After seven long months, football is back. If you’re one of those people who can shut their football brain off during the offseason, that’s great and very emotionally mature of you. Most of the 213-day offseason is nonsense that you can ignore.
But at various points in the 5112 hours without football, there was free agency, the draft, spring workouts, training camp, and the preseason. It was in those 306,720 minutes that things changed for every team. The hirings and the firings, the signings and the waivings, the comebacks and the injuries … There was a whole lot of stuff this year. Let’s look at what all changed, how that will work for them, and also how it won't.
The AFC East is a weird division because two of the teams are Super Bowl contenders, but the other two teams are truly terrible. That means the two sets of teams had completely different plans and goals this offseason, and it shows.
New England Patriots
Coaching changes
- None. They’re running it back.
Players who left
- Khyiris Tonga, Defensive Tackle (Kansas City)
- Garrett Bradbury, Center (trade with Chicago)
- Kayshon Boutte, Wide Receiver (trade with Houston)
- Stefon Diggs, Wide Receiver (Washington)
Players who joined
- A.J. Brown, Wide Receiver (trade with Eagles)
- Romeo Doubs, Wide Receiver (Green Bay)
- Kevin Byard, Safety (Chicago)
- Alijah Vera-Tucker, Left Guard (New York Jets)
- Caleb Lomu, Offensive Tackle (28th overall)
- Gabe Jacas, Linebacker (55th overall)
- Eli Raridon, Tight End (95th overall)
The Good
This is quick and easy: A.J. Brown upgrades the Patriots' wide receiver room in a way that we can’t really grasp. Drake Maye gets to throw the ball to the most dominant X-Receiver in the NFL. It’s going to make that passing game even more brutalizing.
Kevin Byard is also a big addition to the Pats’ secondary. Yeah, he’s turning 33-years old, but he’s coming off an All-Pro season where he led the NFL in interceptions. If his wheels were falling off, he wouldn’t be doing stuff like that.
The Bad
The Patriots needed to change something up on their offensive line this offseason, and they kind of had their hand forced after they traded Garrett Bradbury to the Bears. That meant Jared Wilson was going to slide over to center, and there was going to be a hole at left guard. To fill it, the Patriots signed Alijah Vera-Tucker. If he works out for them, this will go down as one of the best free-agency signings this offseason. Unfortunately, AVT ‘working out’ specifically means staying healthy … and that’s a long shot.
The Jets drafted him 14th overall in the 2021 draft. That means he’s been eligible to play in 85 games, but because of a bunch of brutal injuries, he’s only played in 43 total games. That’s a torn triceps in 2022, an Achilles in 2023, and another torn triceps before the 2025 season started.
The problem, if/when he goes down, is how that will affect the rest of their offensive line … Specifically, the left tackle, Will Campbell.
There are very few people in the world who know if Will Campbell is the real deal, and every one of them works for the Patriots. He’s only going into his second year, and his rookie season looked both awesome and the worst ever. One thing that’s for sure is that he needs help from the left guard. If that’s AVT, then everything will be peachy …
If AVT goes down, there are a whole bunch of options for the Pats: that include a backup tackle, Campbell sliding over to guard and Caleb Lomu (developmental rookie) plays tackle, and/or Jared Wilson goes back to left guard. None of those options give you any kind of confidence.
Another move that might stink is trading Kayshon Boutte to the Texans. He’s been Drake Maye’s deep ball/field stretching guy for the past couple of years, and they don’t really have one now that he’s gone.
There’s a good argument that A.J. Brown can handle that role because he’s so good that his gravity will take safeties deep … But we saw what he looked like last year when he just ran wind sprints for the Eagles game in and game out. You could also say that Kyle Williams (rookie) and Pop Douglas could take that role, but it seems kind of hard to believe that they’ll be as effective as Boutte.
This really seems like a situation where we’re looking at the Patriots in a month or so, and thinking, ‘Man, they could really use a good deep guy.’
