Top 10 Offensive Additions in the NFL This Offseason
It’s been a hectic offseason in the NFL as teams have been active with free agency and the draft in an effort to bolster their roster for the 2020 campaign. Every team has their eyes set on winning the Lombardi Trophy like the Chiefs did last season but there are realistically likely only a handful of teams that have a legitimate shot of winning the title when all is said and done. We saw some big-name players change teams in the offseason, either via trade or free agency, which could shift the balance of power. As it stands, we’ll take a look at some of the biggest moves that the league made on the offensive side of the ball in the offseason.
These are in no particular order but mark the biggest transactions to bring high-profile talent into new locations:
1) Tom Brady, Buccaneers: Tom Terrific had spent his entire career with the Patriots since being a sixth-round pick back in 2000. Everyone is familiar with his resume: six Super Bowl rings, a 219-64 record as a starting quarterback in the regular season, 541 touchdown passes, 36 fourth-quarter comebacks and 45 game-winning drives. His relationship with Bill Belichick and the Patriots soured to the point where he was tired of taking a hometown discount. After telling New England that he was going to test the market, he signed a two-year deal worth $50 million to sign with Tampa Bay. With a pair of 1,000-yard receivers in Mike Evans and Chris Godwin at his disposal, plus talented tight ends, there is no shortage of weapons for him to work with. This will show whether it was the lack of proven talent in New England last year that hurt his numbers or the fact that, at 43 once the season starts, if Brady is in decline.
2) Rob Gronkowski, Buccaneers: Gronkowski was a fixture with the Patriots for nine seasons at the tight end spot. He reeled in 521 passes for 7,861 yards and 79 touchdowns over that span. While Gronkowski dealt with a variety of injuries in his career and he retired after the 2018 season due to back issues, he felt stronger and in better shape after the year off. After winning the WWE 24/7 title at Wrestlemania 36, Gronkowski announced that he was ready to return to the NFL. With the Patriots being cap-strapped after franchise tagging guard Joe Thuney, New England was forced to make a move. Gronk was dealt to Tampa Bay for a mid-round pick, something that could wind up to be a steal for the Bucs if he can play at the level we saw in previous years. How that affects O.J. Howard and Cameron Brate remains to be seen but for now, Tampa Bay has a trio of talented tight ends.
3) DeAndre Hopkins, Cardinals: In one of the strangest stories to unfold in the offseason, Bill O’Brien made the move to deal away Hopkins, the Texans’ leading receiver by a wide margin, to the Cardinals. In exchange, the biggest piece that the Texans received was the bloated contract of the talented but insanely fragile David Johnson. Hopkins has reeled in at least 96 passes in four of the last five seasons and is coming off a campaign where he hauled in 104 receptions for 1,165 yards and seven scores. It marked his third straight 1,000-yard season and fifth in the last six years. Playing in an offense with Larry Fitzgerald and Christian Kirk at the other receiver spots, Kyler Murray at quarterback and Kenyan Drake at running back should be a nice spot for Hopkins to drop into.
4) Stefon Diggs, Bills: One thing that Buffalo intended to do in the offseason was to add to their playmakers on the offensive side of the ball for third-year QB Josh Allen. John Brown (72 receptions, 1060 yards, six TD) and Cole Beasley (67 catches, 778 yards, six TD) each had productive seasons for the Bills but they were miscast as #1 and #2 receivers. Brown is a burner that is a solid #2 and Beasley operates best out of the slot. Buffalo had receiver on their wish list in the offseason and made the bold pitch for Diggs. Buffalo gave up multiple picks, including a first-round selection, to acquire Diggs, who caught 63 balls for 1,130 yards and six scores last year. Diggs cracked the 1,000-yard mark each of the last two seasons and could be a massive acquisition for the Bills.
