This offseason, just like any other, has been extremely busy. There has been just about non-stop action, both before and after free agency started. Some teams have hit almost all home runs while others have been striking out time and time again. Here’s a list of the five teams that have had the best offseasons so far:
5. Seattle Seahawks
The Seahawks haven’t had a particularly busy offseason. In fact, they’ve lost more in free agency than they’ve added. While losing cornerback Byron Maxwell, they were able to add both Cary Williams and Will Blackmon. What puts the Seahawks’ offseason over the top is their trade for tight end Jimmy Graham. The Seahawks desperately needed a top level pass catcher for their offense to move to the next level and they got just that with this trade. Of course there’s a downside (losing their first round pick in 2015 and shipping center Max Unger out of town) but the addition of Graham greatly outweighs the loss.
4. Indianapolis Colts
The Colts have made a lot of good moves. They’ve added some age and paid fairly big money for that age, but if they can make it work right away then it will be worth it. They addressed their run game, which has been lacking for the past few years, by cutting Trent Richardson, replacing him with Frank Gore, and adding offensive lineman Todd Herremans as well. Also on offense they added veteran wide receiver Andre Johnson to give quarterback Andrew Luck some more help. On defense the Colts made some signings that a lot of people might not pay a lot of attention to: outside linebacker Trent Cole, middle linebacker Nate Irving, and defensive tackle Kendall Langford.
3. Chicago Bears
The Bears started their offseason with the additions of head coach John Fox and defensive coordinator Vic Fangio. As far as their departures, they lost safety Chris Conte and defensive tackle Stephen Paea. Their additions have been much better than their departures: defensive end Ray McDonald, defensive end Jarvis Jenkins, outside linebacker Pernell McPhee, safety Antrel Rolle, and wide receiver Eddie Royal. They’ve added a lot of good fits in preparation for their change to a 3-4 defensive scheme.
2. New York Jets
The Jets started their offseason the same way the Bears did, with a home run hire at head coach, Todd Bowles. They followed this move up with a trade to land veteran wide receiver Brandon Marhsall. This acquisition will certainly help young quarterback Geno Smith (or rookie Marcus Mariota if they decide to draft him). On defense they really nailed down their secondary with the signings of Darrelle Revis, Antonio Cromartie, Buster Skrine, and Marcus Gilchrist. They also added offensive guard James Carpenter to their offensive line.
1. Arizona Cardinals
The Cardinals made the playoffs last season and almost won the vaunted NFC West with their second and third string quarterbacks. They aren’t missing that many pieces to begin with. One of the major things that was standing in their way of making an impact during free agency was the large contract of wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald. So the Cardinals restructured his contract and gave themselves some room to work with. What they did with that room was impressive. They didn’t have many needs and they addressed those few needs in free agency, which gives them a lot more freedom in the upcoming draft. The people they brought in All-Pro guard Mike Iupati, center A.Q. Shipley, defensive tackle Corey Peters, defensive end Cory Redding, outside linebacker Sean Weatherspoon, and defensive end LaMarr Woodley. The Cardinals now have a ton of freedom going into the upcoming draft.