We’ve made it. It’s finally Week 1 of the 2025 regular season.
But—sorry for the hard stop—before we move on to the games that count, let’s do one final “winners and losers” story to officially say goodbye to the offseason. And don’t worry, I’ll also look ahead by taking a close look at a few teams’ Super Bowl odds.
There’s one team in Florida that’s been getting a lot of love lately. As for a different Florida team, they might be getting tired of their star wide receiver.
All right, let’s not waste anymore time because everyone’s itching for the games to kick off this week.
Winners
Buccaneers’ Super Bowl hype
Surprisingly, the Buccaneers have generated a good amount of Super Bowl hype this summer—or maybe these predictions from Conor Orr are engraved in my mind.
Maybe not as much hype as the Broncos, but there’s a ton of respect for the Baker Mayfield–led Buccaneers, which signifies how far the 2018 No. 1 pick has come since being traded by the Browns.
I’m not saying the Buccaneers are my Super Bowl pick—the MMQB NFL season predictions will be released on Wednesday—but I can finally view them in the same light as when Tom Brady was the quarterback in Tampa Bay. They’re not just the good team that benefits from the subpar NFC South. They’re legit contenders capable of winning any division.
There might not be a weakness on this offense. Sure, the Eagles and Lions still have the better talent, but there’s depth at most positions, especially with the pass catchers. If Mayfield’s preseason hype of rookie wide receiver Emeka Egbuka is legit, then watch out, because there’s plenty to like about this team.
Rams’ Super Bowl hopes
The Rams seemed headed for the losers’ section of this column after Matthew Stafford hid inside a very expensive mobile rejuvenation chamber because his bad back wouldn’t let him practice with the team.
It took a week, but whatever this chamber did, which resembled something out of the Alien movies, it helped Stafford get back on the field as a full participant and he hasn’t missed a practice since. The Rams’ social media team didn’t waste time sharing videos of Stafford throwing passes to his new star receiver Davante Adams, who no longer has to worry about playing games with Jimmy Garoppolo again.
The Super Bowl hopes are back in Los Angeles after Stafford’s bad back put a scare into the team for most of training camp. Obviously, a bad back can flare up at any moment, but the 37-year-old Stafford hasn’t had any setbacks in the past two weeks. That’s a major win for the organization.
Ravens’ secondary
Star safety Kyle Hamilton recently earned a four-year, $100.4 million contract extension for his stellar first three seasons in the NFL, but he could be on the verge of delivering a career season based on the moves the Ravens made in the secondary this offseason.
Last year, Hamilton spent plenty of time downfield to help the Ravens’ leaky coverage. He can now return to making plays closer to the line of scrimmage, where he thrived as a first-team All-Pro in 2023, because the team added veteran cornerback Jaire Alexander and rookie safety Malaki Starks. There’s also the possibility of a breakout season from second-year cornerback Nate Wiggins, and versatile cornerback Marlon Humphrey is coming off an All-Pro season.
With the way Lamar Jackson & Co. can score in a hurry, expect opposing offenses to make plenty of regrettable decisions against this secondary just to keep pace on the scoreboard.
Jaxson Dart and Brian Daboll
Giants coach Brian Daboll didn’t get fired by owner John Mara in large part because of his offensive prowess. It was only preseason, but the Giants’ offense moved efficiently with starter Russell Wilson and Jaxson Dart, the rookie first-round pick who could play sooner than expected.
Even if the Giants endure another losing season, Daboll could again be safe if Dart has the look of a franchise quarterback. While the leash is getting shorter on Wilson, it will only get longer for Daboll as long as Dart is producing early results.
It’s a bit ironic that Daboll is playing Wilson to start the season because it gives the team the best chance to win games and in turn help him retain his job. But how quickly Dart develops might be more important to Mara when evaluating Daboll and GM Joe Schoen at the end of season. And, so far, it seems the Giants might have selected the best quarterback in the 2025 draft.
Trey Hendrickson
After a lengthy contract dispute, edge rusher Trey Hendrickson should be thrilled about possibly getting the chance to leave the Bengals in the offseason.
He didn’t get a long-term commitment from the team, but he could receive a $14 million pay bump for agreeing to play at least one more season in Cincinnati, with a revised contract that could go as high as $30 million if Hendrickson hits all his incentives this season.
With the hefty raise, it almost eliminates the possibility of the Bengals using the franchise tag on Hendrickson in the offseason. If Hendrickson, who turns 31 in December, is as productive as he’s been the past two seasons, with a combined 35 sacks, he can earn more money on the open market and join a team that actually values him, and maybe join one that actually prioritizes adding defensive players.
Raiders’ offense
Last year, the Bengals were fun to watch because of their one-sided team that leaned heavily on the offense. Perhaps the Raiders could be this year’s team that often plays in high-scoring affairs.
Maybe that’s a reach because the Raiders don’t have Joe Burrow, Tee Higgins and Ja’Marr Chase, and they don’t even have a true No. 1 wideout. Also, their best receiver, Jakobi Meyers, recently requested a trade.
But hear me out on the Silver and Black. The trio of Geno Smith, Brock Bowers and rookie Ashton Jeanty could be a dangerous offense with offensive coordinator Chip Kelly calling the plays. There’s also depth at wide receiver with the recent signing of Amari Cooper, and the team is high on Tre Tucker and rookies Dont’e Thorton Jr. and Jack Bech.
