8 divisions in 8 days: AFC east

For the next eight days, I will be giving grades on the off seasons for all 32 teams in the NFL now that the draft is over.

Buffalo Bills: 12-5 record.

Buffalo’s main weaknesses coming into the off season were a true number one receiver and a better pass rush. They addressed both of those needs. First, a coaching change. They fired long time head coach Sean McDermott and elevated the former OC Joe Brady as the man in charge. McDermott coached the Bills for 9 years and had a 98-50 regular season record. The only way that this can be considered a success is for Brady to help lead them to a Super Bowl. They made a big trade for Wide Receiver DJ Moore from Chicago. That gives them an upgrade at receiver. They also signed a pass rusher in Bradley Chubb to help with a pass rush that was in need of improvement. The signing of Chauncey Gardner-Johnson is an underrated move as well.

In the draft, they traded back a couple of different times and wound up out of the first round all together. With the second pick in the second round, they took Edge Rusher TJ Parker to help even more up front for the defense. And then they grabbed two players in the fifth round that I thought had really good combines. Safety Jalon Kilgore and DT Zane Durant.

I’m not sold on the coaching change yet. Again, if Brady can help lead this team to a Super Bowl that has eluded this team; it will be looked at as a great move. They did make sure to address the needs of the team, which weren’t many considering the caliber of talent already there.

Grade: B

Miami Dolphins: 7-10 record.

One of the themes in this years off season moves will be addition by subtraction. We will get to that a little below. But first, another head coaching change in the AFC East. Mike McDaniel was fired and replaced by former Packers DC Jeff Hafley. In fact, the Dolphins poached the vice president of player personnel from the Packers as well, Jon-Eric Sullivan and made him their new GM. I don’t think that firing McDaniel was the right move. However, it was clear that the team stopped responding to him as the head guy, so a change was made.

Tua Tagovailoa was released by the Dolphins in one of the addition by subtraction moves that I mentioned. The oft injured QB never had the strongest arm in the NFL. But it has been made worse by the injuries he has sustained, even in college. They were at least smart enough to move on now. They bring in Malik Willis from…you guessed it, the Green Bay Packers. A theme of the Dolphins in their own right. They grabbed him solely on the potential he showed when he played in place of an injured Jordan Love. And if it doesn’t work out, the Dolphins have all of their own picks in the next couple of drafts to address QB.

Calling this a rebuild might not be accurate. More like a reset. I don’t think that they will be much worse in ‘26 record wise. Maybe 5 of 6 wins. Outside of Willis, they didn’t do a whole lot in free agency. They signed quite a few players at various positions, the best possibly being Safety Ronnie Harrison. Willie Gay Jr. at Linebacker will be one to watch also.

The draft is where this team made a huge impact. With the 12th pick in the draft, the Dolphins took Tackle Kadyn Proctor. A massive (pun intended) upgrade for the offensive line. Then they used their second first round pick on cornerback Chris Johnson, who had an incredible combine as well. The second round pick was linebacker Jacob Rodriguez and then the third round pick was wide receiver Caleb Douglas. Their first four picks were, at the very least, doubles. And I’m probably down-playing how good those picks were. They might have trouble scoring points, but the defense is way better than last year at least.

I’m not sold on the coaching change. But the new GM is pretty solid so far.

Grade: A

New England Patriots: 14-3 record.

The Patriots made an incredible run to the Super Bowl. What a difference a coaching change makes. We will see how Vrabel’s scandal comes out although, I don’t see any NFL repercussions happening.

They did not re-sign Stefon Diggs so that made WR a need. And after the Seahawks destroyed the offensive line in the Super Bowl, that was a definite need as well. The Patriots did not make a lot of moves in free agency. But they players they did sign are really good. Alijah Vera-Tucker helps solidify that forementioned destroyed offensive line. And they signed Romeo Doubs to help in the receiving room. He was probably a bit too pricey for my taste, but he still has room to grow. Kevin Byard was a nice veteran presence in the secondary.

Even though they signed Doubs, I feel like WR was still a need headed into the draft. And they didn’t draft a single one. They used their first round pick on an OT, Caleb Lomu. It’s a fine enough pick. But they’ve been telling everyone that would listen that they were satisfied with Will Campbell on the left side. When he was the main one that got destroyed in the Super Bowl loss. Omar Cooper was taken two picks later and Denzel Boston was still available as well. Will Campbell was a rookie last year. And yes, he did not have a great showing in the Super Bowl. He’s still developing. Very odd from the Patriots. Then in the second round, they took an Edge, Gabe Jacas. An Edge was not a position of need. And I’ll circle back to the WR angle; three receivers went in the first 11 picks in the round that would have made more sense. I like Eli Raridon the TE from Notre Dame in the third round because TE was a need. Raridon needs time to develop and likely won’t have much of an impact this year.

The Patriots lucked into the Super Bowl to begin with. If Bo Nix doesn’t get injured. It is incredibly likely that Denver goes on to the Super Bowl instead of the Patriots. I loved their free agency signings, but did not like their draft.

Grade: C

New York Jets: 3-14

The big coaching change for them comes from hiring Frank Reich as the new offensive coordinator. And it’s fair to say that if there isn’t a leap from this team next year, that Aaron Glenn’s job may be in jeopardy; even if they are a rebuilding team. They need better QB play for sure.

Outside of bringing Geno Smith back via trade, most of the real improvement through free agency for the Jets was to the defense. Which makes sense since the Jets were second to last in points scored against when they gave up 503 points for the season. Almost 30 points per game. Edge Joseph Assai, DT T’Vondre Sweat, LB Demario Davis, Safeties Andre Cisco and Minkah Fitzpatrick all will have a hand in improving this turnstile defense. We will also see if CB Nashon Wright was just a flash in the pan in Chicago or the makings of the real deal.

Then the draft came and this team just hit long ball after long ball. Pick number two they used on David Bailey. An incredibly talented Edge rusher. They couldn’t completely ignore the offense now could they? I like Mason Taylor at TE but the Jets potentially got better by drafting Kenyon Sadiq at pick sixteen. Then at thirty they went ahead and grabbed WR Omar Cooper. Then right back to defense in the second round with D’Angelo Ponds the CB from Indiana. First four picks are all going to start week one for the Jets. I liked the pick of DT Darrell Jackson Jr as well. I did not like them taking QB Cade Klubnik though. Yes, a young QB is nice. But they also could have grabbed Keionte Scott the CB from Miami that I am high on with that pick instead. Somehow the QB from LSU, Nussmeier, lasted until the seventh round. If they really wanted a young QB. But draft boards are draft boards and you take the guys that you have rated higher.

All in all, I really liked what the Jets did this off season. Huge improvement on the defense. We will see if Aaron Glenn has a huge improvement as a head coach.

Grade A+