By: Adam Hulse (@AdamHulseSports)

The NFL offseason is now more than halfway complete. Between free agency, trades, and the draft it has been eventful as always. Teams have opened camps and players are coming together to start preparing for the upcoming season. The goal of every offseason for a GM is to make roster moves that will improve the team moving forward. Most of the GMs were able to accomplish that this year, but there are some that definitely did not. There are teams that will head into the 2021 season in a worse situation than 2020 because of decisions made by the GM of the team. Here are three that were the biggest losers this offseason.

Green Bay Packers: Brian Gutekunst

The Packers find themselves in a very messy situation right now, and that is mostly because Aaron Rodgers is unhappy with the direction of the team. He feels so strongly that he has not yet reported to the team for camp and rumor has it that he will refuse to play for them this year. He wants out of Green Bay and at least for now is apparently insisting that he would rather sit out this season than play for the Packers if he is not traded to another team. If Rodgers is this unhappy, it is an epic fail by the front office lead by Gutekunst.

Like it or not, when an organization is lucky enough to have a quarterback like Rodgers, they must do everything in their power to keep him happy. He is a once-in-a-lifetime type of player and widely considered a top-five quarterback in NFL history. He is a three-time NFL MVP, a Super Bowl champion, and a future first-ballot Hall of Famer. For as long as he is there, the organization needs to cater to him. He gives the team a real chance to win every game each season no matter what the rest of the roster looks like. He is an absolute luxury and they should be grateful to have him. If organizational decisions have made Rodgers so unhappy that he refuses to play for them anymore, then Gutekunst failed massively at his job.

In addition to the Rodgers disaster, the Packers made some questionable roster moves this offseason as well. First, they gave running back Aaron Jones a big contract extension. This is a bit of an odd decision because they just used a second-round pick on AJ Dillon, who has looked good. The money used on Jones could have better been used to keep center Corey Linsley while transitioning the starting running back job to Dillon. The Packers also gave cornerback Kevin King an extension but still used a first-round draft pick on another corner, which is a questionable strategy as well. All things considered, Gutekunst had the worst offseason of any GM this year and if Rodgers really does not come back, it was historically terrible.

Indianapolis Colts: Chris Ballard

The Colts made an enormous gamble this offseason by trading for quarterback Carson Wentz, who struggled so much with the Eagles last season that he lost his starting job to rookie Jalen Hurts. A strong case can be made that Wentz was the worst starting quarterback in the entire NFL last season after throwing 15 interceptions in just 12 games and recording an abysmal 57 completion percentage. This didn’t stop Ballard from acquiring him in hopes that head coach Frank Reich could get Wentz back to his old form before the injuries and extreme drop-off in production. After all, Reich was with Wentz in Philadelphia when he was playing by far his football.

The idea that Wentz is going to magically return to an MVP candidate after how bad he has been, is a serious long shot. The move may have been worth the risk for Ballard if the price was cheap enough, but that is far from the case. Besides the huge financial burden that Wentz brings with him, which is over 20 million in 2021 and 27 million in 2022, the Colts had to surrender valuable draft picks as well. They sent to the Eagles a third-round pick in 2021 as well as a 2022 conditional pick that will be either a first or second-rounder. The condition is that if Wentz plays at least 75 percent of the snaps for the Colts this season, the pick becomes a first-rounder.

The condition set on the pick is a losing one for Ballard unless Wentz becomes a superstar immediately, which is highly unlikely right now. The Colts can only retain their first-round pick if Wentz does not play over 75 percent of the snaps. There are only two ways that can happen and neither of them is good. It would mean either Wentz once again got injured or he continues to play so terribly as he did with the Eagles that he loses his job in Indianapolis as well. If he does play enough snaps, he would have to have a spectacular season to justify the price tag of a first and third-round pick to go with a nearly 50 million dollar salary hit over the next two years. When weighing risk versus reward, this was a terrible trade by Ballard and is the reason why he was one of the biggest losers this offseason.

Las Vegas Raiders: Mike Mayock

What Mayock did to the Raiders offensive line this offseason was baffling. He turned one of the best units in the entire NFL into one of the worst and didn’t get any real value for it in return. Tackle Trent Brown and center Rodney Hudson are elite at their positions and two of the better offensive lineman in the entire league while guard Gabe Jackson is a very solid player as well. All three of them were traded away this offseason, in addition to two seventh-round draft picks, and in return, the Raiders received just one third-round pick and two fifth-round picks. Rebuilding and retooling is sometimes a good idea and maybe Mayock felt it was time to do that to the offensive line. The problem is not necessarily what he gave away but there is no denying that he did a terrible job at getting back proper value.

