Like it's two Looney Tunes.

It's too fairy tale. Like, no one could even grasp this deep of a weird question when, like, people are like, no one went to his birthday party. And it's like, well, what's in your backpack? Is there a cleat in there? Like, what are we doing? I have a Lombardi trophy in my backpack. I mean, this is the question to me is what would have been the wrong answer? Like, what would have been, what would have reflected poorly on Bow Nix?

And I mean, the implication of the story is just anything that doesn't have to do with football. But I really want to know. Anything that doesn't paint you as like a tough football player. Like lotion, soap would have been bad. Ooh, hand sanitizer, he's done. It's over. Hand sanitizer, he's a mask. Like literally not even on the board.

He's not on the board. He's not on the board. Sorry, you can't wash your hands and be in the NFL. So good. That was such a good poll. An umbrella? See you later. Oh, you can't play in the rain.

If you need an umbrella, you can't. How are you going to play in the AFC North if you can't, if you need an umbrella in your book? bag. That's all I got to ask. A snack? Even a snack. I think a snack is too prepared for football players. Depends on the snack. If it's beef jerky, that's good. Beef jerky, anything that's just sort of like fuel, you know, like a power bar, I think fine. Better though. Raw protein powder. Raw protein powder. Those little like goo squares that people take during marathons. I think that would have been fine. but anything like, you know,

not even from a health perspective, but like you don't want little, nothing snacky, you know? Like Swedish fish, bag of Swedish fish, no. Oh, that's, I'm serious. Descents. Sour Patch kids?

I get out of here. I'm saying that because sometimes I keep a bag of Swedish fish. Like if you just get a little lightheaded, like a little Swedish fish. I do think for next year, for players that are interviewing with Sean Pate, or the Broncos, you have to, you have to get creative or what's in your bag.

You have to. I want like a picture of Sean Payton or something. Like you have to go all out. You know what you have? You know what you have? You know what you have? You know what you have? Yeah, but celebrities who would do like Vogue profiles

because they would, they loved to do like what's in your bag. And so you would have like Nicole Kidman being like, oh, and here is this photo of my, of my late grandmother that I keep in my purse at all times. You're like, no, you don't. And I need, if a prospect is willing to go there, I don't know how to end the sentence because I can't help them in any way, shape, or form. This is what you do.

I'll be a fan of it. This is what you do. Home team DVD in your backpack with Kevin James, the Sean Payton movie. Wow. Wow. Stop. Stop. It's inspired.

All right. It's a framed picture of the surprise on-site camera. from the Saints Cold Super Bowl like signed or something I don't know who is the guy that recovered it like something tune I don't remember but anyway go ahead that's it I just I wanted to chat that through

with you all and you really didn't disappoint let's take a little break we'll come back and we will get to our division by division most improved least improved look at the AFC all right welcome back to dual threat we're still talking about what's

our bags, but we're going to go to the AFC and do a little roundup, division by division, of which teams we feel got better in free agency in the draft and which didn't do as much. Let's kick

it off with the AFC East. Steven, I'll go to you first. Who's your most improved team in the East? I mean, this was the hardest one to pick out, and like almost by default I had to pick the Jets. Because like, what I looked at was the, what have been the objective going in.

And with the bills, I think it was kind of maintaining and keeping that championship window opening while also purging your roster of some of the expensive vets. And I don't think they did that first part. While I do think they did a good job of that second part, I do think the roster is in a much better spot than it was. And then the Patriots, I do think they came away with this offseason with renewed hope because they got Drake May. But their offseason moves weren't meant to move the needle. And then the dolphins kind of had to get rid of some guys that kind of had the same offseason as the bills. we just didn't really notice it. So for me, it's the Jets who I think the objective coming in was just get to a point where we can all envision this team being good if Aaron Rogers is healthy.

And I think with the additions, whether they stay healthy or not, Mike Williams, Tyrant Smith, the two offensive linemen from the Ravens, I do, well, I can envision this Jets team not only being a contender for the playoffs, but I think it could be the best team in this division if Aaron Rogers is healthy. I think the moves Joe Douglas pulled off this off season have helped them and have pushed them forward, whereas the moves the other teams in the division have made have kind of pushed them back. I think we should acknowledge, because Stephen, you're speaking to an important point about just how this exercise works, that, yeah, that's the name of the game is improved for next year, right? It's not purely, do we agree with the moves? Because I think by and large, the bills have had a pretty well-reasoned, off season.

Right. But I also think because of the financial situation they were in, because of the age of their roster and because of the

need to purge some of those players, that doesn't necessarily mean that I think this September, the bills have a better roster than they did last season.

And it's the, it's the better going into next year that we're looking at. So I meant to point that out, but you reminded me of it. Austin, did you go with the Jets as well

or did you have anybody else here. JETS, Jess, Jess, Jess. I'm with, well, I'm with Ruiz. I think it was, it was really underrated in the off season how much Miami was doing exactly what Buffalo was doing and that like, we're not in a good cap situation. We don't have a lot of money. We aren't going to be able to retain or add a ton of talent in free agency.

And I think that they've had like a minor exodus or a minor purge of talent in the same way that Buffalo has. And then with the Patriots, you know, they're, I think have the worst odds to make the playoffs of any team in the NFL. Like, yes, they added talent. Yes, they got better. But I still don't think you could call them the most improved in this division.

With the Jets, they improved for this year. Right. Like, this is a last one. I think I made this analogy last time. This is like that experiment where you like wrap an egg and as many tools as you can, like duct tape and tissue paper and stuff like that. And you're just going to drop it one time for the one time,

see what happens. Mike Williams and his ACL Greece calls for his ACL two years ago, Aaron Rogers. This podcast. I like to bring it up. It's an important one. I think you learned a lot from it. But then you got...

Sure. Both their offensive tackles are 33 years old. Tyrant Smith hasn't played a full... 16 game season since 2015. Mike Williams, I've already mentioned him. Aaron Rogers, obviously coming off the Achilles. And then I also feel that this is the last ride for Joe Douglas and Robert Sala. Like, if you don't make the playoffs this year, I actually think if you don't win a playoff game this year,

good night. It's over. You don't get three swings of the bat at quarterback. I can't am at. And I know they've added talent. Amad Garner and Breece Hall is really talented. Garrett Wilson's really, I get it. But like, you don't get two shots.

You don't get Zach Wilson and then you get to punt on that for a day three pick swap. And then Aaron Rogers, if this doesn't pan out either, I do think they end up cleaning house. So I do think it's one last ride. We're dropping the egg at the top story. And if they win a couple of playoff games, maybe people come back and we have to rebuild and figure out who the quarterback of the future is. But they are the most improved team. But I don't think they are built for the future.

