What each AFC playoff team needs this offseason to compete again in 2025
Where can the Steelers, Broncos, Chargers, Ravens, Texans, Bills and Chiefs improve before the 2025 NFL season begins?
www.nytimes.com
As soon as the book closes on one NFL season, another opens.
Teams across the league already were gearing up for the offseason before the final confetti cannon shut down Sunday night. With both the NFL combine and free agency on the horizon, there’s a ton of work to be done in the immediate aftermath of the Super Bowl. It’s a 365, 24-7 league — at least for the teams serious about hoisting the Lombardi trophy.
With that in mind, we’re going to take a look at all 14 teams that made the 2024 postseason and highlight what each needs to do to get back into the dance next season. First up, the AFC:
Pittsburgh Steelers
“Find a quarterback” was too obvious of an answer. Any team without a clear plan at that position needs one ASAP — that’s not new or interesting.We’ve also seen the Steelers drag themselves to a .500 or better record with subpar quarterbacking for half a decade now. It’s grotesque and ill-advised, but somehow Mike Tomlin and company consistently make it work. So long as the defense is rolling and the offense can avoid mistakes, that seems to be enough.
The defense barely held up its end of the bargain last season, however, in large part because of the secondary. Joey Porter Jr. is a capable (if sometimes over-aggressive) CB1, but the rest of the cornerback room needs to improve.
Donte Jackson was admirable last season on the outside, but he’s set to be a free agent. So is Cameron Sutton, who missed more than half the season before returning to play the nickel. Beanie Bishop Jr. may be able to take over the nickel (the way he did for the first half of the season), but he is rather limited in man coverage.
Part of the Steelers’ equation in years past counted on Minkah Fitzpatrick’s ability to roam the middle of the field and generate plays out of thin air, but Fitzpatrick is coming off the worst year of his career. It’d be both unlikely and difficult for the Steelers to move on from Fitzpatrick, but it’s probably a conversation they’re having.
The good news is the Steelers have the money to take a swing. Corners such as Carlton Davis, Charvarius Ward, D.J. Reed and Rasul Douglas are set to hit the market and would be upgrades over Jackson. Ward is the best stylistic fit to play across from Porter.
Denver Broncos
Saying “weapon” instead of specifying a position is no mistake — wide receiver Courtland Sutton is the Broncos’ only skill player who rises above the level of being a complementary piece. Everyone else is a functional role player at best, a placeholder at worst.It’s not just about quality, either. The Broncos need juice and explosive-play ability. Marvin Mims Jr. can provide that in spurts, but he’s also a gadget player rather than a legitimate receiver. Getting someone who both can play their position “normally” and also pop off the screen is the goal.
For my money, it should be a tight end. Not only is that the weakest spot on the roster, but also this is a great draft class to swing at the position. It would be really hard to come out of the first two rounds without one, if that’s the path the Broncos want to take.
Los Angeles Chargers
Listen, in an ideal world, the answer to the Chargers’ woes would be to grab another pass catcher or two and let Justin Herbert go to work. In the real world, however, the Chargers have Greg Roman as their offensive play caller. We have to be honest about what will take this unit to the next level.The first half of the ’24 season told us the Chargers wanted to be a run-first team, because that’s always what Roman wants to do. The Chargers had the sixth-highest designed-run rate in the NFL through eight weeks, despite being bad at running the ball and not having the luxury of spamming run plays while ahead in the fourth quarter like the Lions or Ravens.
All of that is to say the Chargers need to ensure they can run the ball. Left tackle Rashawn Slater and right tackle Joe Alt are lights out, but all three interior spots deserve at least some consideration this offseason. Center Bradley Bozeman is a replacement-level player who is getting older, left guard Zion Johnson remains inconsistent, and right guard Trey Pipkins shouldn’t be seen as more than quality depth.
Baltimore Ravens: Fix the safety room to let
Considering the 2024 Ravens defense was only good with Hamilton at safety, moving him back to the nickel seems counterintuitive.But let’s look back further than this season. For 18 months, from the moment they traded for linebacker Roquan Smith in the middle of the 2022 season, the Ravens had arguably the best defense in football.
