Maybe Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow will just be the NFL’s Patrick Ewing, Charles Barkley, or Karl Malone. All three of these legendary players had great careers but never won a championship, despite being among the best players of their era.
The Kansas City Chiefs recently made a Super Bowl-winning run despite trading away one of their best players, Tyreek Hill, and not making a single huge addition in free agency. It’s a testament to the greatness of their quarterback, Patrick Mahomes, and the strength of their roster. Mahomes is on an entirely different level than the rest of the NFL, and it seems that the rest of the league has a long way to go before they can catch up to the Chiefs.
In the AFC, there is plenty of talented quarterbacks, which makes it hard for the Chiefs to keep winning Super Bowls. But they have managed to do it despite retooling their roster and trading away Hill. The Bears have the most cap space in the league right now, and they might have the opportunity to trade down from the number one spot in the draft and get an elite defensive prospect and a lot of extra picks.
The Saints need a quarterback, and the perfect fit could be Derek Carr. But their cap situation is a mess, and their only hope is to use their cap space wisely. The Falcons have a ton of cap space and need to win now, and the Broncos are hoping that Sean Payton can work with Russell Wilson. The Buccaneers have a roster built to win now, and will have to start a rebuild without Tom Brady.
The Texans were lucky to land DeMeco Ryans as their head coach, and the Cardinals have a tough job ahead of them with Kyler Murray’s contract and injury. The Colts have a good coach in Shane Steichen, but he needs a quarterback to work with. The Commanders are reportedly on the fence about Chase Young’s fifth-year option, despite him winning NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2020. The Raiders are likely to target someone with ties to the Patriots, and the Titans are teetering on the edge of falling off.
It’s going to be a fascinating offseason, and it will be interesting to see how the teams make the most of their cap space and draft picks to try and catch up to the Chiefs.