Since taking over as the GM of the Raiders, Mayock has been questionable at best when it comes to the NFL Draft. He has often reached on players by over-drafting them when they would likely be available for him to select at a later time. A good draft strategy should be about getting the best value for your selection and Mayock has not done a great job at that. This year was no different when he selected offensive tackle Alex Leatherwood with the 17th overall pick. He may very well be a great tackle in the NFL but if that was the guy they wanted, they could have traded down to get him while receiving additional draft capital at the same time. Mayock did an awful job at maximizing the value of his transactions and that is why he had one of the worst offseasons.

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By: Michael Obermuller

The 2020 season was a wild and turbulent ride for edge rusher Yannick Ngakoue, and not just because of the pandemic. The former 2016 third round pick out of Maryland played out his rookie contract with the Jacksonville Jaguars, but the relationship deteriorated after the Jags organization tagged Ngakoue at the start of another offseason that was widely viewed as an attempt to tank.

Hoping to test free agency in the first place, the situation became hostile when Ngakoue demanded a trade before the new season began. After a lot of feet dragging by the Jaguars, that trade request was finally granted to the Minnesota Vikings, who later flipped the pass rusher to the Baltimore Ravens before the deadline.

Ngakoue’s strength as an edge rusher is his consistency. Through five NFL seasons, he has never totaled less than 8.0 sacks, with a personal record of 12.0 in 2017. In 2020 he logged five with the Vikes and three with the Ravens, plus four forced fumbles split between the two. That performance yielded a solid 70.0 grade from Pro Football Focus.

The defensive end is more familiar with the 4-3 scheme that Jacksonville and Minnesota both utilize, but he proved that he can still flourish as a 3-4 outside linebacker with Baltimore. This versatility should help Ngakoue on the open market, as he competes with free agents like Jadeveon Clowney, Trey Hendrickson, Shaq Barrett, Melvin Ingram, Bud Dupree and more. In terms of Yannick, the question is really what franchise wouldn’t want a player of his ability, not what franchise would. With that in mind, these three landing spots are my top fits for Ngakoue.

3. New York Jets (Cap: $+72,498,042_ Rank #3)

This one makes so much sense that it probably won’t happen. The New York Jets have needed an edge rusher for what feels like decades, and yet they still have safeties and interior defensive linemen leading their team in sacks season after season. In 2020, defensive tackle Quinnen Williams led the Jets with 7.0 sacks, and next after that was journeyman edge rusher Tarell Basham with just 3.5 on the year. For a 3-4 defense dependent on blitzing, that’s downright terrible.

Now defensive guru Robert Saleh is at the helm, and it’s expected that this unit to switches over to a 4-3 in 2021. New York has very few capable defensive ends on their current roster (and they just cut one of them in Henry Anderson), so they pretty much HAVE TO target a couple edge defenders through either free agency or the draft. The Jets have the money to nab just about any free agent they want, so it will probably come down to which player Saleh and GM Joe Douglas deem worthy of the hefty price tag.

2. Indianapolis Colts (Cap: $+50,572,338_ Rank #4)

The Indianapolis Colts have done a really nice job building their roster over the years, and they always seem to have cap space to spare despite having less needs than the average NFL team. Credit GM Chris Ballard for that success, and now that the Colts have their starting quarterback Carson Wentz, they can focus on fine-tuning other weak areas.

One position that stands out is defensive end. Veteran Justin Houston is a free agent, and that gives Indy $12 million to spend on a younger replacement. Although there are plenty of free agent options at this position, Ngakoue’s speed and ferocity could really gel with Darius Leonard and this aggressive linebacking crew.

Honorable Mention: Seattle Seahawks (Cap: $+24,795,512_ Rank #15)

Even though the Seattle Seahawks should be spending their money elsewhere, like on an offensive line to block for their disgruntled franchise quarterback Russell Wilson, they probably won’t… And let’s be honest, Ngakoue is a perfect fit for this 4-3 defense that has earned its scary reputation. Carlos Dunlap has already been released and Benson Mayowa is an unrestricted free agent, opening the door for an Ngakoue signing.

1. Tennessee Titans (Cap: $7,559,660_ Rank #20)

Mike Vrabel is ALWAYS in the market for pass rush, and they just freed up $10.2 million in cap space by releasing cornerback Malcolm Butler. Last offseason the Titans brought in Vic Beasley and the aforementioned Clowney on the edge, but largely swung and missed on both free agents (their average of 1.4 sacks per game was tied for 28th in the NFL in 2020). Fast forward one year later and the void for a consistent pass rusher is larger than ever.

Tennessee must correct this weakness if they hope to compete for a Super Bowl, and not many free agent edge rushers have been as dependable as Ngakoue. So far the five-year pro has been an ironman throughout his career, playing 78 out of 80 possible games, and starting 70 of them. We already discussed his consistency getting to the quarterback as well, as he averages an impressive 9.1 sacks per campaign.

The Titans matched up against Ngakoue twice a year for four straight seasons. They know what he can do, and it’s time they added his skillset to their arsenal.

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