Offseason rewind: Most important news for all 32 NFL teams – ESPN
With all 32 NFL teams now in training camp, the whirlwind NFL offseason is officially over. To catch you up, NFL Nation details the most important thing that happened to each team — from head coach hirings to player suspensions to key draft moves.
AFC West | AFC North | AFC South | AFC East
NFC West | NFC North | NFC South | NFC East
AFC WEST
Signing Von Miller long term
The negotiations weren’t easy, but the Broncos vastly improved their outlook when Miller accepted the largest contract for a non-quarterback in league history — $114.5 million with $70 million in guarantees. It showed commitment to a popular player in the locker room and their franchise defender on the field. Had the contentiousness of the negotiations escalated into a full-blown holdout in the regular season, players would have wondered about the team’s commitment to winning. Instead, the deal puts the Broncos in position to compete for their sixth consecutive division title. — Jeff Legwold
Justin Houston tearing his ACL
The Chiefs’ outlook for the season was altered in the middle of February, when Houston had surgery for a balky ACL. Houston is the Chiefs’ best pass rusher — he ranks second in the league since 2012 with 50.5 sacks — but he’s also a superb presence when playing the run or dropping into coverage. The Chiefs remain optimistic Houston will return to play in 2016, but the bigger, unresolved issues are when and how effective he will be. — Adam Teicher
Attracting top-tier free agents
For the first time in recent memory, Oakland became a destination for highly sought-after free agents. Guys like LB Bruce Irvin, CB Sean Smith, LG Kelechi Osemele and FS Reggie Nelson saw Silver and Blackdom as a fashionable fit, giving credence to the notion that the Raiders are on the upswing. Yeah, that’s important. — Paul Gutierrez
Signing Matt Slauson
The Chargers were in need of help at center and found a diamond in the rough during free agency when the Chicago Bears released Slauson. The 30-year-old Nebraska product served as an experienced anchor and decisive voice up front during offseason work. San Diego’s offensive line needs to stay healthy and play better for the Chargers to have a realistic chance of making the playoffs in 2016. — Eric D. Williams
AFC NORTH
Drafting Ronnie Stanley over Laremy Tunsil
Tunsil was considered the top offensive tackle in the draft, but the Ravens opted to select Stanley with the No. 6 overall pick after Tunsil’s gas-mask video. Stanley was the first offensive lineman selected and is the highest draft pick by the Ravens in 16 years. The addition of Stanley allowed Baltimore to part ways with the unreliable and expensive Eugene Monroe. Stanley will also become the first rookie in the Ravens’ 20-year history to start the season opener at left tackle, protecting Joe Flacco‘s blindside as the quarterback recovers from season-ending knee surgery. — Jamison Hensley
Losing Marvin Jones in free agency
On the first day of free agency, Jones wasted little time rejecting the Bengals’ offer in favor of a similar one from the Detroit Lions. The wideout was ready to carve his own path with a new team, and to have a chance to be more of a No. 1 receiver than he had been for four seasons in Cincinnati. Jones affected the Bengals’ remaining free-agency objectives and impacted their most immediate draft needs. As training camp begins, the Bengals are still trying to figure out what life in their pass-catching rotation will look like beyond premier receiver A.J. Green. — Coley Harvey
Hiring Hue Jackson
After firing their fourth coach in six seasons, the Browns had to hire someone with credibility. Enter Jackson, who has head-coaching experience, enjoyed success as an assistant and is viewed as one of the league’s best quarterback mentors. His hiring brought the team the credibility it needed on the sideline. The fans’ reaction? Jackson has been fully embraced. — Pat McManamon
Martavis Bryant getting suspended
The league handed down Bryant’s year-long ban in March, disrupting an otherwise quiet offseason for the Steelers and removing a primary playmaker from a potentially historic offense. The Steelers are equipped to handle losses, but Bryant’s big-play ability (12 touchdowns in his first 13 NFL games) complemented Antonio Brown‘s skill set perfectly. This was one of those shocking stories that shaped the Steelers’ offseason, and reminded of the risks involved in drafting players with character red flags coming out of college. — Jeremy Fowler
AFC SOUTH
Signing Brock Osweiler
Osweiler went 5-2 as a starter in 2015 for the Broncos, and the Texans saw enough promise to make their first commitment to a quarterback since signing Matt Schaub to an extension in 2012. This is the most important position in football, and Osweiler can give a major boost to the Texans. — Tania Ganguli
Hiring Joe Philbin
Making Andrew Luck the highest paid player in NFL history? That was expected. Drafting a center in the first round? That was necessary. But hiring Philbin to revamp the team’s offensive line was the most important move the Colts made all offseason. Philbin has experience developing offensive lines and the Colts need guidance in that area. They continually struggled protecting Luck during his first four seasons. — Mike Wells
Signing Tashaun Gipson
