Offseason Grades 2023

Team MAR: Grade C

It’s hard to knock the reigning champion for not changing around his roster too much this offseason but there is something to be said for keeping sharp. After letting 7 players walk this offseason, team MAR retained their core of Patrick Mahomes, Austin Ekeler, and Travis Kelce. MAR is also in the position to capitalize on some favorable past draft picks with Rhmondre Stevenson, Amon-Ra St. Brown, and DeVonta Smith all coming into their own now. However, MAR chose to completely disregard free agency to add depth (perhaps due to salary cap concerns) and had a mediocre draft. They did trade away their first round pick for some depth at receiver and breathing room with the cap situation while adding rookie Jalin Hyatt in the draft. MAR looks to have a strong team and will remain a contender this year even without many moves this offseason.

Team DUCK: Grade C+

Similar to team MAR, but without the historical success, team DUCK chose not to participate in traditional free agency this offseason and was not a trade partner at all. In fact, the first roster change came with their single pick in the draft (first round pick Michael Mayer). Coming out of the most difficult division historically, team DUCK has a strong core they held onto including the Bengals duo of Joe Burrow and Joe Mixon. Rounding out a solid core team DUCK also owns Aaron Jones, Tyreek Hill, and Stefon Diggs. Failure to improve depth behind contending starters will be the biggest question mark surrounding this team after the only other offseason changes were signing 2 IDP players after the draft and resigning Ertz, Samuel, and Aiyuk.

Team VIR: Grade B

After allowing a significant amount of his roster to walk this offseason due to unrestricted free agency, team VIR was still in a significant cap predicament which likely explains the lack of franchise tagging or RFA signings. Team VIR went after their guys during the offseason which added a duo of tight ends to the roster at a favorable salary cap situation. During the draft team VIR also traded away up and coming receiver Michael Pittman for a trio of 2023 draft picks along with 2nd year linebacker Quay Walker and receiver Darnell Moony. Team VIR used these picks to add some receivers where they will be on the taxi squad to start this season and RB Tank Bigsby. VIR had a very interesting offseason with some creative decisions to keep a competitive roster while staying under the salary cap. The cap situation for this team remains the biggest question mark with only under $2,000 still being available for use going into the season. This team has a lot of talent and upside headed into the season but also rosters a lot of young players and other athletes with question marks around how much they will be playing this year.

Team SD: Grade A-

Team SD is one of the most fiscally responsible teams in the league with nearly $20,000 in hard cap space still being available. After going into the draft with 0 picks, team SD leveraged a busy free agency period where they acquired a high volume of wide receivers as assets in the trade market to buy their way back into the draft. They picked up a pair of RB’s with these acquired picks to add depth behind rushing leader candidate Nick Chubb and Tony Pollard. A couple of IDP pickups after the draft round out this offseason for team SD who looks poised to make another potential run and maintain a favorable financial situation with the biggest questions on the roster being whether the Eagles offense can support 3 fantasy starters on the same team and if Tony Pollard is the guy everyone is expecting him to be.

Team CAP: Grade A-

CAP had one of the most active offseasons in the league which started off with tagging QB Geno Smith and trading away CeeDee Lamb with division rival AZA in a cap clearing move which returned a first round pick to CAP  along with Courtland Sutton and sent away Clyde Edwards-Helaire. CAP then had a busy free agency where they added depth at many skill positions which they then leveraged in a trade with WISC to continue to clear up more cap space, acquire a 2024 first round pick, cash, and standout year 2 WR Chris Olave. As one of the most trade-happy managers, CAP also came to a deal with SIR during the first round of the rookie draft to swap picks by 1 spot and trade away Tyler Lockett for Christian Watson. CAP has doubled down on being a WR deep roster with both young trade acquisitions being backups behind superstar Cooper Kupp and Jaylen Waddle. During the draft CAP got their potential future franchise QB in Bryce Young and rookie WR Jonathan Mingo who will both sit on the taxi squad to wait out first year growing pains. CAP also selected RB Chase Brown. The CeeDee Lamb was the foundation for this active offseason that will be defined by the shaky RB room’s play and consistency at the QB position but CAP has taken themselves from deep cap trouble to comfortably sitting at one of the lowest salary caps this offseason. 

Team MN: Grade C+

Although having a far from exemplary offseason, MN sits with a lot of roster space and salary cap to work with to fill out their roster going into this season. A team with both Justin Jefferson and Christian McCaffrey is going to be competitive, especially if QB Trevor Lawrence takes the projected step forward this upcoming season. MN chose to let a number of players walk this offseason and only added 2 draft picks by that point in the offseason: CJ Stroud and Chrisitan Gonzalez. Neither project to be starters for this shallow roster with MN picking up 2 IDP players after the draft. In order to be competitive throughout the season MN really needs to add more depth weapons behind their starters, which should have happened during the free agency period.

