Aug 06, 2023 - 14:21
By espn.com

Judging 10 overreactions off the 2023 NFL offseason - ESPN

What's that? You thought my overreactions column was just an in-season thing? Now, why would you think a thing like that?

The NFL offseason might be the best time of all to examine overreactions. Teams make all kinds of moves, months out from the start of the season, fully convinced they'll work out in a certain way, only to be surprised, disappointed, elated or whatever once the real games start. We can quickly find out which moves really made sense and which ones didn't.

So we're going to pick 10 offseason items — 10 conclusions to which you might have jumped as a result of this offseason's activity — and tell you whether they're overreactions. This way, you don't have to wait until the season to find out. You're welcome.

Time was, you could write «New England» in permanent ink as AFC East champion when you made your preseason predictions. But times have changed.

The Bills have won the division each of the past three seasons, averaging 12.3 wins per year while doing so. They're still the favorites, but the Jets added quarterback Aaron Rodgers to a roster that won seven games in 2022 with actively harmful quarterback play, and the Dolphins were a playoff team last season even with starting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa missing a chunk of games because of concussions. The Patriots were 8-9 in 2022, only one game better than the last-place Jets. And you can make the case that everyone else in the division got better this offseason.

Verdict: NOT AN OVERREACTION

I don't think it's automatic that