Gipson’s addition didn’t generate the headlines that the DT Malik Jackson signing did, but it’s arguably the more important defensive addition. For the first time in Gus Bradley’s tenure, he has a player capable of playing single-high coverage. That’s the key to his defensive scheme and Gipson has already shown flashes of being around the ball during OTAs and minicamps more than the Jaguars have seen from that position for a while. — Mike DiRocco
Hiring Jon Robinson
Robinson has been a giant home run through his half-year as GM. He moved out of the No. 1 spot in the draft — and then traded back up to No. 8 to get Jack Conklin. He has made a point of drafting and signing tough, dependable, team-first players and spurred a major revamping of the team’s headquarters. On the heels of two GMs who did poor personnel work and had weak public personas, Robinson is a native Tennessean who is hugely popular with the fan base. — Paul Kuharsky
AFC EAST
Signing Cordy Glenn long term
Glenn is one of the quieter players in the Bills’ locker room, but at 345 pounds, he’s also one of the NFL’s largest, and the Bills are thrilled they were able to retain their mammoth left tackle this offseason. Glenn, 26, was coming off his best season as a pro and had his first opportunity to hit the open market as a free agent. The Bills assigned Glenn the franchise tag and reached a long-term deal within days. They paid a steep price — $65 million over five years, including $36 million in guarantees — partly because they whiffed on 2014 second-round tackle Cyrus Kouandjio. — Mike Rodak
Hiring Adam Gase
Gase, 38, is the youngest head coach in the NFL and has the potential to bring an end to Miami’s coaching carousel. The Dolphins’ third head coach in six years, Gase is bringing new ideas and new energy to a team that hasn’t made the playoffs since 2008. The team hopes Gase’s success working with quarterbacks rubs off on Ryan Tannehill. — James Walker
Tom Brady having his suspension reinstated
The NFL’s four-game ban of Brady was reaffirmed in court, then Brady’s appeal for a rehearing was denied. Brady decided against pursuing the legal process, meaning the Patriots will turn to Jimmy Garoppolo for the first quarter of 2016, when they’ll travel to Arizona and host the Dolphins, Texans and Bills. — Mike Reiss
Signing their two most important free agents
The Jets retained DE Muhammad Wilkerson for five years and brought back QB Ryan Fitzpatrick at the 11th hour. They lost NT Damon Harrison to the Giants, but two out of three ain’t bad. From a cap standpoint, it would’ve been almost impossible to keep all three. — Rich Cimini
NFC WEST
Trading for Chandler Jones
Bringing back every player who caught a pass from quarterback Carson Palmer and every offensive player who scored a touchdown is nearly unheard of. But by adding Jones, Arizona plugged the one gap that was a liability last season: rushing the passer. Jones had 12.5 sacks last season, so a repeat performance has become almost expected out of the 26-year-old. The Cardinals now have as stout of a pass rush as it does an offense, all thanks to Jones. — Josh Weinfuss
Trading up to draft Jared Goff
There’s plenty to choose from here, including the team’s relocation to Los Angeles, but that won’t determine the team’s on-field fate nearly as much as the bold selection of Goff. The Rams hope that Goff can claim the starting job sooner than later but he has a steep learning curve after playing in a spread system in college. The Rams need someone — ideally Goff — to improve on their league-worst 35.6 QBR of a year ago in order to move past their recent mediocrity. — Nick Wagoner
Hiring Chip Kelly
Despite sitting on a boatload of cap room, the Niners didn’t dive deep into free agency, instead opting to lean on building through the draft and allowing Kelly to establish his culture. The Niners hope Kelly can revitalize an offense that finished last in offensive points per game, 31st in yards per game and 30th in sacks allowed. — Paul Gutierrez
Marshawn Lynch retiring
Sure, there was a natural transition last year when Lynch only played in seven regular-season games because of injury, and Thomas Rawls ran for 830 yards. But Lynch was — and still is — revered by fans and teammates. No running back in the NFL carried the ball more from 2011 to 2014. Russell Wilson is only 27 and still getting better. The defense is loaded with young talent and has led the league in fewest points allowed for four straight seasons. And the Seahawks are in great shape to make another run at a Super Bowl. But there’s no denying that things will be different without Lynch in the building and on the field. — Sheil Kapadia
NFC NORTH
Letting Matt Forte walk in free agency
Forte was the second-most productive running back in franchise history next to Hall of Famer Walter Payton, but Chicago opted not to re-sign the 30-year-old in free agency. That leaves a huge void in Chicago’s backfield that multiple tailbacks will attempt to fill — Jeremy Langford, Jordan Howard, Ka’Deem Carey and Jacquizz Rodgers — but none compare to Forte, who leads the NFL in all-purpose yards since 2008. If the Bears cannot successfully run the football, quarterback Jay Cutler will have to take more chances in the passing game, which could lead to disastrous results and costly turnovers. — Jeff Dickerson
Hiring Bob Quinn
Calvin Johnson retiring will get all the headlines and will impact the immediate on-field performance, but choosing Quinn as GM has a chance to shape the future of the franchise for the foreseeable future. The Lions moved quickly to get their guy, announcing the move less than a week after Detroit’s season ended. — Michael Rothstein
