The first week of NFL free agency was certainly a dramatic one. We saw Aaron Rodgers announce his “intention” to play for the New York Jets in 2023, Derek Carr signed with the New Orleans Saints, Orlando Brown Jr. left the Kansas City Chiefs for the rival Cincinnati Bengals and the Chicago Bears not only dealt the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, but also made a few underrated additions.
With Rodgers moving over to the AFC, the American Football Conference is absolutely loaded. There’s zero question it is the better conference, but how have the dynamics shifted since free agency started? Below, we will rank the AFC teams from 16-1.
Key addition: TE Dalton Schultz
The Texans have been rebuilding for a couple seasons now, but 2023 is where the real rebuild begins. Nick Caserio made a good hire in head coach DeMeco Ryans, who has enjoyed a meteoric rise up the coaching ranks, and he’s brought a couple former San Francisco 49ers with him to H-Town in safety Jimmie Ward and defensive tackle Hassan Ridgeway. The Robert Woods signing was confusing. At least, giving him over $15 million following his worst NFL season was confusing. Losing Brandin Cooks doesn’t exactly help either, but Dalton Schultz is a nice addition at tight end.
The Texans still have plenty of holes to fill, but all that matters is hitting on their new franchise quarterback at No. 2 overall in next month’s draft.
Key addition: DE Samson Ebukam
The Colts added defensive end Samson Ebukam, defensive lineman Taven Bryan and quarterback Gardner Minshew, but lost linebacker Bobby Okereke and wide receiver Parris Campbell. The Colts are rebuilding, but Shane Steichen was potentially the hire of the offseason, and the Colts are going to draft their quarterback of the future this time around instead of riding the veteran carousel again.
The Colts possess talent on both sides of the ball. We’ll see how quickly Steichen hits the ground running.
Key addition: QB Jimmy Garoppolo
It’s a new era in Sin City, and they may as well call this era the “Patriots” era. Josh McDaniels has gone full New England, as he and former Patriot executive Dave Ziegler have brought on quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, and wide receivers Jakobi Meyers and Phillip Dorsett. Meyers was probably the best signing of the group. He was arguably the top wideout in this free agency class, and should be a very solid No. 2 alongside Davante Adams. As…
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