Team Preview: Cincinnati Bengals

Although going 9-8 in 2023, the Bengals finished last in the AFC North. Cincinnati will need their franchise quarterback to complete a full season in 2024 after only playing ten games a season ago. 

The Cincinnati offense will look a little different this season after some notable changes. After seven seasons with the Bengals, Joe Mixon was traded to Houston this offseason. In addition, after eight seasons with the team, Tyler Boyd departed to Tennessee in free agency this offseason. Some well-known Bengals from around the locker room and city will now be playing for other AFC foes in 2024. 

The Bengals were able to replace Tyler Boyd through the draft with Alabama receiver Jermaine Burton. Burton comes into the offense as the new WR3 in Boyd's place and will play beside both Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins. 

Despite there being some drama surrounding Tee Higgins this offseason, he will remain a Bengal for at least the 2024 season. Along with drafting Burton, the Bengals signed a new pass catcher to take over as their TE1, Mike Gesicki. A pass-catching and good blocking tight end could easily end up becoming one of Joe Burrow's best friends on offense. 

The team also signed Zack Moss to a two-year deal to enter the running back room with Chase Brown. Brown emerged as a solid player for the Bengals in 2023 so I would imagine that Moss and Brown run by committee with no Joe Mixon. After ranking 22nd in total offense throughout the NFL, Cincinnati's offense will certainly look different in 2024. 

In blatant terms, the Bengals defense was terrible last season. They ranked 31st out of 32 teams in total defense last year. With the 23rd ranked offense and 31st rated defense, the Bengals still somehow managed to finish the season 9-8. Just some little fixes on both sides of the ball could go a long way for Cincy in 2024. 

Cincinnati added some defensive pieces including Sheldon Rankins to man the defensive line, Geno Stone, and Vonn Bell to the secondary as well. After cutting Nick Scott, the Bengals added new two safeties to upgrade their secondary. Cincy's pass defense ranked 28th in the NFL in 2023 and they believe these new pieces to the secondary will improve that abysmal ranking. 

The Bengals will look a little different in 2024 after their disappointing 2023 season. The NFC North, like every year, will be a steep hill to climb, but with a healthy Joe Burrow, this team could go much further. Cincinnati will try to see if they can have more success in 2024 after embracing the in with the new and out with the old mentality. 

Team Preview: Tampa Bay Buccaneers

 

Just a year after Tom Brady retired, the Bucs were still able to capture their third division title in the last four years. The revival of Baker Mayfield's career powered them to the divisional round of the playoffs in 2023. 

The story of the Buccaneers from last season was Baker Mayfield. The Bucs took a chance on Baker after signing him to a one-year deal with his career hanging in the balance. His great play not only lead Tampa Bay to a division title, but earned him a three-year extension with the Bucs during the offseason. 

The Bucs did hand out some key extensions along with Baker's deal as well. A player who seems to continually get better as he gets older, Mike Evans was awarded a two-year extension to remain the WR1 in Tampa through 2025. One of the top safeties in the league, if not the best, Antoine Winfield Jr. was also extended for four years. Tampa did a great job of locking down their core pieces this offseason. 

Tampa Bay did suffer a couple a couple of losses this offseason with multiple veterans departing on both sides of the football. Their longtime center, Ryan Jensen, retired after nine long seasons in the NFL. On defense, Shaq Barrett was cut and Devin White decided to take his talents elsewhere after starting his career in Tampa Bay. 

Tampa did a good job this offseason with extending their depth on the offense. Drafting Bucky Irving and Jalen McMillan gives them some viable backup options at both receiver and running back. Both of these guys were pretty exciting to watch for Oregon and Washington last season, I'm excited to see how they translate over to the NFL. 

The Bucs also picked up longtime Giants wide receiver, Sterling Shepard as well. With these additions and the weapons they already have on the roster in Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, and Trey Palmer, the Bucs have one of the deepest receiver groups in the National Football League. 

On the defense, the Buccaneers got back safety Jordan Whitehead after playing two seasons for the Jets. He now comes back to Tampa to pair with Antoine Winfield Jr. for a pretty dangerous safety duo. The Bucs were ranked as a defense in the lower half of the NFL in 2023, finishing 23rd. An improvement on this side of the ball is a must in 2024. 

Tampa Bay narrowly escaped with the NFC South last season and will look to win it once again in 2024. Their offense has certainly improved on paper, while the defense can still use some work it seems. It is definitely going to be a tougher battle this year and we should expect a dogfight down south. 

