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Playoff Contenders as is

Oakland Raiders - This team had a claim to being the best team in the league last season with its excellent offensive, defense, and turnover rankings, but I was in control of that team and probably squeezed the most out of it as I could. There is a considerable talent deficiency here both in terms of starters and depth. The cap situation wasn't good last season, which forced a ton of trades. It is unknown how much dead cap the team will incur, and thus I can't really say what their financial will be once the offseason proper begins. The team does have a ton of high draft picks (including 1st and 3rd overall), so it has plenty of ammo to make some moves through RFA, trades, and the draft.

Cincinnati Bengals - The Bengals still had a high quality offense (8th), but took a major step back on defense (I want to say 6th to dead last). The defense still had 10/11 starters from the season before, so honestly I just assume bad luck was the main reason. I would expect some regression to the mean. Other than that, this is well-balanced team in terms of talent distribution. Several areas could use some depth, and the offense is getting up there in years (really just looking at OL and QB), but things look good other than that.

Dallas Cowboys - The most dominant team in our league's history (went to six straight SBs), the Cowboys now have a lengthy by their standards playoff drought. Nothing about this team is bad, but if I had to pick something, the secondary has been its weak link for most of this drought. The trenches (OL and DL) are very old now, and QB Andy Dalton presumably has just one season left in him, so at least there are some clear areas to target for improvements. Eight of their 10 most expensive players still have additional years left on their contract, so financials might be an issue.

Washington Commanders - I'm not even looking at the rankings. This is a talented team that has one fatal flaw holding them back now, the offensive line. They kept losing talent and replacing them with high draft picks, but high draft picks are still of lesser talent than most starters, so in the end, it only results in a vicious, wasteful cycle. Finances shouldn't be much of an issue, so as long as the team goes out and gets at least two starters that are far more talented than what they have now, they should get back into being true playoff contenders.

San Juan Orcas - A defensive-oriented team (uncharacteristically fell to 16th though), the offense endured an up-and-down season from rookie QB Tua Tagovailoa and once again suffered numerous injuries to their backfield. All of their non-Nyheim Hines HBs had sub-3.5 YPC (yards per carry) marks. A combination of a return to their elite D, more stability from Tua, and better health from the backfield could propel this team back to Super Bowl contention, but they do have an aging offensive line that will need work, especially if they lose multiple to retirement like I suspect could happen. I know that I have said this to the vast majority of teams, but space space will be an issue.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Reinforcements on defense, a QB taken in the Top 5, and a former #2 overall HB breaking out all led to the Bucs being in the playoff hunt until the conclusion of Week 16. A 7-9 record may not jump out, but this was a huge step forward for the franchise. They aren't the most talented team, and they do have financial woes, though it should be better this season, but improvement from QB Justin Herbert and some additional, smaller moves might be all this team needs to continue its upward trend.

Major Work Needed

Indianapolis Colts - The offense was a complete embarrassment last season. Losing HB Jamaal Williams for nearly the entire season didn't help, but it can hardly all be attributed to that. The team is relatively young, should be in good cap standing, and will have some high draft picks, so it can be a quick turnaround, but they might need to make several changes to its offense (and aging defense to a lesser extent) to make things work.

Chicago Bears - A lot of effort has gone into this team, but just hasn't produced the results. It had a bottom 10 offense and defense last season, and they could probably do a major overhaul. WR, OLB, and OL are probably the easiest positions to improve upon. They might also want to consider a change at QB. Their cap situation should be great too. They don't own their most of their draft picks, but they do have the top picks of the Bills, so they will be in the middle of the rounds at least.

Green Bay Packers - The transition from a scrambling to non-scrambling QB was rough as expected, but they also suffered more injuries to starters than most teams, so its hard to gauge where they are at as a team right now. Given the youth of their QB/HB (both recent first round picks too) and the talent of their OL, really just the WR room could use some help on offense. On defense, their DTs, LBs, and DBs are getting close to retirement, so this team has clear areas of concerns. Cap space should be no issue.