We can turn our noses up at that style of, like, roster building. But you look at the last couple of years in the NFL and the teams that are winning the Super Bowl, not that this is like, that's like proof because it is a small sample size. But the teams that are winning the Super Bowl are the ones that use this like dropping the egg model. Like the Bucks, it was like one or two years at most. The Rams, it was one or two years at most with Matthew Stafford. And I think the Jets are in a similar spot. And I think it's a commendable way to build a team rather than just being like,

give me seven years and a bunch of second round picks to build a roster like Chris Ballard. I would not want to root for that. There's also an argument. I was thinking about this too. There's also an argument that it's lower risk. Yes, that's coming off for, like, Robert Sol and Joe Douglas are probably going to get fired

if they don't want a playoff game. But they're going to get jobs elsewhere because the vision is so clear. Hey, we brought in Rogers. He got hurt. It didn't work out. We're ready to swing this bat again. To take to another analogy,

if you're a GM and a coach combo that takes like three, four, five years to build this massive Lego set and it like falls on its ass after four years, cough cough, Trent Balky, like you're not going to get

another shot. Like no one's going to want to see you build that Lego again. Like no one wants to see you do get a full four, five year plan again if you don't make that work.

Whereas with the Jets, they tried with Zach Wilson, they punted quickly, honestly, and then you moved to Rogers. I do think that Salon and Douglas still have legs in the league if slash win

that this doesn't pan out. I think the Jets are the right pick. I want to make a quick, I'll make a quick argument for the Patriots in the sense that, you know, if you're counting,

Roger's coming back as the Jets improving, then it's probably indisputable. But that doesn't really count, right? Because he's not an off-season move. He's just coming back from injury. And I do think in New England, they did a lot less in free agency than the Jets, but I do think in New England,

it's maybe getting a little bit underrated, Drake May's potential to contribute in year one. This is something that Ben Solac wrote about in his column this week on the ringer.com. But the history of highly drafted quarterbacks in the zone of a third overall pick says that he's going to play this year. I even think that

Jacobi Brissette is going to give them an upgrade over what they were getting out of the quarterback position last year. And, you know, I like both the additions of Jalen Polk and Javon Baker to the receiving group. I think they had a

really smart draft. I like that they went really heavy on offense because that's the side of the ball that really needed some help there. So I think just because the build, and it should be this way, right? Like Drake May needs some time to develop and that offense has a lot of room to grow. I think because the understanding is that this is a work in progress and this is not a team that is trying to compete now and prioritize how many games they're winning in 2024. Although if you talk to Robert Kraft, I think maybe it's becoming. a little bit underrated their potential to improve this season on the offensive side of the ball,

even if it's just a step in the right direction. I'd give it to the Jets, but I just, I want to make, I want to make a quick argument for New England. Lindsay, did you go with New York as well? I did, although I was with Stephen that I feel like this was kind of the hardest division to determine like a clear winner and loser, a team that got a lot better and a team that got a lot worse because I feel like in a lot of ways nobody made a significant move there. The one thing I do want to like bring up with Miami and I don't know if this is like a plus or a minus or what we where exactly this falls into their offseason moves is that the biggest move that's kind of been hanging out there

for them hasn't happened yet and that's paying to us. And I feel like if all of a sudden in two weeks or two months at some point between now and you know, training camp, they give him $50 million a year. I think that will color a lot of the way that we have viewed their offseason, their future plans, and kind of their resource allocation. Did anybody put Miami as the least improved? Yeah, that's why I would pick them as like the worst offseason of this bunch just because, one, you've lost contributors. You've lost Christian Wilkins. You've lost Robert Hunt. You've lost Xavier Howard.

I know he's been hurt. You lost Andrew Van Ginkle. You lost Jerome Baker. I know he was hurt last year. But you lost a lot of talent. I think you lost a good defensive coordinator and Vic Fangio and you replaced them with an unproven one from the Raven staff which I think could work out in the long run

but we still have to wait and see it. We don't know how Mike McDonald's assistance are going to work out in the long run. And then on top of that, like if we're comparing them to the bills, the bills have Josh Allen, whereas the dolphins have this question mark that's just festering even more now that we've gotten to this point in the offseason with two at Tagabailoa. And like honestly, there isn't a great solution to this problem. they have. So, like, I don't know what happens with Tua over the next couple of months where I look at and go,

oh, yeah, the dolphins did a good thing. And, like, they're set up better for the future because of it, outside of, like, training him for a bunch of first round picks, which I don't think is going to happen. Anybody want to make the argument for Buffalo or New England? I will say that for Buffalo, they were in the conversation for me. I ended up picking Miami. But they were in the conversation for me because I feel that if the Buffalo, Bill's win this division, and they are favored to win the division. It's a narrow favorite, but they are favored. It's going to be a Herculane career year, career best performance from Josh Allen. He's going to take a next step, like a similar next step that we've seen Mahomes take

like two or three years ago. And that I think, I'd rather bank on that happening and him improving year over year and him improving, you know, continually as he grows in his career, than Tua unlocking something after what was a rough off season for Miami. Like, they weren't able to bring a lot of these guys back. The only thing, the only saving grace that I'm stewing on is if I can hear through the, or see through the smoke screens, Mike McDaniel coming up with another wrinkle to this offense. Last year, weeks one through six, third best rushing offense by EPA we've seen in the last

20 years. The cheat motion was the most copied concept in football that I can honestly remember since like the wildcat and that died immediately. If Daniel gets back in the lab and comes up with some other fairy dust type of magic, maybe the Miami Dolphins do get back on a heater. I feel like we forget. We forget they scored 70 points in week three. They were averaging 37 points a game in weeks one through six.

Like he can get in the lab and make some plays. So if he has another trick up the sleeve, what's in his bag? Right. What's in much of the annual backpack? Because if he's got something, I'm going to need it. By the way, that's the same thing. That's the same thing. That's the same thing.

Daniel carries around league events. Just throwing it out. Now we're talking. Now we're talking. I do think you bring up a good point and that the Dolphins coaching could be underrated. And I don't know what this defensive staff is going to look like and how they're going to coach. But there is a chance that they can replicate maybe 65% of what Baltimore had going on with their defense. And if that happens, like, and Mike McDaniel does have another wrinkle, which I mean, he's had a new wrinkle, like, for the past five years, even going back to his time as a 49ers assistant.

