Due to a flurry of additions, the 2022 AFC presents a crowded competition for playoff and Super Bowl LVII access. Some of the top-tier teams addressed key weaknesses, and several middle-class squads took big swings in respective aims to improve their chances this season.
The fallout paints a picture in which barely any AFCers can be truly counted out for playoff contention. Future Hall of Famers, potential Canton inductees, and Pro Bowlers moving from the NFC — along with various intra-AFC changes — have made for one of the most captivating offseasons in modern NFL annals. While the offseason is not yet complete, most of the acquisition dominoes ahead of training camp have fallen. Which team did the best work?
With Russell Wilson joining the Broncos, the AFC West’s Wilson-Patrick Mahomes–Derek Carr–Justin Herbert quartet appears of the great quarterback armadas any division has fielded in the five-plus-decade divisional era. The Broncos gave up two first-round selections in a five-pick deal but were able to hang onto their young receivers. Denver, which moved to a younger coaching staff headed by first-time HC Nathaniel Hackett and two rookie coordinators, also added defenders Randy Gregory and D.J. Jones. Going from the Teddy Bridgewater–Drew Lock combo to Wilson represents one of the top gains any team made this offseason, but Denver’s divisional competition will not make improvement easy.
Entering the final year in which Herbert must be tied to his rookie contract, the Chargers addressed several needs. They added defensive help in free agency, via J.C. Jackson and Sebastian Joseph-Day, and traded second- and sixth-round picks for Khalil Mack. The team also extended Mike Williams at $20MM per year — days before the wide receiver market dramatically shifted — and drafted right guard Zion Johnson in Round 1.
The Raiders were partially responsible for the wideout market’s explosion, trading first- and second-round picks for Davante Adams and extending him at $28MM per year. That came shortly after the team’s Chandler Jones addition. Las Vegas’ Josh McDaniels–Dave Ziegler regime has greenlit extensions for Reggie McKenzie– and Jon Gruden-era holdovers — from Carr to Maxx Crosby to Hunter Renfrow. Will a Darren Waller deal follow?
Of last season’s conference kingpins, the Chiefs and Titans endured the biggest losses. Hill and Tyrann Mathieu‘s exits will test the six-time reigning AFC West champs, while last year’s No. 1 seed balked at a monster A.J. Brown extension by trading him to the Eagles for a package headlined by a 2022 first-rounder. Both teams did address some needs early in the draft, but the Bengals and Bills look to have definitively improved their rosters.
Cincinnati augmented its bottom-tier offensive line by signing La’el Collins, Alex Cappa and Ted Karras. The defending AFC champions retained almost their entire defense, though Jessie Bates is not especially happy on the franchise tag. Buffalo reloaded as well, adding Von Miller to a defensive line that has lacked a top-end pass rusher for a while. The team swapped out ex-UDFA Levi Wallace for first-round cornerback Kaiir Elam, and James Cook is the Bills’ highest running back draftee since C.J. Spiller 12 years ago. How significant will the Brian Daboll-for-Ken Dorsey OC swap be?
Although Cincy’s AFC North competition made improvements, some caveats come with them. The Ravens filled their center and right tackle spots, with first-rounder Tyler Linderbaum and veteran Morgan Moses, and are now flush with safeties following the arrivals of Marcus Williams and Kyle Hamilton. But Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson situation has reached a strange stage, with the top three Ravens power brokers indicating the former MVP has not shown extension interest. Cleveland landed Amari Cooper for Day 3 draft capital and, on paper, rivaled Denver’s QB upgrade. Historic draft compensation and a shocking $230MM guarantee was required for the Browns to pull it off. But their Deshaun Watson trade has generated considerable drama — to the point the ex-Texans Pro Bowler cannot be considered a lock to play in 2022.
Oddsmakers do not expect the Jaguars’ moves to translate to 2022 contention, but the team did hire a former Super Bowl-winning coach in Doug Pederson and spend wildly for lineup upgrades — from Christian Kirk to Brandon Scherff to Foye Oluokun — and used two first-round picks (Travon Walker, Devin Lloyd) to further upgrade its defense. Going from Urban Meyer to Pederson should offer stability to a franchise that has lacked it, never more so than in 2021.
The Jets chased big-name receivers for weeks but came away with Garrett Wilson in a highly praised three-first-rounder draft. New York’s last-ranked defense now has new pieces in first-rounders Sauce Gardner and Jermaine Johnson, along with DBs Jordan Whitehead and D.J. Reed. Miami made a stunning coaching change by firing Brian Flores, which produced a tidal wave of controversy, but the now-Mike McDaniel-led team also paid up for splashy additions in Hill and Terron Armstead while retaining steady edge rusher Emmanuel Ogbah.
Are there other teams that warrant mention here? Vote in PFR’s latest poll and weigh in with your thoughts on the new-look AFC in the comments section.
Lots of AFC teams got better through addition by subtraction.
The Texans managed to put the Watson fiasco in the rear view mirror so that probably qualities as the most significant A by S.
Yeah that’s probably going to turn Davis Mills into a Pro Bowler. Players don’t care about players who aren’t in the locker room
It depends who the player is. A selfish player like Antonio Brown isn’t likely to be missed by teammates but those who make a positive contribution are missed. Ray Lewis had an enormous locker room presence with the Ravens.
Wasn’t Big Ray involved in a little matter?
would’ve voted LV, but they hired McDaniels so that ruins it.
and paid 28 mil per year to a WR who won’t have daddy at QB
With how talented Adams is he still probably puts up top 3 WR numbers at least for the first few years of that deal.