Team Preview: Carolina Panthers

 

After an utter embarrassing season in 2023, the Carolina Panthers will look to flip the script in 2024. The Panthers will look a little different this season with a brand new coaching staff. 

Usually when you have the worst record in the league, like the Panthers, you have the first overall pick in the upcoming NFL Draft. Well for Carolina, this was not the case. Their 2-15 record in 2023 got them no first round picks because of their trade with the Chicago Bears for the #1 overall pick in the previous draft.  Safe to say this deal has not worked out so well in the Panthers favor. 

Carolina went into this offseason and fired their head coach Frank Reich after just one abysmal season. They went out and hired a coach within their own division, Dave Canales. Canales was the offensive coordinator for the Buccaneers and is well-known for reviving and putting Baker Mayfield's career back on track. 

The Panthers front office envisions that Canales can do the same for Bryce Young as he did for Baker Mayfield. Young was the #1 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft and people are already labelling him as a bust after just one season. Others, like myself, remark on how Young was surrounded with little to no help. Luckily for the Panthers, help is on the way. 

Carolina went out and traded for wide receiver, Diontae Johnson for the Pittsburgh Steelers and drafted highly talented wide receiver, Xavier Legette as well. These two will pair with Adam Thielen to make up an exciting receiving core that Young will have at his disposal. Hopefully this will help the worst rated passing offense in the NFL from last season. 

More offensive line help is on the way as well after the Panthers went out and signed Robert Hunt to a five-year deal and Damien Lewis to a four-year deal. These two will take over and establish a wall in both guard spots on the offensive line. 

The one bright spot from 2023 for the Panthers was their defense. The defense ranked as the number four team in the NFL in total defense ranks. This didn't satisfy Carolina though as they went out and upgraded even more. Although Brian Burns departed for New York, the Panthers signed a surplus of new pieces after his departure. 

Carolina was able to go out and get A'Shawn Robinson to hold down the defensive line, Jadeveon Clowney and Josey Jewell to head the linebacker room, and Dane Jackson to upgrade the secondary. Along with Robinson, they extended Derrick Brown for four years. Brown and Robinson will make a lethal defensive end pair in the future. 

So the Panthers did what a 2-15 team can only do, upgrade. Both sides of the football look entirely different for Carolina paired along with a new coaching staff as well. The Panthers can only go up in 2024 after an atrocious season a year ago. 

Team Preview: Atlanta Falcons

 

The Atlanta Falcons had a busy offseason to say the least. After a disappointing 7-10 season in 2023, Atlanta decided to revamp not only their roster but their coaching staff as well for the 2024 season. 

There is a new QB1 in town and that is Kirk Cousins. The Falcons signed Cousins as a free agent to a massive four-year deal to become their leader on offense. For the past two seasons since Matt Ryan departed Atlanta, the quarterback play has been towards the bottom of the league. Cousins will definitely improve that mark in 2024. 

Atlanta decided to fire their head coach Arthur Smith and hire Raheem Morris to take over the role. Morris was the defensive coordinator for the Rams for the past three seasons and spent some time in Atlanta beforehand from 2015 to 2020. 

The Falcons were able to go out and get two new weapons for Kirk Cousins and the offense. They signed wide receiver Darnell Mooney to a three-year deal to take over the WR2. They also traded for speedster wide receiver Rondale Moore to take over WR3. Pairing these two with Drake London accounts for a solid receiving core in Atlanta. 

Pair these receivers alongside Kyle Pitts who has yet to breakout in his time in the NFL. This will definitely be his make or break season which could possibly lead to his final season in Atlanta. You have all these names, but this biggest one of all is Bijan Robinson. 

Robinson broke into the NFL a season ago and instantly inserted himself as one of the premier running backs in the National Football League. His pure strength and speed is what has propelled him to take the league by storm in just a short time. 

The Falcons defense was a bright spot in 2023 after they finished just outside the top ten in total defense at #11. They had an outstanding pass defense, but the rush defense was not as strong. They brought back most of their pieces from last season and will look to improve once again. 

The one questionable move the Falcons made this offseason was drafting Michael Penix Jr. Penix was a star quarterback at the University of Washington and after the Falcons signed Kirk Cousins to a large deal, everyone thought they were done addressing this position. Turns out they were wrong. I'm not entirely sure what Atlanta's plan is for Penix but it will be interesting to see how this pans out. 

The Falcons have improved mightily on offense and if their defense can hold it down like they did in 2023, they could be sitting in the driver's seat of the NFC South. The new-look Atlanta Falcons will be an exciting story in 2024. 

