Several NFL teams have had a successful offseason up to this point, but not every team should be feeling proud of themselves for the moves that they made or didn’t make in the last couple of months.
Which five teams should be second-guessing themselves right about now?
Like usual, the Packers went into hibernation during free agency. Emerging from their sloth-like slumber to nab one meaningful player, Anthony Smith, hardly counted as “waking the bear”. Their draft provided solid tools to help build their new 3-4 defensive scheme, but there aren’t any answers.
All we know is that Aaron Rodgers can play, and he better hope none of his weapons get hurt. Because he’s going to be carrying this team all season, just like last year.
Call me pessimistic, but this isn’t how you build championship teams.
Sure, Josh McDaniels had a good draft and has brought in veterans who know how to win (Brian Dawkins). But getting in a dispute with your franchise quarterback-after you tried trading him, mind you-isn’t exactly a great start.
Kyle Orton still seems solid, but he won’t be Jay Cutler. You can grab all the draft picks you want, but there aren’t many quarterbacks of Cutler’s make-up. The Broncos made a huge mistake.
Daniel Snyder continues to amaze me. He got a heck of a talent and a beast of a man in Albert Haynesworth, but for $100 million? That’s nuts. Worse than that, the Redskins were mentioning their starting quarterback in trade talks. When there were no takers for Jason Campbell, Washington stood pat, and didn’t even select a quarterback in the draft.
The Redskins still don’t have a proven, elite receiver opposite of Santana Moss, and have questions on their offensive line. On the other side of the ball, they lost Jason Taylor, and still don’t have an answer for the loss of Sean Taylor.
The Giants let a solid running back walk away, while also losing their star (and only truly reliable) receiver, Plaxico Burress.
New York made up for it be drafting two receivers who have a lot of potential.
However, they’re rookies and aren’t guaranteed to do anything in the immediate future, which could spell for a disastrous 2009, offensively.
While they remain a championship-caliber team, they didn’t pull enough moves (or any) to suggest they’re serious about winning.
True, standing pat can be good for chemistry, but are John Fox and the rest of the Panthers convinced they have the pieces needed to make another run?
The Julius Peppers situation may go a long way in telling us what to expect from this team.