And like I do think they can make up for the offseason, but that doesn't change the fact that this was a bad off season for. People were writing articles about the dolphins at the end of the 22 season. Mike McDaniel's first year, like, is there a blueprint out for this offense? Do you just have to press at the line? And like they lost a lot of games down the stretch. And then you go into next year and like literally people were calling them the greatest show on surf. They're ready to give the offense a name.

Like it was so unsolved. It was funny. And like obviously down the stretch of last season, it wasn't where they wanted to be. and Tua did not show up in these big moments. Ruiz, you wrote a great article for the ringer.com on that exact topic. I still think Mike McDaniel has more. And maybe that's greedy. I'm greedy, but I still think he has more.

He has to have more is the thing. Yeah, true. Right. I still think, I hear everything you guys are saying, I don't want to underate just how much walked out of Buffalo this offseason. I don't have this in front of me, but I remember we talked on another show about how they lost something like, 5,000 snaps from from starters in free agency.

I mean, just in terms of the releases alone, you know, Jordan Poir, Mitch Moore, Trey White, the number of just like real contributors that they had to cut in addition to the free agent losses just feels really significant. And then in the draft,

I think Keon Coleman has a lot of upside and that was a good recovery from just trading back on night one. But it's still, they're just left in this situation where so much went out then came in, which might be good for the long-term health of the roster. But I think it's tough to see how they're in a better position to start 2024 than they were at the end of last year. All right, let's move to the West. Lindsay, who's your most improved AFC West team? Okay.

So I guess I just, I know I just said that the AFC East, was really hard. I thought the West was fairly challenging as well. And when I went through all of the rosters, I think the chiefs, I picked the chiefs here, because when I look position by position, the places that they were weak last year, I think they went ahead and addressed a lot of those, and they got better at a number of positions. And that should be kind of scary for the rest of this division that has been just dominated for basically a decade now by the Kansas City Chiefs. that none of the rest of the teams in the, in the AFC West, I think, made much of a significant, a significant move to close this gap on Kansas City.

That said, I mean, I don't think that chiefs have solved all of their problems. I still think there are big question marks about exactly how some of these receivers are going to pan out. But, you know, and I think some of the offensive line questions they had out there still, you know, still exists. But when I look at, you know, kind of where teams ended the season, whether that was, you know, week 18, or February 13th, winning the Super Bowl, I think the chiefs are the team that have made enough moves to get better than the rest of the division. I did think about the Chargers,

just in that they've had, like, the most overhaul in terms of, like, I think they had the biggest coaching change. I think moving from Brandon's Daly to Jim Harbaugh is going to be a huge needle shifter that we should, yeah, like, and I don't think we should discount that. But when I was looking at the roster, I had to go with the chiefs. what do you think is the biggest impact move Kansas City made? I think it's with both of the receiver spots. I think it's with adding Hollywood Brown and then drafting Xavier Worthy.

And who knows how quickly worthy is going to be like a legit contributor. You know, sometimes it takes rookies, especially in an Andy Reid offense, a while to do that. But this is an offense that we have seen continually evolve over the course of the Mahomes-Reed tenure, where, you know, they went from having, you know, a Tyree kill dominated offense to, you know, going to kind of like bigger, slower receivers trying to get as fast a deep threat, but those guys couldn't catch. And now we're going to kind of see what this next evolution is. And even though it's hard to project exactly how those guys are going to pan out, I'm really intrigued by what it's going to look like and what sort of possibilities it opens up. And I think I give them the benefit that it out in a lot of, in a lot of cases. because we have seen them make it work with all these different iterations of past catchers. Stephen and Austin, did either of you choose Kansas City? I chose the Chargers. It was between the Chargers in Kansas City.

And with Kansas City, I agree. And I feel like you always, in this division particularly, I feel like you view the offseason moves through the lens of, do they have a quarterback or not? Like, the Raiders' offseason moves don't really make sense because they don't have a quarterback. Denver's offseason moves aren't inspiring at all because they don't, well, they didn't have a quarterback. I don't know if they have one now in Bo Nix. The charters, I feel like it's so much easier to be optimistic about this off-season because they do have a quarterback in Herbert.

And then, like, when you really look at the moves, they're eating $50 million in dead cap. Like, they took their medicine this off-season, which I think was a smart move on their part. Next year, they're slated to have over $100 million in cap space, fourth most in the NFL right now. And that's before they can rework the deals of Joey Bosa and in Derwin James. Some of these guys on the wrong side of 30, they're making nearly $30 million per year. they have a chance to have one of the better cap situations in the league next year coming off a season where they had one of the worst

like a month ago they had one of the worst and then when you look at the roster and who they lost they didn't lose like irreplaceable players they lose Austin Echler who was hurt last year and he's a running back they lose Mike Williams who barely even played last year they lose Gerald Everett who you can replace Michael Davis you can replace Eric Kendrick's was replaceable he was getable when they signed Kenneth Murray was not a good linebacker.

So they've lost a lot of names and they've shed a lot of salary. But the roster isn't much worse than it was a year ago. And if Herbert's healthy and the coaching is better and some of their young players take a step forward in, like Joe Alt is a player right away. Ladd McCawtony's is the receiver they drafted in the second round as a player right away. Like I could see this team being better than they were last year and like significantly better than they were last year. And if you look at like implied playoff odds, Vegas doesn't disagree. They have better implied playoff odds than the.

the Jaguars do right now. And we talk about the Chargers. Like, they're this team that's destined to be one of the worst teams in the league. I feel like they have a lot of like 20, 23 Rams energy to them. And I wouldn't be surprised if they had the same season. Can I say that we as a society are not spending enough time talking about Jim Harbaugh, drafting Joe Alt to play right tackle? Just the most football hardo move to be like, neighbors, Adunze?

No, thanks. Let's take the premium. tackle off the board and not even ask him to play the blindside because we are committing to the trenches. I think it's, I think it's inspired. I was like, to me, this was the Chargers. I picked the Chargers and I didn't think that hard about it just because I totally agree. I think they got two players in Alt and in Ladd-McConkie in the draft who could be pretty immediate significant contributors. And I hear everything about the Chiefs and I think they've, They've had a totally good offseason.

They also just get like chief's privilege because they're going to probably win the Super Bowl. But I'm not sure, you know, there's a world in which Hollywood Brown and worthy are a little bit redundant. I in general trust Andy Reid to figure out how to do that. But I don't know how much they're getting immediately that that they didn't already have. Right. And then in free agency, their offseason is kind of defined by they spent all the money on Chris Jones, which they, that was something they needed to do. Keep them in the building.

