3 days Ago By Maurice Moton
As the 2024 NFL season nears a close, teams have come to terms with some of the mistakes made this past offseason. A few clubs have tried to correct those miscues, while others will make changes in 2025. It's easy to look back and criticize front offices for poor free-agent signings and hires, but some of these moves raised concerns before things went sour during the regular season.
Let's review the most regrettable decisions teams made in 2024 and the short-term impact of these moves. What went wrong? What's next in these situations? In his first two seasons with the Chicago Bears, Matt Eberflus went 10-24. According to ESPN's Adam Schefter , at the end of the 2023 campaign, Bears brass had "extensive meetings" about the the head coach's future with the team and decided to retain him.
Schefter went into detail about why the club gave the 54-year-old a third term. "The Bears have won recently, playing inspired football, and have more draft capital than any team in the league," he wrote. "They have had enough change in the past to want to try to be stable now.
" The Bears soured on stability and fired Eberflus after the team's Thanksgiving Day clock-management debacle . This was the first time the franchise dismissed its lead skipper midseason. According to ESPN's Courtney Cronin , Chicago had a "contentious" vibe in the locker room following the loss to Detroit.
Because of that, the team had to do something to uplift morale, but the Bears have lost four straight contests since Thanksgiving, and they're on a 10-game losing streak. Rookie quarterback Caleb Williams will go through more changes in the coming year. Assuming the Bears move on from interim head coach and play-caller Thomas Brown, the 2024 No.
1 overall pick will have his third play-caller by Week 1 of next season. Chicago wanted stability with Eberflus, but it needs a dramatic culture change in 2025. The Philadelphia Eagles may have buyer's remorse regarding their three-year, $51.
1 million pact with Bryce Huff. Last year, the defensive end recorded career highs in sacks (10.5) and pressures (33) with the New York Jets.
He earned a massive pay raise but hasn't elevated or even maintained his level of performance in Philadelphia. Huff opened the season as a starter in Vic Fangio's defense, but he's played in a limited role. When asked about Huff's snap count in September, Fangio told reporters that the 26-year-old had to "separate himself from other edge-rushers.
" The Memphis product was hampered by a wrist injury, which limited his playing time in November, and the team placed him on injured reserve after Week 11. He's set to return this season, but Josh Sweat and Nolan Smith will likely play most of the snaps on the edge. While Huff was with the Jets, he was effective in a rotational role, on the field for 40-50 percent of the defensive snaps, but Philadelphia paid him starter money.
If Huff is on the field for only half of the defensive snaps, the Eagles wouldn't get the most bang for their buck. His average annual salary is about $17 million, which is 17th among edge-rushers, per Over the Cap . The Atlanta Falcons knew Kirk Cousins was returning from a torn Achilles at 36 years old, but they took an expensive risk with him anyway.
Despite questions about health at his age, he signed the biggest deal in free agency this past offseason. However, the Falcons quickly learned they weren't getting the Pro Bowl-caliber version of the veteran quarterback from his pre-injury Minnesota Vikings years. Besides a few three-plus-touchdown passing performances, Cousins had been more efficient than uplifting for the Falcons offense before he went four consecutive outings without a touchdown pass.
On top of the lack of production, he threw eight interceptions in four games between Weeks 10 and 14. He leads the league in interceptions with 16. Following a lackluster Week 15 performance against the Las Vegas Raiders, the Falcons benched him for rookie Michael Penix Jr.
, which is the silver lining in Atlanta's quarterback situation. The Falcons took heavy criticism for drafting the 24-year-old after bringing in Cousins, but the free-agent signing deserved more reproval. According to ESPN's Adam Schefter , the Falcons are expected to release Cousins before his $10 million roster bonus kicks in on March 17.
The report also noted that the Falcons will owe him $27.5 million in 2025. With Penix there to take the baton in Atlanta, the Falcons avoided a quarterback disaster, but they probably expected more than 14 games out of Cousins when they signed him to a four-year, $180 million deal.
As a general manager, you don't want to see one of your former star players flourish with a division rival, but the New York Giants front office is experiencing a different type of pain after failing to re-sign Saquon Barkley. While the Giants may not have been much better with Barkley because of their quarterback situation, co-owner John Mara expressed visible distress when he learned about the Eagles' interest in Barkley, which HBO's Hard Knocks cameras filmed during an episode. Mara's free-agency nightmare came to fruition when the Penn State product signed with Philadelphia.
He's leading the league in rushing and is in the conversation for league MVP. Giants fans called Barkley a "traitor" for inking a deal with a division rival, but he said Big Blue didn't give him an offer to return. New York reportedly made contract proposals to the 2018 No.
2 overall pick in the past, but the two sides couldn't agree on a deal, per Joel Corry of CBS Sports. Regardless of the negotiations or lack thereof before the split, Barkley is on the right side of his divorce from the Giants. New York has one of the league's worst records at 3-13, and the organization is watching the running back have his best season with the Eagles.