Buffalo Bills
Coaching changes
- Sean McDermott (head coach since 2017) was fired
- Joe Brady, head coach (previously Bills’ offensive coordinator)
- Bobby Babich (defensive coordinator in 2025) was let go
- Jim Leonhard, defensive coordinator (previously Broncos’ defensive pass game coordinator)
Players who left
- David Edwards, Guard (New Orleans)
- Joey Bosa, DE (Free Agent)
- Taron Johnson, DB (trade with Las Vegas)
Players who joined
- D.J. Moore, Wide Receiver (trade with Chicago)
- Bradley Chubb, Edge (Miami)
- C.J. Gardner-Johnson, Safety (Chicago)
- T.J. Parker, Defensive End (35th overall)
- Davison Igbinosun, Cornerback (62nd overall)
- Jude Bowry, Offensive Tackle (102nd overall)
The Good
Terry Pegula, the Bills owner, decided that Sean McDermott needed to be fired right after their season ended last year (Pegula willingly gave that information, for some reason). That’s, and I cannot express this enough, a TERRIBLE process … However, it was the right decision; his version of the Bills had run its course.
Not only is their new head coach an offensive guy, which should work well with Josh Allen being the engine for the team … But it also means that they get to move on from McDermott’s boring defense.
Jim Leonhard is a young gun that football nerds like. He’ll be running a defense that is more exotic (relative to what it was before), and it should be more technically sound. Those are all good things for the Bills.
The other good thing that they did was trading for D.J. Moore. He’s not some killer of a wide receiver, but he is a pretty good WR1… and that’s an upgrade over what they’ve had for the past couple of seasons.
From 2019 to 2023, Allen’s WR1s have had over 1,000 receiving yards ( John Brown in 2019 and Stefon Diggs every other season). When Diggs left, Khalil Shakir became the WR1. He had 821 yards and 719 yards in 2024 and 2025, respectively.
Moore isn’t prime Diggs, but he’s definitely a better receiver than Shakir. He’s going to get that offense moving more than it did last year, and that’s a good thing for everyone who wants fun football.
The Bad
David Edwards had been a really solid guard for the Bills over the past three years; you never really needed to worry about the combination of him and Deon Dawkins holding down the left side of the offensive line.
When he left in free agency, it would've been cool if the Bills tried to make a move for a mid- to lower-high-tier guy to backfill that position, but they didn’t. Instead, they got the veteran Austin Corbett … who ended up losing the camp competition to Alec Anderson.
Anderson was a 2022 UDFA who turned into a practice-squad guy, then a depth guy and a spot starter. Maybe he’s developed into a starting-caliber guy, but that’s a hell of a gamble.
The other thing that will burn the Bills is that the only help they got for Josh Allen this offseason was the trade for D.J. Moore. Not only did they trade a second-round pick for him (which was bad value), but that really doesn’t seem like it’s enough.
We all know that Josh Allen is awesome, but that doesn’t mean the dude doesn’t need help. Why is Brandon Beane addicted to getting him only one new weapon every season? Why doesn’t he try to overhaul the wide receiver room? Why were the Bills never in the trade market for A.J. Brown? They said they tried to get Jaylen Waddle from the Dolphins last season, but why were they never in the market for him during the offseason? This is a championship window that they’re looking out of, and it’s only getting smaller.
Miami Dolphins
Coaching changes
- Mike McDaniel (head coach since 2022) was fired
- Jeff Hafley, head coach (previously the head coach in Green Bay)
- Bobby Slowik, offensive coordinator (previously the passing game coordinator in Miami)
Players who left
- Tua Tagovailoa, Quarterback (Atlanta)
- Bradley Chubb, Edge (Buffalo)
- Jaylen Waddle, Wide Receiver (Denver)
- Minkah Fitzpatrick, Safety (New York Jets)
- Alec Ingold, Fullback (Los Angeles Chargers)
Players who joined
- Malik Willis, Quarterback (Green Bay)
- Kadyn Proctor, Offensive Tackle (12th overall)
- Chris Johnson, Cornerback (27th overall)
- Jacob Rodrigues, Linebacker (43rd overall)
The Good
The Dolphins knew that they needed a hard reset as a franchise, and they smashed the button with all of the strength they had left in their very, very, very weak body. They took the biggest dead cap hit ever when they let go of Tua Tagovailoa, they went to a defensive head coach, and they spent a minimal amount of money in free agency. If you want to be competitive in the future, you have to set yourself up for success, and that’s just what they did.