Team Preview: New Orleans Saints

 

The Saints had an underwhelming season in 2023 after just narrowly losing the NFC South to Tampa Bay by just a game. Once again the NFC South is very up for grabs and the Saints are a much improved team over the last offseason. 

Saints quarterback, Derek Carr finished up his first season in the black and gold with pretty solid numbers after playing in all of their seventeen games. Carr, now 33 years old, has been in the league for a long time now and has yet to prove that he is a winner. Entering his 11th season, Carr will have no excuses to get New Orleans back into the playoffs. 

New Orleans made their mark known in this year's draft with a pretty solid couple of picks. They drafted Taliese Fuaga, an offensive tackle out of Oregon State, to help Derek Carr to play a full season once again. They improved their secondary after taking Alabama cornerback Kool-Aid McKinstry. 

This offseason the Saints did have some notable cuts as well. Michael Thomas is no longer a Saint after one injury riddled season after another. Safety Marcus Maye is also no longer a Saint after he was cut in March as well. 

The Saints were able to sign Cedrick Wilson to a two-year deal to hopefully fill the shoes of Michael Thomas and pair well along with Chris Olave. On the defensive side, the Saints improved mightily after signing Chase Young and Willie Gay to one-year deals. Re-signing Demario Davis and Tyrann Mathieu was also huge for them. 

New Orleans always has a pretty scary defense and this year it looks even scarier for opposing offenses. For those who forgot about Cameron Jordan and Marshon Lattimore, don't worry they are still there as well. 

Dennis Allen desperately needs a healthy season from Alvin Kamara for this offense. When he's healthy, he's up there for one of the top backs in the National Football League. Although there are some contract disputes ongoing, the Saints will more than likely get this figured out. 

Another year where the NFC South is anyone's to win, the Saints are looking pretty good on paper as of now. They are hoping to end their three year drought and make it back into the playoffs for the first time under Dennis Allen. 

Team Preview: San Francisco 49ers

 

It's no secret, the San Francisco 49ers are one of the most prominent teams in the National Football League. But what has been missing for the Niners is that final piece, a Super Bowl victory. 

The 49ers are coming off of an overtime Super Bowl loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. San Fran has been to either the NFC Championship or Super Bowl in four of their last five seasons, yet their last title came back in 1994. However, that does not stop this powerhouse from reloading once again in 2024. 

San Francisco has remained as one of the most, if not the most, complete team in the entire league. Every position on the field they are confident they have the best players. It's a good problem for them to have, but it is hard to go into free agency and upgrade when having a team like this. 

The only big pieces the Niners lost this offseason was their defensive ends: Chase Young and Arik Armstead. Armstead was cut and Young signed with New Orleans. San Fran immediately replaced them with Leonard Floyd and Yetur Gross-Matos on two-year deals. Aside from that, not a lot of other notable transactions for the Niners this offseason. 

The Niners also locked up Christian McCaffrey on a two-year extension, making sure that the best running back in the league stays in the Bay. Pairing him with Deebo Samuel, George Kittle, and Brandon Aiyuk for yet another year will cause nightmares to opposing defenses. 

However, there has been some drama going around in the locker room with star receiver Brandon Aiyuk. Aiyuk has requested a trade from the Bay Area multiple times after numerous failed contract disputes. The 49ers have yet to send him elsewhere and it will be interesting to see if he stays in San Francisco as training camp commences. 

It will be a shock to nobody when the Niners will finish another season with double digit victories and take the NFC West. They have too much talent to continue their Super Bowl drought that will mark thirty years this season. Can the 49ers finally get over the hump or will it be more of the same in 2024?

Team Preview: Los Angeles Rams

 

After being one of the more intriguing teams from a season ago, the Rams are looking to avenge their first round playoff loss in 2024. Los Angeles developed a dynamic offense behind Matthew Stafford as they look to take a leap forward this upcoming season. 

The Rams finished 10-7 in 2023 after many predicted them to be towards the bottom of the NFC. The real reason for their success was the outbreak of their new and improved offensive group. They ranked 7th in the NFL in total offense with Matthew Stafford at the helm. 

The biggest story for the Rams in 2023 was the emergence of late round rookie Puka Nacua. If it weren't for CJ Stroud's unreal season, Nacua would have easily been selected as Rookie of the Year. He finished with almost 1500 receiving yards in his rookie season after being drafted in the fifth round. 

