Both Super Bowl LVIII and the 2023 NFL season are in the past. The rest of the league is working hard to unseat the Kansas City Chiefs and take home the Lombardi Trophy, as the Chiefs celebrate their most recent triumph. Important dates in the roster-building process, including as free agency and the 2024 NFL Draft, will occur in the coming months.
The summer is full of surprises, as you might expect, and some teams may have completely changed by the time the 2024 regular season gets underway. In keeping with that, we’re going to celebrate our first look at the offseason by showcasing a few major plot points and some of the teams that may make some of the biggest announcements in the coming weeks. We’ll also look at who the current favourites are according to the bookmakers to win Super Bowl LIX.
Five important off-season plots
How do the Bears use their first-round selection? Whatever the Chicago Bears decide to do with the number one pick in the 2024 NFL Draft is perhaps the most intriguing storyline to follow this summer. They traded the pick to Carolina for a wealth of assets after finding themselves in this predicament a year prior. This time, would they go in the same manner or will they select a quarterback who is a product of a generation, such as USC’s Caleb Williams, who is ranked highly on draft boards? What effect does that have on Justin Fields if they do?
Is Stefon Diggs asking to be traded? You can always count on at least one incredible transaction throughout the NFL offseason. Might that ultimately transpire in Orchard Park? Stefon Diggs, an All-Pro wide receiver, had a difficult season with the Buffalo Bills last year, raising questions about whether he will still play for the team in the Pro Bowl. Everyone would then be focused on the chance that he may ask to move out of town if he was unhappy with his current circumstances.
What is the fate of the seasoned quarterbacks? The main storyline this offseason will undoubtedly centre on quarterback mobility. Many of the signal-callers in this cycle may be changing teams in the coming months. While players like Fields, Russell Wilson, and Mac Jones might be traded, Kirk Cousins, Baker Mayfield, and Ryan Tannehill are set to become free agents.
How do the Bengals manage the position of wide receiver? After a season marred by injuries in 2023, Cincinnati is a club to keep an eye on this summer as it has the ability to retool and emerge as a serious Super Bowl contender in 2024. For the Bengals, the wide receiver position is very noteworthy. This offseason, star wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase is eligible for an extension and might sign a contract that would make him the highest-paid player at his position. In addition to Chase, two more receivers, Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd, will be free agents at the end of the season. Although the Bengals have $61.3 million in cap room to work with this offseason, it will be interesting to watch how they use it and which players they decide to hold onto.
Do running backs still have trouble landing big-money deals? A prominent narrative from the previous offseason concerned the running back position and its inability to secure huge contracts as a free agency. In2023, Josh Jacobs, Saquon Barkley, and Tony Pollard were among the players who used the franchise tag, which is essentially an updated one-year tender. This group of backers is about to convene at the negotiation table once more, and it will be interesting to observe whether the front office’s stance on offering them longer contracts has altered. In addition to those three, Austin Ekeler and Derrick Henry will also be available for purchase.