The other good thing they did this offseason has to do with the money they did spend, and that was giving De’Von Achane a four-year extension for $64 million.
Was that too much money? Time will tell … This is all about them getting this deal done before Jahmyr Gibbs and Bijan Robinson got paid. Achane is getting $16 million per year, while the other two guys are getting north of $22 million per year.
Jon-Eric Sullivan is their new general manager, and he showed that he understands signing guys early is going to save him a whole bunch of money in the long run. Good move by the guy.
The Bad
I liked that the Dolphins signed Malik Willis, and I liked that they traded Jaylen Waddle for a first-round pick. I hate that they did both of those things at the same time.
Willis is getting paid $22 million, and he’s got another $23 million of guaranteed money coming his way. That’s a real investment for at least a couple of seasons … But now he doesn’t have an NFL-caliber receiver room to throw to. How are the coaches supposed to grade and evaluate the dude? How are they supposed to know if he can actually be a guy?
The other bad thing is that one of those coaches is kevin patullo (he lost his capital letter privileges). He’s spent the last five seasons with the Eagles: four as the passing game coordinator and one as the offensive coordinator.
Aside from the 2022 season, the Eagles' passing game has never been truly dominant, and a lot of that was because it was entirely uncoordinated. Then, when he was the OC in 2025, the offense led the NFL in three-and-outs, and the passing game was painfully non-existent.
The fact that the Dolphins saw this guy, knew his resume, and then decided to pay him money is absolutely baffling.
New York Jets
Coaching changes
- Tanner Engstrand (2025 offensive coordinator) was fired
- Frank Reich, offensive coordinator (previously interim head coach at Stanford in 2025)
Players who left
- Quincy Williams, Linebacker (Cleveland)
- Justin Fields, Quarterback (Kansas City)
- Jermaine Johnson II, Edge (Tennessee)
- Nick Folk, Kicker (Atlanta)
Players who joined
- Geno Smith, Quarterback (trade with Las Vegas)
- Demario Davis, Linebacker (Saints)
- Nahshon Wright, Cornerback (Chicago)
- Minkah Fitzpatrick, Safety (Miami)
- David Bailey, Edge (2nd overall)
- Kenyon Sadiq, Tight End (16th overall)
- Omar Cooper Jr., Wide Receiver (30th overall)
The Good
We all know that the Jets didn’t have a single interception last season, so it’s my duty to acknowledge that signing Nahshon Wright is a great bit. He and Jaycee Horn both had five interceptions last season, which was the most of all cornerbacks.
Wright kind of stinks in coverage, but his ability to get the ball in his hands last year was undeniable. So if you wanted to do your best to make sure you get at least one interception all season (and ignore that year-to-year interceptions aren’t a sticky stat), getting one of the leaders is a hell of a way to do it.
Another good thing they did was the trade for Geno Smith. They sent a sixth-rounder to Vegas and got a starting-caliber quarterback. That’s great value; they needed a quarterback and spent a minimal amount of resources on one.
The gamble that they’re making is that he can’t be any worse than what he was with the Raiders last year. With a bar that low, you have to think it’s a bet they’ll win.
The Bad
As a fan of football, the Jets deciding not to fire Aaron Glenn is a bad thing. The Jets coaches do not have success, and if they got a coach this offseason, it would’ve probably been a retread type of guy.
But now that they’re going to be hiring a new head coach next year, they’re going to be getting a valuable offensive mind who gets lured into the job with the promise of being able to draft and develop a high-end rookie quarterback. It’s just going to end up being a waste of a coach, which stinks.
The other, and more immediate, bad thing is that a whole bunch of the players they brought in are old. An old team doesn’t mean a team is going to be bad the same way that a young team doesn’t mean a team is going to be good. Instead, it’s kind of a multiplier: a bad team that is old or young is going to look really bad, and a good team that is young or old is going to look really good.
The Jets are a bad team … So this is going to look terrible.
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