Pairing him with All-Pro Cooper Kupp made for a deadly duo that is going to become even scarier in 2024. Although Kupp was not always healthy last season, we saw glimpses of the nightmares that these two can impose on defenses throughout the National Football League. 

The emergence of Kyren Williams also played a huge role in 2023. Yet another Ram selected in the fifth round, Kyren accounted for over 1100 rushing yards in 2023. The Rams certainly caught lightning in a bottle with the outbreaks of Nacua and Williams last season. 

This offseason was not the busiest for LA compared to some other squads. They did sign Jonah Jackson in free agency to bolster the offensive line and protect their veteran quarterback. Los Angeles also improved their secondary after signing both Tre'Davious White, Kamren Curl, and bringing back Darious Williams on a three-year deal. 

The one blow that the Rams suffered this offseason to their defense was losing Aaron Donald. After a memorable career, Donald decided to hang up the cleats this offseason and retire after spending his entire career in LA. Donald was one of the best defensive tackles in the NFL and also one of the best of all time. The Rams will certainly miss his presence on the defensive line. 

With a healthy offense, I believe the Rams can go toe to toe with any team in the National Football League. Being in the same division with the NFC champions is never easy, but the Rams will look to accelerate into 2024 and be back playing meaningful football in January. 

Team Preview: Seattle Seahawks

 

After just barely missing the playoffs a season ago, the Seahawks are looking to set the tone early in 2024. The team was a bit shaken up this offseason and will have a whole new dynamic added to them this upcoming season. 

The biggest story of the offseason for Seattle was the departure of Pete Carroll. Carroll was the head coach of Seattle for the past fourteen seasons, one of the longest tenured coaches in the league. Carroll had brought the city of Seattle a lot of success during his tenure, but the front office felt it was time that the Seahawks took a new course of direction. 

Seattle went out and hired Mike Macdonald to take over the helm of the coaching position. Macdonald was the defensive coordinator of the Ravens for the past two seasons and the Seattle front office was quite impressed with what he was able to do there to say the least. He now takes over as the youngest head coach in the NFL at just 37 years old. 

Despite the Seahawks completely rebuilding their safeties room, not many big headlines came across them this offseason. They moved on from safeties Quandre Diggs and Jamal Adams. They signed Rayshawn Jenkins as a free agent and promoted Julian Love to take over the safeties room as of now. They also selected a Byron Murphy II, defensive end out of Texas, to bolster the front of their defense. 

The offense remains the same after there was some speculation that Seattle would move on from Geno Smith. They did trade for Sam Howell to backup Geno Smith, but other than that this offense still looks very reminiscent to last year's. If Kenneth Walker, DK Metcalf, and Geno Smith are all clicking, this offense can get scary. I also expect a big jump for Jaxon Smith-Njigba this year and could possibly take that WR2 away from Tyler Lockett. 

Seattle is definitely going to have an uphill climb not only with a rookie head coach, but also playing in the same division as the Rams and the defending NFC Champion 49ers. A new era of Seattle football will get underway in September and I'm intrigued to see what the Pete Carroll-less Seahawks are all about. 

Team Preview: Arizona Cardinals

 

After finishing back to back seasons with 4-13 records, the Cardinals look to bounce back in 2024. A full season of Kyler Murray and a healthy offense surrounding him could be exactly what they need. 

Kyler Murray was only able to play in five of seventeen games for the Cardinals a season ago due to his ACL injury. Even though Arizona only went 2-3 in that stretch, they looked like a team with more much life than the team in the previous twelve games. 

The Cardinals focused a lot on defense in free agency after signing a couple of key pieces including: Justin Jones, Sean Murphy-Bunting, and Mack Wilson. Arizona ranked 25th in total defense in 2023, so they are hoping these new guys will sway that number upwards. 

Moving onto the biggest story of the Cardinals offseason, the fourth overall pick in the NFL Draft. With that pick, the Cardinals took Marvin Harrison Jr. from Ohio State. Harrison Jr. was undoubtedly the best wideout in all of college football, making it an easy decision for Arizona to take him at number four. 

Maserati Marv, as Gus Johnson likes to call him, will now join a receiver room that was in dire need of some new talent and a potential new WR1 for Kyler Murray. Harrison Jr. will join James Conner and Trey McBride as Kyler Murray's top three weapons in this upcoming season.

To say it nicely, Arizona has not been very good the past two seasons. Second year head coach Jonathan Gannon would love to change that in 2024. If Kyler Murray can stay healthy for a full seventeen games, then maybe this Cardinals team can surprise some people this season. If not, this team will surely finish in a similar position as the previous two seasons. 