Great, great, great. They did lose Sneed, which I think is significant. So I don't know that I can say that I think that much more went in than came out. I just think they're the chiefs, so they're going to be really, really good and that's fine. But I'm totally in agreement with you, Stephen, where I think that there's potential for the Chargers to significantly improve over expectations next season. And I really liked their draft. And I just think that the way that Harbaugh went about prioritizing the trench play there feels like something that is really smart and is sort of a philosophy and an identity that

they've been missing there. Austin, AFC West, tell us. I'm with the Chargers as well. I think that part of me considered the Kansas City Chiefs. I do actually like the Xavier worthy draft pick for the Kansas City. Chiefs, I also like them adding Kinsey Sumitaya, the BYU office to tackle to compete there and potentially even start. But you can't say the Chiefs are the most improved team in this division when they're coming off like a Super Bowl back to make Super Bowls. And I don't know, it's tough.

It's like, and like I do think that they've gotten better in some spots. I think they've got worse than some spots. Travis Kelsey is not going to be better next year than he was last year. There's just no way, right? There's no way. Travis Kelsey is going to be a better football player next year than he was last year. I do think that there's regression coming for him. he's obviously a focal point of the offense. Regression has come to be a point of the album. I mean, exactly. Exactly.

We're talking about playoff Travis Kelsey. Yeah. In season, Travis Kelsey. He was not that good. So I, like that kind of disagree. They don't see that with the, with the contract. I mean, I don't know if the contract them coming in, like giving him all that money, it's like, okay, I don't think this guy has it anymore.

Rishie Rice has his own issues off the field. I mean, the contract ended up just being a race. It's not an extension. They're just giving. him a little bit more money. And at a certain point, you know, they had four million bucks to spare. And presumably there's some possibility of a retirement. And you do what you need to do to keep that player happy. So like, I don't think that that's like a, we believe that, you know, all the rhetoric about Travis is a unicorn and he's going to play well into his 30s and stay at as high of a level as he's been. they know.

I think the chiefs are smart enough to know that he is a step slower than he used to be, but is still capable of turning it on in big moments, and they're just giving him a little bit of a bump to keep him happy.

He's staring to Jason Witten arc in the face. It's coming. It comes for us all. It comes for us all. The Chastewitton is why I really like what they've done. I think that,

I think that some of me, and I think you hinted at this, Ruiz, that was like, maybe it's going to get worse before it gets better, right? They're going to invest in the offensive line. They're going to have to shed some players like Keenan Allen and Mike Williams and

lose Austin Eckler and maybe it gets worse before it gets better in Los Angeles. I don't know if that's going to be the case. I think it could be immediately pretty good in Los Angeles. I like what they've done. That's also, I mean, that is the hard of a history, right? It's coming in and rehung a program pretty quickly. And maybe you run into trouble down the road because in year five, that guy starts to grade on people.

But in year one, the results tend to be pretty good. Is that even true, though? The offensive line. Michigan won in championship after year five. I think people, do you know we started a great-old people? Trent Balky started a great-old people. Let's get to him. We'll get to him.

We'll get to him. The Chargers, I want to leave with this. Like, they brought in Greg Roman. They bring in J.K. or Gus Edwards. They, there is like, there is a vision here in terms of this offensive line being an absolute monster with Rishan Slater and Joe Alde at tackle. You have Jammari Salier and Zion Johnson.

at the two guard spots and Corey Lindsay at center. That to me could be like a legitimate like strength to a point where like they were going to beat on people. And then just Jim Har in general is just improving the vibes in Los Angeles. I'm a believer. I'm definitely a Harbaugh. I think he's still. No, no, I didn't say Jim Harbaugh.

Yes, he absolutely did. Maybe I did. Maybe I did. Maybe I did. An accidental abbreviation. And I'm sorry. Not even an abbreviations, but I cut off. But I just feel like that the Harbaugh continues to be underrated. He continues to be underrated.

I think what he's going to do in Los Angeles. I'm too stunned by Jim Har to continue this conversation. So let's move on to least improve. I'm sorry. You will never apologize enough for that, Austin Gale. Steven, who is your least improved? AFC West team? I'm a feeling they're probably going to be in agreement.

I'm picking the Broncos. And like, I don't think they had like the worst off season of the four teams. I want our listeners to know that everyone is just nodding in their little Zoom. I would say the Raiders had the most naive. offseason and like not very productive even though they did a lot of activity. Like you got Antonio Pierce dropping these sound bites

all the time, but like they didn't solve the quarter. There's a vision there, Ruiz. There's a vision there. Would you like to explain what it is? I'm envisioning Aiden O'Connell starting week one. That's my vision. No, I'm with you on the Broncos. I think that the Raiders,

that's, it's going to get worse before it gets worse type of thing. The Raiders have hired more head coaches than any team in the NFL over the last 25 years. It's going to continue to be bad until we figure out the quarterback position. For the Denver Broncos, the vibes aren't getting better. The quarterback position is arguably not getting better.

The receiving room is getting worse. The defense, in my opinion, has not improved over the offseason. There is nothing to like about this Broncos off season. And it just continues to get worse with every detail we find out about their process. Do we still have confidence in Sean Payton? That's my question.

Do we have confidence in Sean Payton turning this around? I do not right now. If Bo Nix is the guy he's hitching his wagon to, I'm sorry, I'm off. I'm off the train. The best, The best explanation for that, though, is like, I think it was Shiel Capadde who said it either with us or are on extra point taken,

where he's like, how many more years does Sean Payton got left? He's like, I'm not going to start Jared Sidham next year. It's like, I'd rather swing the bat on Bo Nix on resources that don't matter to me at all to just get a slight upgrade at quarterback rather than like even think about any type of long-term plan. And that kind of decision-making is what's going to keep the Broncos in a hole that they've dug themselves into. Guys, don't worry. He's going to be Mahomes.

Sean Dayton knew. I can't. He feels just as stronger. And I do think that this is an example of Sean Peyton just being like, it's kind of like the Kyle Shanahan thing when we talk about his view on quarterbacks where I think Peyton was like, Bo Nix, he's played the most football. If you watch him, he's comfortable in the pocket. He goes to his progressions.

He listens to his coaches. Like, just give me that guy. Just give me an on-field avatar. And I'm smart enough to do the rest. And like, one, I think Sean Payton is confident enough to believe that he can make it work like that. We saw it at the end of his very. in New Orleans. Two, he doesn't really have a choice now looking at this roster.