5) Philip Rivers, Colts: Indianapolis really struggled to move the ball through the air last season. Part of that was due to injuries to their receiving corps but part of that was because Jacoby Brissett never really stepped up and made critical plays. The Colts were 30th in the league in passing offense last season and that’s something that needs to improve in order to take some pressure off the run game. Enter Rivers, who had spent his entire career with the Chargers and has plenty of experience to run an offense. He has started 224 consecutive regular season games under center, tallying 59,271 yards and 397 touchdown passes in that span. Rivers has thrown for more than 4,200 yards in seven straight seasons and he’s familiar with Frank Reich’s offensive system as Reich is a former offensive coordinator with the Bolts. He should be able to get the Colts’ passing game up to speed.
6) Austin Hooper, Browns: Hooper was a solid option for the Falcons in recent seasons and was coming off a season where he hauled in 75 passes for 787 yards and six scores. He missed three games and didn’t start three others, so his numbers could have been even better. It marked his second straight season with at least 70 catches and he’s quickly developing into a force at the spot. Cleveland threw a four-year, $44 million deal at Hooper to bring in him to their offense. Kevin Stefanski loves utilizing tight ends, as we saw in Minnesota with Kyle Rudolph. It will be interesting to see how the workload gets spread out with Odell Beckham Jr. and Jarvis Landry on the outside.
7) Todd Gurley, Falcons: The Rams signed Gurley to a four-year, $60 million extension in July 2018 and hoped that he would maintain being a feature back for them for years to come. Instead, he was hurt late in the 2018 season and was ineffective in the playoffs as the Rams lost the Super Bowl. Last season, he struggled all year long, finishing with 223 carries for 857 yards. While he had 12 rushing scores, the fact remains that he averaged only 3.8 yards per carry and his yards after contact dropped from 2.4 ypc in 2018 to just 1.7 in 2019. Atlanta took a flier on him on a one-year, $11 million deal. He’ll be given every opportunity to try and show that he can still be a feature back here.
8) Eric Ebron, Steelers: Ebron was great in 2018 when he caught 66 passes for 750 yards and 13 touchdowns. He regressed last season, hauling in only 31 passes for 375yards and three scores, in part due to a lackluster passing attack by the Colts. He pretty much wrote his ticket out of town when he decided to have ankle surgery in late November, bringing his season to a close. He signed a deal with Pittsburgh, a team that could use a solid option at the position. Ebron already passed his physical and, paired with Vance McDonald, could give Pittsburgh a good combination of tight ends to put to use.
9) Emmanuel Sanders, Saints: One of the things that the Saints needed in order to help their offense become more effective was a secondary receiver to help take pressure off Michael Thomas. Thomas set the league record for receptions last year but part of that can be chalked up to the lack of proven commodities on the other side of him. Outside of Thomas (149 catches, 1725 yards, nine TD) and running back Alvin Kamara (81 catches, 533 yards, TD), the drop-off went to tight end Jared Cook, who had 43 catches. Enter Sanders, who caught 66 passes for 869 yards and five scores with the Broncos and 49ers last season. He had a big game against the Saints in the Superdome last season and he is a step up over the guys that the Saints lined up opposite Thomas last year.
10) Teddy Bridgewater, Panthers: The Cam Newton era came to an unceremonious end as he played just two games in 2019 before hitting the shelf for the rest of the season. Kyle Allen failed to deliver enough in his time as the starter to be kept around so the Panthers went out and signed Bridgewater from the Saints. Bridgewater, a former first-round pick, started 28 games in his first two years in the league before suffering a major knee injury that cost him the 2016 campaign. He threw just two passes in 2017 before leaving Minnesota to sign with the Saints. Bridgewater saw limited action in 2018 with New Orleans but got a chance to step up when Drew Brees broke his thumb against the Rams in week 2. He completed 67.9 percent of his passes for 1,384 yards with nine touchdowns and two interceptions in nine games, five starts, last season. Bridgewater was 5-0 as a starter for the Saints in 2019 and now takes over the Panthers offense hoping to spark them.