Team Preview: Indianapolis Colts

 

A season ago, the Colts finished a game shy of making the playoffs and winning the AFC South after dropping their last game of the season to the Houston Texans. This year they hope to have a healthy Anthony Richardson to lead the way for success in 2024. 

Indianapolis only saw a couple games of their rookie quarterback in 2023 before he eventually suffered a season-ending injury. Learning to be more cautious while running the football was a big part of Richardson's journey back from injury and is hoping to play a full seventeen games this season. 

The Colts did not make a lot of new acquisitions this offseason, rather they made the effort to re-sign a lot of their notable pieces on both sides of the football. Indy was able to extend key guys like Michael Pittman, Zaire Franklin, DeForest Buckner, and Kenny Moore, keeping these core players intact. Extending Jonathan Taylor last season took a lot of pressure off the Colts this offseason to get that deal done as well. 

Aside from locking down a lot of their core players, the Colts had one of the better draft classes in 2024 as well. With the 15th pick the Colts were able to scoop up Laiatu Latu, one of my favorite defensive players in all of college football in 2023. In the second round, they were able to give AR15 some more help when they drafted a receiver, Adonai Mitchell. 

Mitchell is now added to a receiver core headlined by Michael Pittman and can easily work his way up the Colts depth chart. Latu will now be working with Kwity Paye in the defensive ends room as Indianapolis looks to cause even more havoc on their opposing offenses. 

The key for the Colts in 2024 will be to stay healthy. With Anthony Richardson being out most of the season, Jonathan Taylor also missed seven games last season. Even with the injuries a season ago, the Colts were still able to finish 9-8, just a game out of the playoffs. With the AFC South improving mightily all around the Colts, staying healthy is a must for Indy in 2024. 

Team Preview: Jacksonville Jaguars

 

After a disappointing season in 2023 which consisted of a massive downfall, the Jaguars look to prove why last year was just a fluke. The Jags look to bounce back with their superstar quarterback, Trevor Lawrence, at the helm. 

Jacksonville was sitting comfortably in the AFC South last season until they dropped five of their last six games, losing the division by one game to the Houston Texans. Duval County has made a lot of notable transactions, including numerous extensions so they don't have a repeat season of 2023. 

The Jags extended two of their cornerstone pieces this offseason after giving both Josh Allen and Trevor Lawrence five-year deals to stay with the team until the near end of the decade. Along with extending Allen, Jacksonville also extended their other starting linebacker, Foye Oluokun, for three more years. Many consider this duo to be one of the top linebacker combinations throughout the NFL. Oluokun has earned a lot of praise for his play throughout the years. 

Moving on from extensions, the Jaguars had a very busy offseason to say the least. The Jags moved on from big pieces such as Calvin Ridley, Foley Fatukasi, and Darious Williams. Jacksonville did sign some notable replacements for these big names such as Gabe Davis, Darnell Savage, Arik Armstead, and more. 

Doug Pederson and the rest of management believed it was a good idea to shake up the dynamic of the team after the collapse they witnessed in 2023. With the rest of the AFC South notably improving around them, the Jags wanted to do the same. 

The Jaguars hope to see more of that dynamic offense featuring Trevor Lawrence and star running back Travis Etienne this upcoming season. Doug Pederson has supplied Lawrence with ample weapons this season including a stacked receiver core, and one of my favorite tight ends in the league in Evan Engram. 

Aside from free agency, the team also announced that they will be building a brand new stadium in Jacksonville coming in the near future. With there being rumors whether the Jags will relocate overseas because of owner Shad Khan, this almost solidifies that Jacksonville will be staying put on U.S. soil. 

It will be a tough climb for the Jaguars to make it back up to the top in the AFC South with the Texans looming, but I do believe this team will be better than last year's debacle. Jacksonville definitely has the talent to at worst sneak into the AFC Playoffs as a wild card team. 

 

Team Preview: Tennessee Titans

 It is safe to say that the Tennessee Titans do not want to repeat their last place finish in the AFC South from a year ago after they finished the season at 6-11. Some notable offseason transactions though have made the Titans a little more competitive from a year ago. 

It was a nightmare of a season in 2023 for Tennessee, but throughout the struggles, they may have found their franchise quarterback in Will Levis. Levis played in nine games last season and showed some very intriguing signs when he took over the helm of the Titans. 