Like this roster needs every bit of his genius for this to work. And Bo Nix needs every bit of his genius for his rookie contract to work. Not a good spot. What genius? What genius? Playing some hill at tight end and paying him on. I don't. Oh, come on now.

Genius. We over use genius. We overuse genius. We overuse genius. Come on. He made the players with Teddy Bridgewater as his quarterback, man. Let's give them some credit. How long ago was that?

How long ago was that? Juberys couldn't throw 25 yards down field and they were playing in the divisional round every year. I'm not taking flowers away from Sean Payton has cooked. Let it let the record reflect that Sean Payton has cooked. The onside kick was great. You referenced it earlier. To me, let's not forget that he did it as his first play as Denver Broncos head coach, was he called an onside kick to open last season and it failed.

Okay, you need a new pit. Sean. Sean Payton has cooked. Sean Payton has cooked and now he is cooked. Okay, like it's... That's fine. Jason Witten comes for us all. This is not in dispute.

Eventually... This is not in dispute. I just want the record to reflect that Sean Peyton has cooked. The exercise that I tried to do with myself is just to say what is the, like, what is the best move that the Broncos have made? Right. This offseason, like, their biggest free agency deal was, was for Brandon Jones, the same. safety. Like, it's really hard to go down the list. Who's not as good as Justin Simmons.

Right. You know. And like, and you factor in that Justin Simmons was like a pretty beloved, like one of very few players who people were like, oh yeah, I like that Bronco. It's really hard. I mean, Lindsay, do you have one where you can be like, yeah? That was a good. No. And I think like everybody around here in Denver is like waiting for another shoe to drop that like feels like they're not done like.

with bad or like questionable moves. You know, they got so they... They're not done. No, so I mean, you know, they had the New Jersey release a couple weeks ago that were like widely panned except for the throwbacks, which are awesome. And they should be wearing the throwbacks all the time. Like, they're fine. The old uniforms were bad.

It was time to go. Like, they're fine. They could have been better. The throwbacks are awesome. But, you know, who's noticed, who is absent from the rollout of all of the uniform reveal and all of the photo. and all of the photos, all of the videos, everything was Cortland Sutton, who is one of their, like, actually good players.

So everybody is waiting for, like, another move, another good player to walk out the door. You know, I think I brought it up on this pod before. It's like the whole Jersey idea. They unveiled these new jerseys. Like, for sale, everybody get them. Who would you get? There are, like, no, like, marquee players that you feel good about, like,

this player's going to be here a long time. Bo Nix. love this guy. I want a root. I mean, is he? I don't even know. Yeah, I know. That's the one. If Sean Payton, if it fails and Sean Payton is out. Because even, yeah. You can't even, even, even like a throwback certan jersey would be sick.

But, like, you don't even know if he's got long-term plans in Denver. And the worst thing you can do, yeah. The only good move that they made business-wise is that, like, the throwbacks are sick. And you can go get, like, a John Elway or like a Shannon Sharp, like, throwback jersey. And Sean. And Ed McCaffrey jersey or something, yeah. Sean Payton's Kobe Bryant when he's like,

jobs not finished. But it's just kidding. It's just like continuing to drop. Just like continue to just like just do horrible. He's going to make us re-record this segment in a week. He's going to train his best players. But yeah, I mean, they haven't,

I mean, they've noticedably, like they haven't made good moves. They haven't had a lot of money to spend. They, you know, I wrote a note in the Jets section about addition by subtraction by getting rid of Zach Wilson,

who the Broncos, you know, have now added to just make the vibe. even weirder in that absolutely weird in that room. So the funny thing they could have possibly done what I've been to pick up his fifth year option. I mean, you know, never in a million years. Yeah. Oh my God.

I don't know. There's like 48 hours to go. That's a mad rule. Move. Sean Payton is in the zone where it just feels like anything is possible with the quarterbacks. Do you know how Sean Payton turns it around? This is the, how he turns this around and beats Austin's allegations.

You got to get rid of the, The visor, man. I gave the same advice to Doug Peterson. It's 2024. The visor doesn't work anymore. Offensive geniuses aren't wearing the visor. Josh McDaniels wore the visor. Where's he?

Where's he? You know, like it's the visor is a death knell. I also think that, and this is the last time I'll say it, but what's in Sean Peyton's backpack? Is it a framed picture of the onside kick? Is it, is it, is it Taseham Hill's phone number on a piece of napkin? It's definitely a frame picture of Taseon. It's a framed picture of Taseon Hill.

What's going on? It's a starboard. His talent, his quarterbacking talent is in there. And, yeah, I don't know, like a notebook where he writes down everyone who's wronged him in the past so that he can enact his revenge. And we know it's not like a takeout sushi menu because he's made it. It doesn't like sushi. Doesn't like sushi. Probably some chicken tenders.

I don't know. I mean, okay. Ditch the visor would be one thing. The funniest thing for Sean Payton to do would be to film a what's in my bag segment with like the Broncos content team. It would be electric. Self-awareness. That would be good. That would actually like be good.

It would be really good. I don't expect it. Yes. I do not expect it, but it would be great. I will forward this segment to some people who could pitch that and see if they could make that happen. Please, please. All right. Let's go to the AFC North.

Austin, kick us off. Who got better in the north? why do I want to say the Ravens? I don't know. I think all these teams didn't make major, major splashes in free-insia with draft, but I do think I came out of the Ravens draft class most impressed. I think that they're a team that continues to draft value-wise against the consensus board. They're also looking at steals versus the consensus board,

essentially any pick in the top 50. That's more than 10 to 15 picks above consensus. They have four of some of the biggest hits on that board, and they continue to like tap into that. I think that the Baltimore Ravens got better. And I think that this one's another tough one though. I don't know. Like I think that I can't say the Pittsburgh Steelers,

I can't say the Pittsburgh Steelers, even with this combination of Justin Fields and Russell Wilson, the Cleveland Browns, I still, them being healthy is obviously going to make them a better football team next year. They suffered a lot of injuries. I think that was a core reason why Kevin Stifansky won coach at the year last year is because he was playing without his left tackle, right tackle, star running back.

Injuries obviously at quarterback. And the Cincinnati Bengals in the same vein, right? If Joe Burroughs healthy and obviously T. Higgins still under contract, T. Hendrickson requesting a trade with still under contract, I think this team is able to kind of compete as long as Burroughs healthy. The Ravens are the team that I saw add talent in free and see, and add talent in the draft and not lose a ton of talent in free agency, my opinion. I'm curious why you said you feel like you can't say the Steelers.

