The AFC East, in recent years, has belonged to the Buffalo Bills.
That appears to be the case again in 2025. The Bills are tinkering with a roster that hasn't had the right answers late in the year over the past few seasons. The rest of the division? It's all about getting the foundation right. The Miami Dolphins, after several competitive seasons, are undergoing a youth movement and culture shift. There are new head coaches in town for both the New England Patriots and the New York Jets.
It will be unpredictable, although the final result in January feels inevitable. Amid all the moves in the East, which decisions were the boldest ones made for each team? Here are my picks.
The Boldest Move: The Joshua Palmer contract
You don't see a lot of "crazy" in Buffalo's plans. It's more tinkering with role players and re-aligning position rooms to be prepared for rising payroll versus aging players. Letting Von Miller walk made sense given what the future Hall of Famer has given to the Bills. The Joey Bosa signing was a fairly low-risk move and was properly leveraged with performance incentives. The Josh Allen extension was the no-brainer of all no-brainers.
You could argue that not paying James Cook yet is a bold move — although I believe it to be the right one. The Joshua Palmer contract gets the call here. Palmer signed a three-year, $29 million contract with Buffalo to join a group that already had WR Khalil Shakir (stud!), Keon Coleman, Curtis Samuel, and also added Elijah Moore in free agency this offseason. Sprinkle in tight end Dalton Kincaid as a former first-round pick and that's a lot of mouths to feed for Palmer to warrant nearly $10 million per season. It's an interesting choice. He'll undoubtedly give the Bills value with his physical play and blocking ability but I'll be watching for how his role evolved with the Bills.
The Boldest Move: The (current) plan at cornerback
Let's be clear here. The boldest move is not trading away Jalen Ramsey. Ramsey and the Dolphins had wore each other thin and, after pressing Miami for a second pay-raise in as many seasons, Ramsey wanted out because the team was re-aligning and getting younger. He did the same thing to the Rams. Tigers don't change their stripes and Miami just so happened to find that out the hard way.
For a team looking to stabilize their culture and generate more buy-in, having a disgruntled mercenary in house and trying to play hardball with him would be asking for trouble. But Miami has added five cornerbacks this offseason. Veteran Artie Burns, Kendall Sheffield, Ryan "Bump" Cooper, rookie Jason Marshall Jr. (fifth-round pick) and undrafted free agent BJ Adams. They join Kader Kohou, who is a sufficient starter, former second-round draft choice Cam Smith, and former undrafted free agents Storm Duck, Ethan Bonner and Isaiah Johnson.
Miami has a standing offer with at least one veteran cornerback with starting experience. They need to close that deal because if they don't, you're looking at the least accomplished cornerback room in the NFL going into 2025.
The Boldest Move: Waiting to pay WR Garrett Wilson or CB Sauce Gardner
Tick, tock!
The 2022 Associated Press Offensive & Defensive Rookies of the Year are eligible for contract extensions. And, as the saying goes, the longer you wait, the higher the price typically goes. Such is life in the NFL with ever-expanding salary caps and player salaries.
There hasn't been a lot to be excited about in New York in recent years. The Jets last won more than seven games 10 years ago, when they went 10-6 in 2015. That was four head coaches ago — with Aaron Glenn hoping to instill stability atop the organization starting this year. Organizational stability is typically reliant on paying and retaining your top players, especially the ones you drafted. Since the 2024 season has ended, we've seen Ja'Marr Chase, D.K. Metcalf, and Tee Higgins all clock top-10 annual average salaries at wide receiver. Chase reset the top of the market by over $5 million per season. Wilson won't command that but he now has a great argument to top Metcalf's $33 million average — that leverage point didn't exist this winter.
For Gardner and the cornerback position, fellow 2022 draft member Derek Stingley Jr. landed a $30 million per year extension. Gardner has two All-Pro seasons to Stingley Jr.'s one.
With the slate clean in New York, getting these cornerstones locked in feels like the right play. Will the Jets execute accordingly this summer?
The Boldest Move: The Milton Williams contract
Be honest. Did you have Milton Williams becoming a top-8 paid defensive lineman in football on your offseason 'BINGO' card? Yeah, I didn't think so. Such is life as a rebuilding team trying to be competitive in free agency. The Patriots are not only paying Williams an annual average of $26 million per season, they're paying him $32 million in cash this year and a total of $63 million in guarantees across the life of his contract.
Williams was a wonderful role player in Philadelphia. The Patriots are paying him to be a centerpiece. That isn't to say they're wrong, either. But it is a bold, and expensive, bet to place. Williams has yet to play more than 48% of his team's snaps in a season. He's checking in ahead of names like Nnamdi Madubuike, Quinnen Williams, Jeffery Simmons, Dexter Lawrence, and Leonard Williams among interior defenders. Those are big shoes to fill.
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