Hamilton, funnily enough, started that season handling more snaps at safety before eventually taking on a nickel role as the defense settled in with Smith. Hamilton’s blend of length, special athletic ability and physicality make him a unique weapon at a nickel position that typically features smaller players. What the Ravens could do with Hamilton as a blitzer and coverage piece was special, not to mention what he gave them in run defense and when attacking screens on the perimeter.
So, while Hamilton playing safety fixed issues for the ’24 season, the best version of this roster likely features Hamilton getting more looks in the slot. Whatever it takes to reshape the safety room so he can do that feels like the best way forward.
Could Chris Godwin fill a need in the Texans’ offense? (Peter Joneleit / AP)
Houston Texans
Offensive line should be the obvious answer for the Texans, but the problem is they’re pretty committed to the guys they have.According to Spotrac, as things stand right now, the Texans rank second in offensive line spending for the 2025 season. They don’t really have any cuttable contracts, either. Houston can (and should) still look at changes, but the Texans are going to need to be low-cost dice rolls.
The wide receiver room, however, can more realistically be reshaped to fit the new offense. With both former offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik and now new OC Nick Caley, the Texans want their system to facilitate the play-action passing game through the running game. To do that, it helps to have receivers who can throw down in the run game.
Last year’s trio didn’t really fit into that mold — Nico Collins is a useful blocker, but Tank Dell is too small to do it and Stefon Diggs typically doesn’t seem interested in it. (Diggs’ contract is up anyway, so there’s already a clean transition away from him.)
If Houston wants to get the best guy it can for this role, it ought to be poking around for Godwin in free agency. Tapping into Caley’s connection with the Rams for Cooper Kupp wouldn’t be a bad floor-raising move, either. Regardless, a wide receiver with some real tenacity and usefulness over the middle could go a long way.
Buffalo Bills
Matt Milano tearing his bicep in the preseason and missing three quarters of the year is the easiest explanation for why the Bills’ defense was middling for stretches. Not only is Milano the team’s second-best defender, but also their field general. That’s a tough guy to replace just weeks before the season.The safety room, though, was the real pain point. A small portion of that had to do with health, especially late in the year — rookie Cole Bishop had to play more than the team probably anticipated since Taylor Rapp and Damar Hamlin missed some games.
But most of the issue was that Rapp and Hamlin just weren’t good enough of a starting duo to begin with. The early part of Sean McDermott’s Buffalo tenure featured Micah Hyde and Jordan Poyer as one of the smartest, most versatile safety tandems in the league. Rapp and Hamlin, on the other hand, are quality depth pieces who got thrust into starting roles together.
The defense’s coverage versatility and creativity took a hit as a huge result, not to mention that both players had their fair share of missed tackles in the back end.
The best version of McDermott’s defense probably features a pair of safeties who can be trusted to rotate late in the play clock and squeeze throwing windows down the seams with authority. If the Bills can get back to that model, they’ll have no issue staying at the top of the conference.
Kansas City Chiefs
Patrick Mahomes only loses the Super Bowl when his offensive line craters. Not even someone as magical as Mahomes can pull rabbits out of their hat all game long with an overwhelming four-man rush getting home every other play. Even Tom Brady suffered the same fate a couple of times.The question is: How can the Chiefs even go about fixing their offensive line?
Right guard Trey Smith is set to hit free agency, but the Chiefs already have $71 million committed to their offensive line for next year, the fourth-highest figure in the league. Both Jawaan Taylor and Joe Thuney are set to make at least $25 million apiece, and center Creed Humphrey is making around $10 million. There isn’t a whole lot of financial breathing room.
The Chiefs likely will need to use a draft pick either to fix the left tackle spot or replace Smith at guard — that’s always tricky when you’re as good as the Chiefs and picking late in the first round. They tried swinging on Kingsley Suamataia in Round 2 just a year ago, after missing out on the premium tackles such as Joe Alt and Tailese Fuaga, but gave up on that experiment two weeks into the season.
The Chiefs have retooled the line before, but this will be a huge undertaking.