I know the quarterback room is not exactly inspiring, but given what they gave up very little, to add there and then the fact that their draft seems to be the one, one of the drafts that's getting a huge amount of praise. I was expecting a lot of Steelers shatter in this category, but what are you not impressed by there? I guess, you know, I think that their draft class is one that I really liked as well. I think going Troy Fultano in round one, then also getting Zach Frazier at the West Virginia Center in round two, we're both like value picks. I think that-building a line that can help whoever's being quarterback.

exactly and then even just the improvement from matt canada to arthur smith say what you want about arthur smith i think is going to be a lot better than where they were last year i just come back to i don't know who's playing quarterback good coordinator i like arthur smith i like i think right now fandle has the odds at russell wilson being the starter at minus 750 if justin fields isn't the starter to open the season i question a lot of the decision making process and like who's making these decisions why why is russlewilson starting over justin fields what is the upshot of that why not justin fielts why not try. I agree, but you can be like, oh, Russell Wilson and Justin, yeah. Right? Because I, I would view Justin Fields starting as an upgrade at quarterback for the Steelers.

Absolutely. It feels as the starter and Arthur Smith is able to cater this offense to his skill set, like, running the football and doing these different things. I think there's a lot of value there. But like, they're going to have the play in different offenses. Like, Russell Wilson does not have the juice anymore. And so I think that what we're seeing in the betting odds and obviously what we've seen already in that, I think that Russell Wilson is going to end up being the starter. And that worries me. I don't even know if that's an upgrade over Kenny Pickett. at least. Let's go back and rewatch Kenny Pickett. It was very bad. Yes. Second of all, I'm,

I am, we'll have to have this conversation in the fall at some point because I'm, I'm just like trying and maybe this is, this is desperate grasping at some semblance of rationality. I'm choosing to believe

that talent is going to win out. And I think that Justin Fields has more to offer the Steelers. I also buy, the way, the Steelers are paying him more money. In neither case is it a lot, but they are paying him more than twice as much as they're spending to have Russell Wilson on the roster. And to some extent, those things matter to football teams.

If Justin Fields is playing there, which I think he will be because I think he is the better player, the fact that their draft class and their moves have been designed to create a context that can help either quarterback and can help in any situation. And by the way, can also help, you know, if these are short-term moves and they have, maybe they become a Dak Prescott contender or maybe Kurt Cousins gets so mad in Atlanta that something happens and or it's another quarterback that they draft or something happens there in the future. The fact that they are rebuilding that offensive line in particular, I think it's going to help no matter who is playing quarterback. And to Lindsay's point, let us not forget what that looked like last year. and I think behind an improved line,

which they should have, with a better offensive coordinator, and hopefully with fields having won that job and being in an offense that makes sense for his skill set, I just think that that's going to be a meaningful improvement. Stephen, where are you on the Steelers

or on your most improved North team? You can take that in either direction. I feel like this was the hardest one to pick because none of these off-season really moved me. I agree with Austin. I think the Bengals, in terms of net losses and gains, I think they're the ones that lost the least amount of talent.

But I think they're the ones that kind of went into the offseason with questions that I don't think people were asking enough. Like, this defense really fell off down the stretch and really, they lost talent from it over the last couple of years. And I think that matters more than we realize. And I think we need to give more credit to the defensive side of the ball for the success that team has had in January over the last couple of years. and if they don't have it,

like this is going to change. And I think the fact that we haven't had a resolution on T. Higgins, and that's still an open-ended discussion, is a loss for them. So I can't give them the win, even though I think they probably had the best off-season on paper. And then, like, even with Baltimore, it's tough to say because they've lost so much,

not even, like, from the roster, but from the coaching staff. Like, losing Mike McDonald is a huge deal. I can't harp on that enough. And I don't think, like, bringing in Derek Henry, I don't think that's going to change enough. That's not going to move the needle enough to make up for the fact that they just lost

maybe the best defensive coordinator in the NFL, the best defensive play caller, and then some of his assistants. They lose an assistant to Miami. They lose Zach Ward in Miami. I think it's going to be tough for them to replicate what they did last year. And then like the Steelers and Browns

off-season don't move you. I don't want to pick a team here. I don't think any of them are the most improved. I think they've all improved or gotten worse the same amount. man, I thought we were going to have more enthusiasm for the North. I got to say, I really like the Bengals draft. I thought you were, I was really wrong about where this part was going to go.

I thought you were all going to come in here with Steelers takes. And I was going to come on and say, let's put some respect on the Cincinnati Bengals draft. Because I do think the fact that, you know, look, they have lost some defensive talent. They are in a situation where, the bills are coming due on some of the high-impact players, and that's a tricky mold to be in for an NFL team and for a front office to navigate. But I think taking a big swing on MIMS in the first round

is an exciting move for them. I like that they are taking a chance and going for something high upside there. And in particular, I love the idea of the Bengals building just an absolutely ginormous offense. line. I mean, think of Joe Burroughs history. I think that's a smart that's a smart

building block for them. And they still were able to add a potential impact player in the second round in Chris Jenkins. So, you know, shout out to Big Lou. We'll see what he can do there. So actually, I thought that they had a really

smart draft. The T. Higgins situation is unfortunate. It's, I am, you know, one of my personal Roman Empires is that even though the franchise tag is such a like kind of unfair tool of player control that's at the disposal of teams, if you're using the franchise tag a lot, it's because you're not making smart moves early enough in your,

your player contracts. So that's not great. But at the same time, looks like T. Higgins is going to be a Bengal next season. So at the very least, they're in a situation where they can can go and try to make a run. and still have their two elite receivers. So I don't know. I think I'm higher on the North overall than maybe you guys are. I liked a lot of the moves. I guess my concern, especially with like the Steelers and the Bengals,

is that the draft class won't be ready to contribute in a way that moves the needle in 2024. I think down the road, yes. I think these two draft classes have set these teams up, but I don't know about for 2024. I don't know if they filled the holes that these teams had. The Bengals had holes beyond Joe Burrow getting hurt. And I think the fact that he did get hurt and the fact that he missed half the season has kind of covered that up and covered up their deficiencies.

And we haven't paid attention to them at all because we assume Joe Burroughs coming back and everything's going to be fine. He was playing during the season, like the first half of the season. I know he was hurt for the first month. But it didn't look great then either. Joe Burrow getting hurt is like crashing, like wrecking a car. But like right before that, like he threw up. back seat. And like, wait, did we look at the defense? Do we look at the defense and what was going down here?