Now, let’s not confuse a fun-to-watch offense with a winning team. The Raiders still need a lot of help on the defensive side. Maxx Crosby can play the role of Hendrickson on this lackluster defense. But don’t be surprised if you find yourself watching the Raiders often on your NFL Sunday Ticket package.
Losers
Jerry Jones
Thirty-six years ago, Cowboys fans wanted Jerry Jones gone not long after purchasing the team because his first act as the new owner was firing the legendary Tom Landry.
That was unreasonable at the time. That’s no longer the case for the Cowboys fans who want Jones gone after trading Micah Parsons to the Packers. Jones was right to fire Landry and hire Jimmy Johnson, ushering a new era in Dallas, which consisted of three Super Bowl trophies in the 1990s.
But it’s been a very, very long time since Jones was that right about one of his football decisions. I understand that the two first-round picks from Green Bay could lead to building a complete team, but that’s not what Jones was thinking when he wanted Parsons to sign without his agent back in April. That’s not what Jones was thinking when he re-signed Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb. I’m sure those two players didn’t expect to play for a rebuilding team when he they re-signed last year.
It seems trading Parsons wasn’t about the long term, because those kinds of plans take time to execute and are comprised of rash decisions. This might be another incident in which Jones put pettiness above winning because Parsons and his agent didn’t play ball. Jones knows how to make money, but even in that area he struggles whenever he’s blinded by trivial matters. Johnson knows all about that.
Jones is going to spend the next few months comparing this deal to the Herschel Walker trade of 1989. Again, it’s been a long time since Jones made impactful football decisions that lead to building Super Bowl contenders and not just drama-filled teams. At age 82, maybe Jones should listen to those disgruntled Cowboys fans.
Browns
There’s not much the Browns did right this offseason. Myles Garrett got his eighth speeding ticket since entering the league in 2017. Simply put, just hire a driver already and stop putting people’s lives at risk.
So much drama in Cleveland could be easily avoided, but for whatever reason, sensible decisions don’t seem to be an option for this dysfunctional organization.
Read the room, Browns. Maybe don’t be the team that signs wide receiver Isaiah Bond, who went undrafted due to sexual assault allegations. Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer reported this about the Bond signing: “I can say there were folks, internally, who weren’t comfortable with it, particularly when combined with the team’s recent history with players facing such accusations.”
The Browns made this decision while second-round rookie running back Quinshon Judkins remains unsigned partly because he was arrested in July on domestic violence and battery charge. The Browns are also the team that jumped through hoops to sign Deshaun Watson, who was accused by more than two dozen women of sexual assault and inappropriate conduct during massage sessions.
It seemed the Browns were ready to make sensible decisions when it became clear that they were moving on from Watson. Instead, they end a once promising offseason with a handful of irresponsible decisions.
49ers predictions
The 49ers have become a trendy pick as a “surprise team” that will make the postseason. Yeah, real bold there going with a team that made the Super Bowl less than two years ago and still has Brock Purdy, Christian McCaffrey, Trent Williams, George Kittle, Nick Bosa and Fred Warner. Oh, and Kyle Shanahan is still the coach.
Nothing wrong with predicting the 49ers to bounce back after a six-win season, but let’s please stop treating them like a Cinderella story. Be brave and pick the Panthers or the Giants and their difficult schedule. And that brings me to my other annoyance surrounding the 49ers: it’s their so-called cupcake schedule that will get them back in the postseason, as if this loaded offense needed to play all last-place teams from a year ago to get back to the postseason.
People put too much stock into strength of schedule. First of all, no one knows who’s actually going to be available for these upcoming games. The 49ers were hit hard with injuries this summer, but there’s a consensus assumption that they’re going to be at full strength come the regular season to beat up on the Seahawks, Saints and Cardinals in the first three weeks before cruising to 10-plus wins.
These gripes are more about outside narratives and not necessarily about the 49ers, but they did have a rough offseason after parting with several starters from the defensive side and are now dealing with an injury wave at wide receiver.
I’m not as high on the 49ers as the football public, obviously. And, to me, the schedule isn’t that easy when they’re playing the Rams, Cardinals and Seahawks twice this season, all teams that got better in the offseason, perhaps making the NFC West the most competitive division in the league this season.
Tyreek Hill
I get that Tyreek Hill is a dynamic wide receiver, but his act must be getting old in Miami.
Good on Tua Tagovailoa for not being quick to move on from Hill’s comments after the 2024 season, hinting that he wanted out of Miami. Tagovailoa told reporters that Hill needed to regain trust after his controversial words.
Instead, Hill has gone out of his way to criticize his teammates and call them out publicly. Maybe he’s just joking around, but Dolphins kicker Jason Sanders seemed pretty annoyed after Hill told him “you better not miss a kick this year.” “If I do?” Sanders responded. “You better not drop a ball this year.”
Then there was Hill’s comments on De’Von Achane, telling reporters he shouldn’t be getting the ball in short-yardage situations. Yeah, maybe it’s time the Dolphins consider the addition-by-subtraction method the Chiefs took with Hill a few years back.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as NFL Offseason Winners and Losers: Bucs Hype Train Soars, Cowboys Are All About Drama.