Inside the NFL Off-Season: Team Building Strategies and Player Contracts
- The NFL off-season odds are showing the reigning champion Kansas City Chiefs as +600 favorites to win the Super Bowl again
- Last year’s NFC Champions the Philadelphia Eagles are the +750 second choice in this betting market
- A look at how the top-five Super Bowl contenders are assembled follows in the story below
During the NFL off-season, all 32 teams find themselves in search of answers. Some may be in pursuit of only a couple of questions to be solved. Others might need a multitude of solutions to even get to the status of a Super Bowl contender.
For the following five teams, there’s a short list of needs in order for them to get over the hump and be a championship squad. These clubs are the top contenders in the Super Bowl odds and show a resume of recent success on the football field.
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There’s no sure-fire, foolproof way to build a winner. For instance, the Cincinnati Bengals have done so by astute drafting of key pieces. Meanwhile, the Kansas City Chiefs have developed a reputation for boldly pulling the trigger on big trades.
Let’s look at each of these top Super Bowl contenders and see how their team structure was built.
Chiefs Are An Offensive Juggernaut
Winners of two Super Bowls over the past four years, the favored Chiefs deliver the goods via an explosive pass attack led by reigning NFL MVP and onetime first-round draft Patrick Mahomes at QB. Last season, Kansas City was first in the NFL in points per game (29.2), passing yards per game (297.8), expected points added per play (0.18), and Dropback EPA per play (0.27).
For the second year in a row, they’ll be relying on a rebuilt wide receiving corps, however. Last year, Kansas City dealt All-Pro wideout Tyreek Hill to the Miami Dolphins. This season, the Chiefs allowed JuJu Smith-Schuster and Mecole Hardman to walk via free agency. They’ll be counting on returnee Marques Valdez-Scantling, midseason pickup Kadarius Toney and second-year man Skyy Moore to be their leading wide receivers. The Chiefs will still be able to call upon all-world tight end Travis Kelce, of course.
Mahomes on #Chiefs championship window: “I know I’m not going to always have this team around me. I mean, Travis (Kelce) is like 45-years old…”
— Aaron Ladd (@aaronladdtv) June 15, 2023
Another boost for Kansas City could be the return of top running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire following an injury-riddled 2022 season. Left tackle Orlando Brown was also allowed to walk. Former Tampa Bay Buccaneers LT Donovan Smith will be tasked with protecting Mahomes’ blind side.
On defense, the Chiefs are a mid-range club. They’ve never been afraid to make changes along the defensive front and are doing so again this season. DE Charles Omenihu (49ers) and LB Drue Tranquill (Chargers) are new signings that are expected to start. Speaking of signing, DT Chris Jones, entering the last year of his contract, wasn’t at Chiefs mini-camp. He was fourth in the NFL last season with 15.5 sacks. The team hopes to have his contract situation resolved before training camp.
Eagles Replacing Some Key Personnel
Eagles GM Howie Roseman is another in the league who will aggressively pursue trades to fill holes. He did so again this NFL off-season. After allowing RB Miles Sanders to walk, Roseman signed Rashaad Penny from Seattle and traded with Detroit to get D’Andre Swift. He also works the draft table as well as any NFL GM.
After inking QB Jalen Hurts to a $51 million per season pact, money was going to have to be found elsewhere. Along with Sanders, DT Javon Hargrave also departed. But the Eagles utilized the draft to add to DL from the Georgia Bulldogs, DT Jalen Carter and edge Nolan Smith.
The +320 favorites to win the NFC in the NFL conference championship odds, look for Roseman to continue to seek to beef up the Philly D at LB and safety, where off-season losses were significant.
49ers Crush It On Defense
The NFL’s #1 defense last season, the 49ers continue to build the team around being dominant on that side of the ball. They were the team that opted to add Hargrave through the free agent route. They’ll likely be giving NFL Defensive Player of the Year Nick Bosa a contract this season that will make him the highest-paid defensive player in league history. Look for a deal in the $30 million per year range.
First look at Javon Hargrave in a 49ers uniform pic.twitter.com/peWCMj091T
— David Lombardi (@LombardiHimself) June 6, 2023
While many NFL teams opt to build around an elite QB, the 49ers have gone to the NFC Championship Game three times over the past four years with game managers under center. Last season they started three different QBs and still came within a win of going to the Super Bowl. San Francisco has also deployed a running back by committee format quite effectively on the offensive side of the ball.
Bills Built to Contend for Years to Come
For the longest time holders of the NFL’s active playoff drought, Buffalo is now a model of how to build a contending club. No, this version of the Bills hasn’t got to the big game yet, but they’ve been in the Super Bowl conversation and will continue to be talked about in the highest regard for years to come.
When the team of head coach Sean McDermott and GM Brandon Bean took over in 2017, they instilled a draft-first philosophy and set out to keep their best players happy and in the fold. Last season, nearly half of the Buffalo roster – 26 of 53 players – were homegrown. Sixteen of their starters were Bills draft picks, including six first-round selections such as QB Josh Allen and DT Ed Oliver.
Bengals Rely On Solid Drafting
The +125 chalk to win the AFC North in the NFL Divisional odds, like the Bills, Cincinnati has relied on the draft to assemble a dominant contender that’s gone to a Super Bowl and two AFC Championship Games over the past two years. Core talent such as QB Joe Burrow, WRs Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins and RB Joe Mixon were all high draft picks.
The Bengals patiently built a quality squad, taking their lumps along with way but never deviating from the process. Along with astute drafting, they filled in holes with solid free-agent pickups. For instance, four-time Pro Bowl LT Orlando Brown was signed away from the Chiefs to help protect Burrow. Last season, the Cincinnati QB was sacked 41 times.
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An industry veteran, Bob literally taught the course on the history of sports at Elder College. He has worked as a Sports Columnist for Postmedia, appeared as a guest on several radio stations, was the Vice President of the Society For International Hockey Research in Ontario, and written 25 books.