Team HI: Grade B-

HI comes into this 2023 season with a dangerous looking set of starters and just shy of $9,000 hard cap space. HI looks to be in a difficult division this upcoming season with annual contender CAP and the new look AZA that looks poised to make the jump into contender category. HI was plenty active in free agency, picking up 8 guys while losing a comparable number in the offseason. After picking up Will Levis and Kendre Miller in the rookie draft, HI looks to be set for the future at QB while adding to a thin bench at RB. One of the most WR happy teams, HI also added Mims and Dell in the draft who will sit on the taxi squad to start this season. It will be interesting to see the outcomes of these moves over the next couple of years as the only real critiques of this offseason was a lack of activity in the trade market, lack of adding depth at RB compared to other teams, and being on the upper end of the salary cap limit. HI has a chance to contend after this offseason but will be competing in a division with the most overall offseason moves which makes this season difficult to project.

Team ISU: Grade B-

In arguably the weakest division in the league, ISU started the offseason in some major cap trouble but has managed to get themselves to a comfortable place with about $15,000 left and a handful of roster spots to fill. In what can only be considered a cap play, ISU traded back with SIR in the rookie draft to take what is assumed to be a cheaper asset than the early first round would have been as well as to offload Cam Akers and his hefty contract. ISU replaced Akers with a pair of solid receivers in the draft: Quinten Johnston and Jayden Reed. After an inactive free agency period ISU is left with the loss of 8 players from last year's roster, the addition of 2 rookies, and a franchise tag for Mattison alongside new contracts for Tagovailoa, Young, and Brown. Although this was a shaky offseason in many ways, there is still the time and room for ISU to fill out their roster and try to sneak into the playoffs through this division and what projects to be a strong season for Tua Tagovailoa.

Team VFT: Grade D+

VFT spent this offseason exploring the concept of doing too little too late. With the first move of the offseason being taking rookie WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba 2nd overall, VFT let 10 players walk this offseason and still has a long way and just shy of $15,000 to fill those gaps. Most notably is the lack of QBs rostered behind the oft injured and currently PUP Kyler Murray while letting top 10 QB from 2022 Daniel Jones walk after having the opportunity to sign him for $1,500 for up to 3 years. While picks Sam LaPorta and Nolan Smith were not bad choices in the draft, there was not any investment at all this offseason into running back depth or upgrades for this unproven and inconsistent RB room. There was just not enough done in the places that it mattered most to get this ailing team looking better now than it did at the beginning of the offseason.

Team WISC: Grade B

One of the most difficult teams to project this upcoming season is WISC. They have one of the higher ceilings in the league while also having a very low floor. Coming out of the weak Great Lakes division, WISC does have a chance to turn their franchise around and make the playoffs this year. Although the offseason did start off slow and with the walking of many key players from last year's roster, WISC must not have seen value in any of those signings. In free agency, WISC chose to sit back and let other teams pick up players right in front of their eyes and then complete a massive trade before the rookie draft with CAP where they filled out 5 roster spots with QBs Prescott and Jones, WR Samuel, and RBs Gainwell and Williams (who was on team WISC last season but CAP acquired in free agency). The cost of this trade: a future extra first round pick, rising star Chris Olave, and $5,000 in cap space which is one of WISC’s most valuable assets. Sitting at $130,000, WISC is well positioned going into this season to make additions and trades to continue to improve their playoff hopes and to set up future years. WISC picked up a trio of IDP players, a WR, and a TE in a solid rookie draft and rounded out the offseason by filling their roster with a favorable trade with AZA and SD.

Team SIR: Grade A-

After committing to a full rebuild last season, SIR had one of the most active offseasons in the league which was needed to compete in one of the toughest divisions. SIR made some strategic RFA signings and was very intentional in getting their guys during free agency with signing Kirk Cousins to be QB1. SIR also completed a trade with ISU to move up in the first while adding asset Cam Akers at the expense of a hefty contract. Later in the first round of the rookie draft, SIR traded with CAP to move up a spot and get Tyler Lockett in exchange for Christian Watson. 4 first round selections took a significant hit on SIR’s cap space but with the taxi spots that problem could be helped as long as SIR does not expect these players to be all year 1 contributors. SIR went out and got their QB of the future in Anthony Richardson, WR Flowers and Addison, and TE Kincaid in the first round and RB Achane in the second round. Assuming SIR can manage their cap situation, they look well poised after this offseason to have a strong team for the next few years and seems to have made quite the turnaround from last year's roster.

Team AZA: Grade A-

Team AZA was also one of the most active teams this offseason, making a huge change in their roster from last season. It started with a trade with division rival CAP to acquire CeeDee Lamb and continued with an aggressive approach to free agency, signing 14 players before the rookie draft. During the draft AZA acquired the top 2 projected running backs out of this class in Bijan Robinson and Jahmyr Gibbs. AZA also acquired WR Pittman in a trade with VRG for draft capital and a pair of rotational players. AZA then sent off a trio of rotational players to WISC in a favorable trade for WISC in what seems to be a roster management move. Roster size may be an issue for AZA but there is a lot of talent that has been acquired this offseason. Although there appears to be around $35,000 in available cap space as well, AZA will have to monitor the situation of players currently in the IR slots as they come back to play and their cap hit returns.