Eddie Lacy losing weight
The Packers surely would’ve liked to have been able to say that the return of Jordy Nelson (ACL) to the field after missing all of last season was the biggest thing that happened to them this offseason. But that hasn’t happened yet. Nelson experienced a setback when he injured his other knee and is on the physically unable to perform list. Still, he hopes to be ready for Week 1. For now, they’ll have to settle for the next-best thing: Eddie Lacy‘s dedication to his fitness. He spent two separate stints working out with P90X founder Tony Horton in an effort to bounce back from his worst season as a pro. — Rob Demovsky
Fixing the offensive line
Re-tooling the O-line was Mike Zimmer’s biggest priority after the 2015 season, and the Vikings wasted little time getting to work there, signing guard Alex Boone and tackle Andre Smith in free agency. The Vikings have six offensive linemen entering at least their fifth year in the league, and they’ll sort things out through a heated competition in training camp. They hope the end result is a group that provides better protection for Teddy Bridgewater, who was pressured on a league-high 36 percent of his dropbacks last season. — Ben Goessling
NFC SOUTH
Releasing Roddy White
White was unhappy with his role under offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan and voiced his displeasure out the door. The Falcons moved forward with the signing of Mohamed Sanu. Now it’s up to Sanu to make White supporters move forward, too. — Vaughn McClure
Releasing — and then re-signing — Charles Johnson
It would be easy to say revoking Josh Norman‘s franchise tag and letting the Pro Bowl cornerback go to Washington. But the choice to cut Johnson cleared $11 million under the salary cap, before the Panthers brought him back on a one-year, $3 million deal. Johnson showed in the playoffs with a sack in each of Carolina’s three games that he still has something left. He’s also a huge leader in the locker room. Keeping him and clearing that much cap space was arguably the biggest bargain of free agency. — David Newton
Keeping Sean Payton
The most important event of the entire Saints’ offseason came during the very first week, when Payton and the Saints recommitted to each other after flirting with the idea of splitting up. Although he has been around for 10 years and the Saints are coming off of back-to-back 7-9 seasons, the Saints are confident Payton is the right man to lead a rebuilding process that began with a very young roster last season. Already, there are some tweaks to the practice schedule and overall vibe this summer, with Payton promising tougher, longer practice sessions and stressing a highly competitive atmosphere. — Mike Triplett
Revamping the secondary
The Bucs needed help everywhere on defense, particularly in the secondary. So they went out and signed free-agent CB Brent Grimes and drafted CB Vernon Hargreaves III. That’s good news for a unit that allowed the highest completion percentage in the league from opposing quarterbacks (70 percent), the second-highest passer rating (102.5) and was tied for fifth-most passing touchdowns allowed with 31. — Jenna Laine
NFC EAST
Key defenders getting suspended
The suspensions of Rolando McClain (10 games), Randy Gregory (four games, maybe more) and DeMarcus Lawrence (four games) greatly impact the Cowboys’ outlook on defense in 2016. Lawrence led the Cowboys in sacks last season. McClain has made plays when healthy. Gregory was being counted on to make a jump from his rookie season. Not having three potential impact players for a combined 18 games will force Rod Marinelli to come up with different lineups, while also putting more pressure on the offense to score a ton of points to overcome some defensive shortcomings. — Todd Archer
Hiring Ben McAdoo
All the lucrative free-agent signings the Giants made this offseason pale in comparison to the naming of McAdoo as their head coach to replace Tom Coughlin. It’s a move that determines the fate of the franchise not only this season, but for at least the next 3-5 years. The Giants gambled on a 39-year-old offensive coordinator to fill Coughlin’s massive shoes and make the difficult, necessary changes that they hope will end a four-year playoff drought. McAdoo’s signing may not have been their most expensive offseason move, but it was their biggest. — Jordan Raanan
Drafting Carson Wentz
Coaching changes are pretty hard to top when it comes to offseason moves that have an impact, but the Eagles managed to do it. Their biggest move was the investment in players and draft picks they made to trade up and select Wentz with the No. 2 overall pick. If Doug Pederson wasn’t the right hire, the Eagles can find another coach. If Wentz isn’t the player the Eagles need him to be, they will be stuck in QB limbo for the next few years. — Phil Sheridan
Signing Josh Norman and losing Junior Galette to injury
This is a tie in my book, with Galette’s torn Achilles coming earlier this week. Norman provides a presence and swagger in the secondary, not to mention a talented player. But losing Galette, who could have been a dynamic edge rusher, has put the Redskins in a tough spot. They now lack experienced depth behind Ryan Kerrigan and Preston Smith at outside linebacker. — John Keim