Tennessee put Levis in a much better situation to succeed this year with some of the new weapons they added for him. Despite losing longtime Titan, Derrick Henry, the Titans offense looks a lot better than it has in previous years. 

To replace Henry, they went out and added a star running back in Tony Pollard for the next three years. But this isn't even the biggest headline in the new acquisitions on this offense. To pair along with DeAndre Hopkins, the Titans also signed Calvin Ridley to a massive deal and Tyler Boyd as well to fill out the receiver corps. 

Along with their rival Texans, the Titans are atop of that prestigious list of best receiving corps in the NFL. The Titans not only upgraded immensely on offense, but the defense is looking sharper as well. One of the biggest defensive acquisitions was when Tennessee got their hands on L'Jarius Sneed to take over their cornerback room. After winning two Super Bowls with the Chiefs, Sneed has made his name as one of the NFL's premier cornerbacks. 

The Titans finished in the middle of the pack in total defense last season, but with the addition of Sneed and others, their ranking will certainly boost up. Tennessee has certainly added some talent, but will that talent translate from paper to the field? 

Team Preview: Houston Texans

One of the most exciting teams in the NFL, the Houston Texans come into the 2024 regular season with very high expectations after winning the AFC South a season ago. After a superb first season with CJ Stroud at the helm, the Texans are now viewed as a top contender in the AFC. 

Going into last season, critics thought that it would take time for these young Texans to gel together, and boy were they proven wrong. Houston's improvement from the 2022 season to the 2023 season is something extraordinary and remarkable to embark upon. They turned a 3-13-1 record into a 10-7 and division title in just one calendar year. 

People knew what CJ Stroud was capable of, but no one thought he would adjust and takeover the NFL this easily. The Texans easily had one of the best offenses a year ago and during the offseason they got greedy and added to their powerhouse. They did that by acquiring two veteran pro bowlers with a ton of experience on this young Houston team. 

They signed Joe Mixon in free agency, and traded for Stefon Diggs, one of the league's premier wideouts. Houston never really had a solidified RB1 last season and now they have that in Mixon. And adding Diggs to this receiving group arguably gives them the best receiver corps in the league. Diggs now joins Tank Dell and Nico Collins to headline this outstanding Texans offense. 

Houston also made a huge transaction on defense after acquiring Danielle Hunter. Hunter was fifth in the NFL last season in sacks with 16.5 and will now be paired with Will Anderson Jr. as one of the scariest defensive end duos in the league. DeMeco Ryans is absolutely salivating over what this dynamic duo can bring to this defense. 

Along with a young team comes a young coaching staff led by DeMeco Ryans. Ryans was a nominee for Coach of the Year a season ago and should make another strong case for it this season. Houston was also able to keep Bobby Slowik as their offensive coordinator after strong interest from other teams for their head coaching position. Slowik was the main cause behind the revitalization of this Houston offense in just one year.

The other teams in the AFC South improved, but I still expect the Texans to walk away with this division pretty easily. They easily had one of the best offseason's out of the rest of the 31 teams and will carry their momentum from 2023 into this upcoming season. 

Team Preview: Detroit Lions

To wrap up the NFC North, the Detroit Lions come into the 2024 season looking to avenge their first division title in over three decades. The Lions come into this new season with a lot of familiar faces and many regard them as legit contenders just a season after their NFC Championship game appearance. 

This offseason for the Lions was mainly centered around locking down their cornerstone pieces. They were able to extend three of their biggest franchise pieces for over $440 million combined over the next four seasons. These players included Jared Goff, Amon-Ra St. Brown, and Penei Sewell. 

For the past couple of seasons the Lions have had one of the most productive offenses in the National Football League and they are making sure that production continues well into the future. The Lions underwent some big changes on the defensive side of the football as well. 

Detroit essentially is coming into this new season with a brand new secondary. They got rid of Tracy Walker and Cam Sutton, while CJ Gardner-Johnson moved on to a new team as well. They were able to bring in Carlton Davis from the Bucs, draft Terrion Arnold out of Alabama, and sign Amik Robertson to a two-year deal. 

There weren't many weak spots in the 2023 Lions, but Dan Campbell and Brad Holmes certainly thought that the secondary was one. After a 12-5 record a season ago, things will only get more challenging for Detroit as their entire division around them has improved along with them. 

The biggest thing for Detroit last year was getting over that large hump. They hadn't won a playoff game in over three decades before last season and came up just short of a Super Bowl appearance as well. The Lions will definitely find themselves back in the postseason, but it will not be as smooth sailing as it was in 2023.