NFL Off-Season Awards
With the NFL off-season more than halfway over as we inch closer and closer to training camps at the end of the month there has been a lot of change around the league as there is every off-season. Today we are going to look at who did well in the off-season and who didn't do so well. We will be crowning our JKFOOTBALL off-season award winners.
Best Signing of the Off-Season
The Candidates:
Trent Williams re-signing with the 49ers, Kenny Golladay signing with the Giants, Joe Thuney signing with the Chiefs, Corey Linsley signing with the Chargers, Ryan Fitzpatrick signing with Washington
Out of all of the signings that happened in this 0ff-season, the Chiefs finding a way to bring in the best O-lineman on the market was a shocking twist. A team who won the Super Bowl in 2019 and then lost in the Super Bowl in 2020 with stars all over their roster didn't seem like they would be able to have the money to make it work. To the surprise of many, they did make it work. They won the bidding war for one of the best pass blocking offensive guards in football to keep Patrick Mahomes upright. This was the first big move towards building a better O-line for Mahomes this off-season and boy is it going to pay off.
Best Head Coaching Hire of the Off-Season
The Candidates:
Urban Meyer (Jaguars), Robert Saleh (Jets), Nick Sirianni (Eagles), Dan Campbell (Lions), David Culley (Texans), Brandon Staley (Chargers), Arthur Smith (Falcons)
This was an eventful off-season for the firing/hiring of head coaches throughout the league. Out of the 7 new hires, I was a big fan of 4 of them and was meh on the rest. This award was close between Saleh, Meyer, Campbell, and Staley for me, but in the end, Robert Saleh wins. He is fresh off of a few seasons in San Fransisco as their defensive coordinator in which he turned that defensive unit into a juggernaut. The Niners have one of the most feared defenses in football and it was run by the energetic character that is Robert Saleh. Building a new culture in New York will be a big deal for Saleh and I have no doubt he will be able to do so very well. Robert Saleh should be the Jets head coach for a long time to come.
Best Trade of the Off-Season
The Candidates:
Colts trade for QB Carson Wentz from Philly, Seattle trades for OG Gabe Jackson from Vegas, Titans trade for WR Julio Jones from Atlanta, Rams trade for QB Matt Stafford from Detroit, Cardinals trade for C Rodney Hudson from Vegas, Chiefs trade for OT Orlando Brown Jr. from Baltimore
In an off-season so big for big name players being traded, the Rams trade for Matthew Stafford takes home the hardware for the best move in my opinion. All of the top candidates we listed were players that will make big impacts on their new teams, but I don't think there will be a more impactful player than Stafford joining the Rams out there. We all know what a talent Stafford is but he has never been able to really show it as he has been stuck away with the woeful city of Detroit. Now with a top tier defense behind him, an offense with stars all over, and the brightest young offensive mind in the game at his disposal, we should see Stafford's best season yet. The Rams went from Super Bowl hopefuls to Super Bowl favorites with this trade. Outside of Tampa Bay, LA has to be the NFC favorite for the big game going into next season.
Best Under the Radar Move of the Off-Season
The Candidates:
Texans signing DB Desmond King, Seattle signing away divisional players Kerry Hyder and Gerald Everett, Cowboys signing versatile S/LB Keanu Neal, LB Kyle Van Noy signing back with the Patriots
There were a lot of good under the radar moves, but none seemed better than the Seahawks stealing away a pair of nice contributors from divisional rivals. Starting the Kerry Hyder, the Hawks got him on an extremely cheap 3 year deal that takes him away from the Niners. If you didn't know, Hyder actually led the Niners stout defense in sacks last season with 8.5. The Hawks signed away their top sack man. Gerald Everett kind of fell out of order in LA but he is a really good pickup for a TE needy team like Seattle. Super fast for his size and amazing YAC ability, Everett will be a top target in Seattle alongside DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett for Russell Wilson. It only helps that he is familiar with the offensive system as Seattle's brand new OC Shane Waldron was the Rams passing game coordinator last season.
Worst Team of the Off-Season (these teams may have gotten worse)
The Candidates:
Las Vegas Raiders, Green Bay Packers, Houston Texans, Philadelphia Eagles, Atlanta Falcons
While the final choice between the Raiders and Texans was close, there were a few things that pushed the Texans over the edge as the worst team of the off-season. First, their one good player, star young QB Deshaun Watson who is a potential future Hall of Famer, wants out. The Texans could have easily kept him happy by not trading his favorite target in DeAndre Hopkins for next to nothing last off-season but instead they did that and have failed to surround Watson with anything including probably the league's worst defense. When the Texans were in the market for a head coach, they were embarrassed. Longtime coordinators were passing on interviews to return to their former jobs and finally they were able to get David Culley from the Ravens who appears to be a super random hire. The Texans had a bit of money this off-season and burnt it all mostly on aged veterans who won't contribute much anymore and even though they say they are committed to fixing things with Deshaun Watson, they used their highest draft pick which was already bad enough (in the second round) on a project QB. Their moves make no sense and they have no direction. What a terrible off-season for the Texans who genuinely could be a popular pick to go 0-17 this coming year. This award for worst off-season is one thing the Texans won.
Most Improved Team of the Off-Season
The Candidates:
Los Angeles Rams, Los Angeles Chargers, New England Patriots, Jacksonville Jaguars, Arizona Cardinals, Cleveland Browns, KC Chiefs
There is an argument that could be made for any of these teams to take home the award, but I believe that the team that improved the most of any this off-season had to be the LA Chargers. What were the Chargers two biggest issues during the 2020 season? Coaching and O-line. They solved those two problems with ease this off-season. They started out by making an amazing hire in defensive wonderkid Brandon Staley from the Rams becoming their next head coach. He is going to do wonders for this Chargers D that has a lot of potential. They then went out and signed the best Center in the NFL in Corey Linsley to a massive deal to help out Justin Herbert big time. In the draft, they stayed put at 13 and got the prospect they were targeting all along with tackle Rashawn Slater. He was a steal and one of the elite talents in the draft. Linsley and Slater are going to have Justin Herbert protected for the next 5 or so years minimum. They made a number of really good draft picks in the later rounds as well including another steal in the second round with FSU CB Asante Samuel Jr. who will be their CB1 in short time and a big piece to their defense going forward. The Chargers are really on the rise and I expect them to be the surprise team of the NFL this season. They have so much going their way right now and with Justin Herbert under center, the sky is the limit.
MVP, Which Team Won the Off-Season
The Candidates:
Kansas City Chiefs, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Cleveland Browns, Chicago Bears, LA Rams, Arizona Cardinals, Jacksonville Jaguars, New England Patriots
Not only did the Bucs win the Super Bowl, but it appears they've won the off-season too. The Bucs did something that we have never seen from a reigning Super Bowl champ team. They put in the work this off-season, re-signing many players, and will return all 22 starters from their Super Bowl squad. That has never been done before and it shows how committed they are to making a push for back-to-back Lombardis. In addition to returning all of their starters, they also had a great draft class. They added potential freak athlete off the edge Joe Tryon from Washington and also snagged a potential future successor for Tom Brady in Florida QB Kyle Trask who apparently turned heads at Bucs minicamp. The Bucs set themselves up so well for the future along with returning everyone from their run. I'm not quite sure who will be able to stop these Bucs in 2021.
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