Important NFL players, coaches, execs for the 2024 offseason
Super Bowl LVIII was fantastic, and the Chiefs’ victory will be remembered as exciting and momentous. It is beneficial to reflect.
However, it’s equally critical to look ahead. NFL offseason 2024 has already started. Decisions about contracts are being made, and draft assessments are being completed. A lot needs to happen before the Chiefs and their opponent begin their yearly Thursday night season start in September in order to prepare for the 2024 campaign.
Here is a look at 80 of the most intriguing individuals, locations, and objects that will influence the NFL over the ensuing 12 months. Every player on this list—free agent quarterbacks, inexperienced head coaches, new owners, and general manager candidates—should command the interest of NFL fans during the upcoming season, especially during the summer. Who knows? Perhaps one or more of them will have a role in determining the Super Bowl winner the following season. Or, at the very least, the Chiefs’ loser…
Vikings center KirkCousins
Cousins’ contract expires on March 12—after teams are no longer allowed to franchise players—so the Vikings will not be able to franchise him and he will become a free agency. When Cousins was a free agency six years prior, he sought a contract that included full guarantees, and the Vikings granted him just that. Is his objective going to be the same this time? Given that he is coming off an Achilles tear and will turn 36 in August, how much, if at all, will this affect his value as a free agent?
Before he was injured, Cousins was playing as well as any quarterback in the NFL, and good starting quarterbacks don’t frequently become free agents. Although it sounds like Minnesota would like to have him back, it might not be able to if he’s determined to maximize his market share. The Vikings eventually realize they must consider a long-term solution for the position. Within the league, there are those who think Minnesota would attempt to make a significant trade up for a top-three overall pick. That would probably mean Cousins leaves for another team in 2024 and someone like Jayden Daniels of LSU begins for them. Atlanta, Las Vegas, Pittsburgh, and other clubs that depend on quarterbacks are closely monitoring
Tampa Bay Bucs Baker Mayfield
Mayfield and the Bucs had a successful marriage, so Tampa Bay will probably make an effort to sign him again, even if it requires a franchise tag. Towards the close of the 2022 season, when both were with the Rams, Mayfield and Liam Coen, the new offensive coordinator for the Bucs, overlapped. (Do you recall Baker from the Rams? I understand, correct?
So what’s the best bargain for Mayfield, exactly? He signed a one-year deal worth up to $8.5 million last March and subsequently tossed 28 touchdown passes for the NFC South champs. Should he give Daniel Jones money right now? Must he produce more? To what extent would the Bucs willing to stake their future on the notion that Mayfield’s 2023 was a true renaissance rather than the latest peak in a peaks-and-valleys career?
Fields, Justin, Chicago Bears
If the Bears do end up trading away the first overall pick for a second straight year, Fields will probably be playing for a different team in 2024. Though he’s far from a finished product, he has demonstrated enough as an NFL starter for the Bears to be able to get something of worth, perhaps a second-round pick. In 2023, he was 29th in completion percentage (61.4%) and 23rd in total QBR (46.1).
Caleb Williams, USC
The first superstar prospect of the NIL era is the likely number one choice in the 2024 NFL draft. If the Bears decide to move on from Fields, they would probably select him as their quarterback. However, others are curious as to whether Williams will utilize his special financial position to influence which team picks him. What is his future as Chicago’s quarterback? What about the Commanders, who recently appointed Kliff Kingsbury, a former USC assistant, as their new offensive coordinator? Would he even think of giving up something for a year, or threatening to give something up, only to achieve what he wanted?
Aaron Rodgers, New York Jets
Rodgers, who is 40 years old and recovering from an Achilles tear, is running out of time to convince the Jets to trade for him. Rodgers is the focal point of everything this organization does these days. After a disappointing first season with the Jets, he has to recover and perform at his previous MVP levels.
Russell Wilson, Denver Broncos
Even though the Broncos owe him a guaranteed $39 million, they will undoubtedly give him another opportunity to prove he can start for a team because he was good enough in his first ten years in the NFL. Wilson looks to be heading toward free agency after being benched late in the 2023 season, just two years after Denver acquired him with a package of players and draft picks and signed him to a five-year agreement that hasn’t even started yet. Wilson is running out of time to debut his second act, if there is one.
Geno Smith, Seattle Seahawks
Smith, who took over as Seattle’s starter after Wilson left for Denver, has completed the last two seasons with 11th-best total QBR (61.3), fourth-best completion percentage (67.4%), and sixth-best touchdown pass total (50). Although he signed a contract with a very fair $22.3 million for 2024, none of that money is guaranteed at this time.
Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys
Prescott has a $59.455 million 2024 cap amount. For comparison, Patrick Mahomes’ $37.1 million salary was the highest salary cap in the NFL during the previous campaign. Dallas could reduce Prescott’s number with an extension, but the last time the two sides bargained in 2021, it was extremely difficult to convince him to accept one. And he has considerably more power this time. Prescott can demand anything he wants because he has one year left on his current contract, a no-trade clause, and a clause that forbids the Cowboys from using the franchise or transition tags on him.
THE NAMES OF THE OTHER ONES ARE:
Trevor Lawrence, Jacksonville Jaguars
Jared Goff, Detroit Lions
Tua Tagovailoa, Miami Dolphins
Trevor Lawrence, Jacksonville JaguarsDaniel Jones, New York GiantsKenny Pickett, Pittsburgh SteelersBryce Young, Carolina Panthers
HiBrock Purdy, San Francisco 49ers
Anthony Richardson, Indianapolis ColtsPatrick Mahomes, Kansas City ChiefsLamar Jackson, Baltimore RavensC.J. Stroud, Houston TexansMac Jones, New England Patriots