Like, this is not going well before all this happened. But then you're like, well, the car's wrecked. Who cares? Like next year, we restart. We get this whole thing refreshed up. And we're going to be back in the saddle. The more I talk about, talk this out, the more I feel like it is really the Ravens division to lose. They have the best quarterback in this division, in my opinion. And I also feel that, like, yes, losing Mike McDonald, I still think that this roster is good enough to be. I think they're the rightful favorite. Now, would I sprinkle a little unit or two on, on, on, on, on, on, the Steelers plus $750 because I think this division could be kind of chaos, especially because all of them are a little top heavy in terms of their rosters.

Absolutely. It seems like everybody's in agreement on Cleveland at the bottom. They just didn't have a lot of resources. I would definitely put them at the bottom. They didn't have the resources. I just want to correct myself. I said, Zach Orr went to Miami.

Anthony Weaver went to Miami. Zach Orr took over in Baltimore for Mike McDonald's yet. Catch, good catch. All right. AFC South, our last division. Lindsay, you want us to start? start us with the most improved? Yeah, I mean, I think it's the Texans.

They had money to spend. They had someone limited. And oh, boy, they spent it. And they spent it. They had limited draft resources because of the previous moves that they have made a little bit, right? They still had a little bit left from their Deshaun Watson trade. But the moves from last year when they moved up to get Will Anderson Jr. After getting C.J. Stroud.

So they were a little hampered in terms of their. draft resources, but they went out and spent money. And this is, I think when we're talking about the Texans, we kind of have to remember what their previous off seasons were like, where they could not bring in guys in free agency on anything beyond these like one year kind of vet minimum type of deals. They were not a destination place. Free agents were not wanting to play there. There were questions about the coaching staff and how long the coaches were going to be in in place there. You know, ownership was a big question. And all of a sudden, this is. has become a place where

it seems like guys want to play. They're able, you know, CJ Stroud is a hell of a recruiter. It seems like, you know, just from watching the tape and saying that's a guy I want to play with. But then also, I also think he's just like, did you guys watch him on Michael Parsons' podcast? Yeah. Like, this is a dude that I think when you get in a room with him and you get to like talk

football, watch football, have any sort of interaction with him, you're like, that's the guy. I want to be on a team. with him. So I just think that they, at a lot of places, just made some smart moves. Maybe the finances of some of the decisions, you know, the Danielle Hunter deal versus keeping Jonathan Grenard. They're paying Hunter more than they could have paid, maybe would have paid Grinard, and he's older. But I think they got better at a lot of positions and they're going to, they put themselves in a situation here now where they're not going to be like a sneaky

playoff team. They're building to be like a perennial playoff contender. So I like them. I think there are some risky moves involved. Stefan Diggs is probably the riskiest of them just in terms of if it hits like that is great. He could be a great elevator for CJ Stroud. It also is the potential to like blow up the chemistry of your receiver room and your offense if it's not working. But overall, I really, really, really like what the Texans have done and what they're building. I do think that it's a really, really, good example of, and this seems kind of stupid to say, but like what drafting a good quarterback and bringing in a good head coach can do. Like, like, like, DiMico Ryan's, who hired Bobby Slowick, the offensive coordinator and like, obviously was a longtime Texans player and like him bringing

a culture and a vision. And obviously he was celebrated as the defensive coordinator in San Francisco. That's a dub. Then you draft CJ Stroud, who like on the football field, obviously was heroic last year, right? Like, awesome. Offensive rookie of the year. People are talking about him as potentially already being a top 10 quarterback in the league. And he's this like locker room magnet. Like he looks like a locker room like amplifier in terms of any clip you see of him talking with either teammates or even like opponents like Michael Parsons and stuff. Like you're just like attracted to what he has to say.

Massive, massive dub. That can hide a lot of like all of a sudden Nico Collins does look a lot better. And this offensive line does, you know, Titus Howard contract does make sense. And like all this other stuff like, oh, you know what? I can kind of get on board with this. Tank Dell's only 160 pounds soaking wet, but like this is working for me. Like CJ's drought and Domingo Ryan's and Bobby Sloick have been like a, not a bandaid, but like they just make everything look a little bit better.

And I think that has been awesome to see in Houston. And obviously it's like a really cool success story to follow. What I will say in addition to that with the Stefan Dix piece, and I'm glad you brought it up, I do think that that is my biggest thing I'm looking for this year because we all saw the details about the contract. And like he was going to come in with like three years, not guaranteed. Like, ooh, this is a nice deal. Second round pick. he could be part of like this transition.

He's like, no, I actually only want a one-year deal because I want to stay motivated on and off the football field. What I'm really interested in is if the first four weeks of the season, Diggs isn't getting his targets and maybe the Texans start maybe two and two or three and one even, but he's not the focal point of the offense. How much does he strong arm his way into funneling himself the football, either through conversations with a very young still being evaluated offensive coordinator in Bobby Sloick and unobjectively very young quarter.

back. And like, if that messes with Nico Collins in a contract year or the development with Tank Dell on his, that worries me a little bit. Now, like, D'Amico Ryan's, in my opinion, does give energy like Antonio Pearson as like guardians at the gate. Like, we're not letting cancers in this locker room and I'm just going to make sure the vibes are good. So I think he's going to be able to defend that. But Dix has been in two locker rooms now. And both times he's left on bad terms. And he's on, when's the last time you've seen a star player go to a team and everyone knows he's not coming back this year? Like, it's a guaranteed. Like, he's on a one-year deal. want for a big money and like they probably want Nico Collins instead and they probably have to

save money for CJ Stroud like to bring in a star that wants the football like a 25 to 30 percent target share and no he's not coming back that's going to introduce vibes that I don't even know if it's happened before it's going to be an interesting challenge for Ryan's and this staff I mean I feel like you have to pick the Texans by default especially when you look at the other teams in this division I mean obviously they spend a lot of money I do think there's like some danger of becoming the 2019 Browns here like you get the rookie quarterback and then you just try to rush everything and you give them all these tools. And then the second season doesn't go as well.