The Adams contract is a steal relative to market
So was the Carr contract
Both contracts will probably be re-negotiated at least twice as well during their tenure giving them a strong 4 year window with probably 1-2 dead bounce money yrs after that
2nd highest paid WR in the league is a steal lmao
is kirk cousins deal a steal too?
I think this poll wouldn’t be accurate due to fan bias. It is essentially a gauge of the fan base following this site
Agreed
Bengals getting a lot of votes for no reason… they “upgraded their line” .. but not really
Pretty sure Miami, Pittsburgh & Jaxsonville had “better off-seasons” ..which is what the poll is asking
Pittsburgh? Trubisky? 2nd rate offensive lineman? Tuitt retired and no replacement. You gotta look at Denver. It’s only one guy but that one guy plays the most important position in any sport and plays it well. He’s a huge upgrade for Denver
my comment was based on Cincinnati being voted higher than the teams listed.
I agree with Denver and jokeland transforming their teams.
and yes Pittsburgh.. u left out Myles Jack, Levi Wallace & Pickett
Levi Wallace is listed in the article as a former UDFA, which is one way to define the 8th best cover corner in 2021
Myles Jack is a bust. Pickett was a reach. A 3rd round pick in any other year. Jackson is really an unknown. As for the Bengals, they went from the worst line to probably middle of the pack. I think they’ll still give up a lot of sacks because their scheme gets them into less protection. They were the 2nd ranked team who went 5 wide and empty backfield. That gives you big plays but it also gets your quarterback sacked a lot
can’t call a franchise QB at 20 a reach until he plays at least a few games.
myles jack is far from a bust .. 2nd round pick living up to above average starter potential, and certainly didn’t get paid like a bust.
Sure you can. Pickett will be average at best for his career. The entire quarterback class was the worst in years. Pickett will be a Mason Rudolph. Rudolph was a 3rd round guy in a normal year. Jacksonville let Jack leave without an offer and they have the cap. That speaks volumes. Pittsburgh does have the best coach in the division
Harbaugh is easily the best coach, not Tomlin. Taylor is closing in on Tomlin, who is very overrated.
Tomlin has yet to have a losing season. For them to have made the playoffs last season was nothing short of a miracle. Harbaugh is a close 2nd. Taylor needs to get to a 500 record before you can even talk about him. He’s about 12 games under 500
Agree but when you’re 1 sack away from a Super Bowl victory .. like the Bengals were , to add 3 lineman that ranked top 15 in their position group last year… is significant. Compared to being ranked near the bottom prior to that. I think the Bengals are fairly rated.
They were actually one play away from not making the playoffs too. On paper, it’s an upgrade but you can’t say that since they were one play away from winning the Super Bowl and they made an upgrade that they’re shoo ins for the Super Bowl again. Like I said, they upgraded. Hard not to. Don’t read too much into the ratings because they were from a different team. The people that played next to them helped. Cappa played next to the best center in football. Burrow will be sacked top 10 next year
Never said they’d be a shoe in for the Super Bowl but it’s a very talented team. Adding more talent. Didn’t lose much at all except a disgruntled overrated safety and he will end up playing. I agree that surrounding cast helps but these guys are surrounded pretty much by each other so that counts for something.
You lost Ogunjobi. You lost Uzomah. You still have Apple. That’s where you needed an upgrade. He lost the Super Bowl or coaching staff that kept Apple on Cupp. Bengals need to stay healthy again because depth is lacking except at WR. Your offensive line will need time to gel. You can’t have 4 new starters and expect cohesion
SAN DIEGO SUPER CHARGERS. Sure broncos had a nice off season and got a great qb and the bills got Von Miller who I think will be great for them but the chargers upgraded their defense. We saw last year Herbert can lead a great offense but the defense was their Achilles heel. With some top end defenders joining the bandwagon, this could be a great year for the chargers. Khalil Mack will be a monster just like normal
Yea I know they are the la chargers
I agree as a Bengal fan who voted for the Chargers … my money is on Chargers for the division. Loaded with talent. My only worry is running back depth. Eckler is great but injury prone.
I voted KC. Other teams added talent, but it cost them huge money and draft capital. KC added a huge chunk of young talent.
The Bengals kept nearly everyone, upgraded at TE, and infused youth to an already strong defense. In addition to the notable OL improvements.
Notice how most of the Bengals FAs from last year are still unsigned? That shows a strong upgrade.
But, the Ravens have had a better off-season due to an incredible draft.
An upgrade at TE? Not according to the stats and money paid. Infused youth? Doesn’t all teams do that with the draft? Nobody is drafting 34 year olds. I don’t believe the Bengals even signed any backups. The Bengals will have rookies or the same backups from last year. Losing Ogunjobi hurts the DT rotation big. Offensive line is definitely an improvement but 4 new starters will take time to gel.
The money? That’s a bad gauge since it’s more about the competency of the front office paying it out. Real bad ones pay $230M to a QB with 20 sexual assault allegations. As to the stats, Hurst was a TE2 on a bad team. He’s now a TE1 catching passes from Burrow. So yes, he’s a clear upgrade. Watch.
Well Uzomah was a TE1. Are you saying that Hurst is better than Uzomah? Last year you would have said Uzomah was better. Hurst is a career backup. Ogunjobi was a huge loss. Offensive lineman are average but that is an upgrade from horrible I guess. Maybe Burrow will be able to beat the Browns one game before he retires