Remember, Barkley is 27 years old. So, the Giants may see him at his best twice a year for the next few seasons. This year, NFL teams had slim pickings for wide receivers on the free-agent market.
The Tennessee Titans signed Calvin Ridley to a four-year, $92 million contract. Gabe Davis and Darnell Mooney signed three-year, $39 million contracts with the Jacksonville Jaguars and Atlanta Falcons, respectively. Mooney has played in every game, hauling in 64 of 106 targets for 992 yards and five touchdowns.
Meanwhile, Davis has caught multiple passes in just five out of 10 contests. The Jaguars placed him on injured reserve after he tore his meniscus in Week 11. The Jaguars have no control over injuries, but Davis didn't play a big role in their offense before he went down.
He recorded more than three catches in only one game, which included two touchdown receptions. Aside from that outing, the 25-year-old was clearly the third or fourth option in the passing game behind rookie Brian Thomas Jr., Evan Engram and Christian Kirk.
According to ESPN's Adam Schefter , Kirk drew interest from teams before the trade deadline. He broke his collarbone, which tanked his immediate trade value. If the Jaguars move him in the offseason, Davis could complement Thomas in the starting lineup.
For now, though, he's one of the biggest disappointments from free agency. The New York Jets let Bryce Huff walk in free agency and attempted to replace him with Haason Reddick, who was acquired from the Philadelphia Eagles in exchange for a conditional 2026 third-rounder. The Jets' relationship with Reddick started on the wrong foot.
He held out during the offseason, and his absence lingered into the regular season. In October, the Jets permitted the 30-year-old to seek a trade, per Dianna Russini of The Athletic. Days later, the team adjusted his contract, and he made his season debut in Week 8.
Though Reddick finally suited up for the Jets midway through the term, he hasn't made much of an impact, logging 11 tackles, two for loss and a half-sack in nine outings. His contract voids in the offseason. The Jets will have a new front-office regime and coaching staff next year, which makes it unlikely he will return in 2025.
So, the Jets gave up a Day 2 pick for the edge-rusher and restructured his deal to get negligible production. Considering Reddick's contract situation, this was one of the messiest NFL trade deals in recent history. The New England Patriots' offensive personnel ranks near the bottom of the league in production.
Their rookie quarterback, Drake Maye, is working with a mediocre group of pass-cachers, and their lead running back has ball-security issues. In the first four weeks of the season, Rhamondre Stevenson fumbled four times and lost two of them. The coaching staff benched him in Week 5.
He reclaimed the starting job the following week, but the Patriots demoted him again in Week 17. In addition to seven fumbles (three lost), the 26-year-old is averaging a career-low 3.9 yards per carry.
Hindsight is always 20/20, but Stevenson didn't have a strong 2023 campaign, partially because of injuries, rushing for 619 yards and four touchdowns and catching 38 passes for 238 yards in 12 contests. The Patriots should have exercised more patience with his contract situation. Stevenson may not be the Patriots' starting running back in Week 1 of the 2025 season if the coaching staff has more trust in Antonio Gibson to take care of the ball.
After a 3-5 start to the 2023 term, the Las Vegas Raiders went 5-4 under Antonio Pierce, who took over from Josh McDaniels in an interim head coach role. Before hiring Pierce for the full-time position, the Raiders formally interviewed Leslie Frazier (h/t NFL Network's Tom Pelissero ) and Kris Richard (h/t ESPN's Adam Schefter ). Neither man coached during the 2023 campaign.
Pierce was the best candidate for the job among the interviewees, but the Raiders seemingly watered down the interview process to make him the best option, which was their biggest mistake. After an embarrassing home-opening Week 3 loss to the Carolina Panthers, the 46-year-old criticized players for making " business decisions ." He liked an Instagram post suggesting Davante Adams played his last down with the Raiders before the wideout requested a trade, which raised questions about his relationship with a key player who vouched for him to get the head coaching job.
Pierce has fired multiple offensive coaches . According to CBS Sports' Jonathan Jones , players have complained about poor practice preparation. On top of issues away from the field, Pierce has struggled with game management , specifically timeout usage and fourth-down decisions.
According to Josina Anderson of Bovada, "change with the Raiders feels inevitable." "As tough as it is to hear, there are league sources who believe based on their own high-level back-table conversations that the #Raiders are currently entertaining the idea of getting a new head coach, while general manager Tom Telesco is simultaneously separating himself behind the scenes," she wrote. As the pilot of the Raiders' rocky 4-12 season, Pierce looks like a one-and-done head coach in Las Vegas.
If so, the team would admit it made a mistake hiring him. NFL player contract details are provided by Spotrac unless otherwise noted. Maurice Moton covers the NFL for Bleacher Report.
You can follow him on Twitter @MoeMoton ..