And we saw that in Cleveland after Baker Mayfield's rookie year. One thing is, I think, Tomico Ryan's is a better coach than Freddie Kitchens is. And then C.J. Stroud is way better than Baker Mayfield ever was. But interesting. I do think it's a, I do think there is a little concern there that it's too much too soon with them. But like, when you compare them to other teams in the division,

it's funny because these teams are just like leaning into their bits even more. The Colts did nothing. Like this is Chris Ballard's thing at this. point is we're going to bring back the same team for the most part, add a couple mid, day two picks, and then try to win eight games. That's what they're doing with this offseason. The Jaguars, it's another Trent Balke masterclass, bringing in a bunch of talent and overpaying for it, not needle-moving talent necessarily. I do think the Jaguars got better, but the price they paid was a little too steep for me, which reminds me of the previous off-season or two off-season to go when they

get Christian Kirk and they bring in the receivers. And then there's the Titans who just No rhyme or reason to how this team acquires players, what their timeline is. Is this team trying to win now? Are they trying to win in five years? I don't understand. I mean, I think the Titans probably got better. This is a three-team division. No, the Titans, the Titans, the, the, the son is the head coach, his dad is on the staff.

I mean, their whole shit's whack. They don't know what they're doing over there. Like, who's picking the players? And you're like, you're going to tell your dad that you're not picking an offensive line in. He's right. Like they don't have a, they don't even have a timeline.

Like, what's the timeline? Like, they have nothing. They wanted Joe all at seven. They ended up still forcing offensive tackle because Bill Callahan's literal dad is on the staff, probably strong harring him and making some of those decisions.

They're still not the least improved team because Trent Balke continues to both literally and figuratively fart in front of people and no one's willing to listen. No one's willing to listen because this is a team that was drafted below consensus, 500 spots below consensus over the NFL draft. 500 spots. That's in first round, second round, third round, fourth round, fifth round, fifth round, six, on seven round. Literally just like my board, I'm sticking to it. I don't care. I can't believe how fast you can get words out of your mouth, Austin, Gale. It's like, it is every pod. I am, I am flabbergasted anew. I know you're,

I know you're cooking right now. I know you're cooking on friend's boggy. I just got to say. I mean, that was really something. It's getting to the point where Urban Meyer might be underrated. It's getting to that point. It's getting to that point. I love this take. Trevor Lawrence, Trevor Lawrence was gift-wrapped to Tramp Balke on a freaking golden platter, and he's wasted him.

Brought in Doug Pearson to be an adult in the room, and then one year after they win a playoff game, he relinquished his offensive play calling duties to press Taylor, and they freaking drop the ball, signing Christian Kirk, bringing in Gabe Davis. Now, time to pay up. Four of the five starters on the offensive line have been brought in by Trembalchi, either drafted, trade it for, or signed.

The entire receiver room and the tight end, drafted, traded for, or signed by Trent Balke, the quarterback and the running back, Tram bulky. If this doesn't work, and he gets to, like, push out another coach, like he did with Jim Harbaugh, by the way, this is a freaking disaster. Like, the Jaguars are literally ruining what people are calling the prince has promised with a guy who is farting on,

camera. Like, what are we doing? I can't get over it. I also had the Jags is my least improved. Even though I like fair round one. I just, I don't know what to follow that up. I'm sorry. Yeah, they needed to add a cornerback to play office in Tyson Campbell and they didn't. Like, how do you follow Urban Meyer's underrated? I don't, I, can we talk about it? I'm ready to talk about it. Can we have the conversation? I suppose. I think we just did. I think we just did. I think. we just did. And I'm glad. I'm glad we had it at a reasonable speed.

Because then people can really hear your words, Austin. People can really really soak it in because it comes in so like tempered. You want to let a you want to let a grade a well marbled take like that. You really want to let it. I'm all for a bulky hate fest. But like who did they lose? How are they least improved? I don't I don't get that take. even if they overpaid for it. So here's what it is. They lost Ryan Nielsen, the defensive coordinator, who everyone was celebrating as this new vision.

He literally left for a lateral move to get out of there. He's like left to get out of Jacksonville. He's like, I got to go. That's the headline lost? Is Ryan Nielsen? I don't think they lost that much. I was going to say that they had a really glaring need at cornerback that they didn't fill.

And I do like the Brian Thomas pick. and I like what they that they traded back in round one. But ultimately, you are compensating for the fact that you bungled the Calvin Ridley situation. And I also, I mean, Stephen, is your least improved as the Colts? Yeah, I'm picking the Colts. Enough of this Chris Ballard stuff, man. This is why he does it because Balke actually makes moves and he gets rid for it. Yes, here's who they signed.

Joe Flacco, Rayquod, Davis, and Trey Sermin. how are they improved? You have a second year quarterback on a rookie deal. You are saving money on your quarterback, and your big move is Joe Flacco? Oh, so I think they had a better, I think they had a better draft than the Jaguars ultimately did. I mean, that's fine, but the draft is not going to hit in 2024.

I still, and I even still feel like that's overrated, right? Like, I think Lee A. Tilatu is a great edge rusher, maybe arguably the best pass rusher in this class, but Chris Ballard in the frontwards hat, like with the slick back lettuce, just celebrating it like it's the steal. The draft is absurd to me. Adanae Mitchell in the second round,

like, yeah, is the seal versus consensus board, but he fell for a reason. Sometimes the data point that all 32 teams pass on him once, if not twice, mean something. You can't rip the Jaguress for not following the consensus board and then turn around and say sometimes who cares about it.

This is the game Ballard plays. No, Ballard's overrated. Ballard's a bit overrated. I don't think he's worse than bulky, obviously. I think he's just a bit overrated because he, like, doesn't shoot. Like, where's the shot? Where's the chips? Let's see a little chip action.

I want to see someone push. I feel like that they just sit in the middle, and now they literally have let the Houston Texans just, like run by them, like sprint by them. And that, to me, it's just, I don't know, that obviously is concerned. I'm all here for the take that the cults have not done enough to show the proper enthusiasm for supporting Anthony Richardson. I just don't know that that necessarily translates to they did the absolute least this off season. Joe Flacco, Rayquod Davis, Trey Sermon. I'm done.

That's the end of the list. They've done the least. When Joe Flacco is winning his second comeback player of the year award when he has to replace Anthony Richardson and play the last like 10 games of the season. Don't put that evil into there. Don't put that evil into there. Hey, don't say that. That's too true. I thought I like heard that.

If I'm watching, I don't want to see that. I don't want to see that. Hey, the Atlanta Falcons just taught us. QB2 matters, guys. It matters. Well then.

This has been a vibrant discussion. Maybe we'll close it out there. This has been dual threat. Thank you so much to Stephen Ruiz, Lindsay Jones, Austin Gale. Thank you to Stefan Anderson for producing this episode.

Thank you to Eduardo Ocanpo. for his work on socials. And thank you to Connor and Evans and Arjuna Remgapal for their additional production supervision. Ben and Sheel will be back with extra point taken at the end of this week.

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