The best and worst moves of the NFL offseason

Young Bills quarterback Josh Allen has perhaps the strongest arm in the NFL, but the Bills were lacking a true speed receiver going into the offseason. That changed when they signed Brown to a three-year, $27 million contract. While Brown has struggled with injuries recently, he managed to stay on the field in Baltimore last year and averaged 17.0 yards per reception. He gives Buffalo the deep option it desperately needed.

Despite his struggles at tackle last year, the Bengals still re-signed Hart to a three-year, $21 million deal. That was much to the chagrin of Bengals fans who watched him struggle last year on what continues to be one of the league's weakest offensive lines.

The headlining move of the entire offseason was general manager John Dorsey's trade for Beckham. Often a distraction in New York, Beckham is still undeniably one of the top wideouts in the league and now has a promising young quarterback in Baker Mayfield throwing him the ball. Cleveland is all in for the 2019 season, and Beckham is capable of bringing the Browns to the next level.

There's nothing that sets an NFL organization back more than investing in the wrong quarterback. Flacco's experience is attractive, but he's been one of the league's worst starters over the last few years in Baltimore. Since 2015, Flacco is 24-27 as a starter with a mediocre 82.7 Quarterback Rating. It could just be that Flacco is a stopgap for second-round pick Drew Lock, but it looks like he will start most, if not all, of the 2019 season.

Cardinals fans have reason to be excited about the near future even if the team doesn't win many games this season. Kingsbury was regarded as an offensive genius at Texas Tech, and he has some interesting weapons to work with in Arizona, led by No. 1 overall pick Kyler Murray. Arizona's defense could be a nightmare, much like Kingsbury's defenses were with the Red Raiders, as Patrick Peterson is suspended to start the year and No. 2 corner Robert Alford is injured. Still, there should be plenty of scoring, with the hope that Arizona can get the personnel to develop a defense later.

San Francisco had one of the league's most potent running attacks last season, even without Jerick McKinnon, averaging 4.5 yards per attempt. Matt Breida and Raheem Mostert proved that they earned more playing time, but that's unlikely to happen after the 49ers signed Coleman. He has a history with head coach Kyle Shanahan in Atlanta, but he has never seen 200 touches in an NFL season and seems replaceable for the two-year, $8.5 million price tag.

The Chiefs defense lost Justin Houston, Dee Ford and Eric Berry in the offseason. Without those key veterans, they clearly needed new veteran leadership for new defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo's defense, and Mathieu is set to take on that role. He's coming off one of his best seasons in Houston despite six years in the league and still just 27 years old. Mathieu's versatility to play safety or corner is perfect for his new system and the Chiefs' dire needs in the secondary.

The Giants selecting Jones sixth overall in the draft has been widely panned for several reason. Jones' poor college track record at Duke is just one, but there's also the Giants failure to take Sam Darnold last year when they had a chance and overlooking other available signal-callers like Dwayne Haskins. Retaining struggling veteran Eli Manning also puts the team and Manning in a tough situation, especially considering the lack of talent around him. Jones has looked good in the preseason, so perhaps the Giants front office will prove the naysayers wrong, but GM Dave Gettleman's plan has seemed murky at best.

The Chiefs moved on from the oft-injured Houston in the offseason after eight years. Despite his injuries, Houston was able to record at least nine sacks in each of the last two seasons and should get more opportunities to rush in the Colts defensive scheme. There's risk in this move with Houston now age 30, but the cost (two years, $23 million) is relatively minimal.

The Giants are hoping to replace some of Odell Beckham Jr.'s production with Tate, but the early signs are already bad. He's set to miss the first four games of the regular season after failing a drug test, and his production already fell last season between Detroit and Philadelphia at age 30. New York paid a hefty sum at four years, $37.5 million.

Jackson returns "home" to where he started his career and is set to be a complementary receiver alongside Alshon Jeffery, Zach Ertz and Nelson Agholor. Still one of the premier deep threats in the league, Jackson is the speed threat Philadelphia has been missing in recent seasons, and he has a capable quarterback in Carson Wentz.

The Giants continue to shed pass rushers, losing Jason Pierre-Paul and Vernon in consecutive offseasons. That's on top of trading defensive tackle Damon Harrison last year. The quick turnover has turned the team's defensive line from a strength to a weakness in relative short order. While the return for Vernon from Cleveland, guard Kevin Zeitler, does fill a major need, the Giants look like they could have major issues getting to the passer.

This was an obvious move, as Jacksonville was one of the only quarterback-needy teams with immediate playoff capability and Foles looking to strengthen a contender after winning the Super Bowl in Philly two years ago. Despite a sizable four-year, $88 million contract, Foles is almost certainly a drastic improvement over former starter Blake Bortles. He could struggle to move the ball like he did with the Eagles due to the drop-off in weapons with the Jaguars, but fans have reason to hope for a rebound following last year's disappointment.

Bell held out in Pittsburgh for the entire 2018 season but got most of the money he was hoping for from the Jets. The four-year, $52.5 million contract seems fair for a player of Bell's track record, but the fact is that running backs have proved to be replaceable in recent NFL seasons. It should be noted that the Jets offensive line is a downgrade compared to what Bell had in Pittsburgh, and he averaged only 4.0 yards per carry in his most recent NFL season. Just because the Jets had the money doesn't mean they needed to spend it on a running back.

Set to lose Trey Flowers, the Patriots made another astute move this offseason by trading for Bennett to replace him, at the cost of a late draft pick swap. Bennett fits the Bill Belichick profile as a smart and productive player, and he's still played at a borderline star level over the last two seasons with 17.5 sacks and 54 quarterback hits. Despite Bennett's advanced age (33), there seems to be plenty left in the tank.

Do the Raiders have buyer's remorse yet? It's been a training camp full of distractions from Brown, from his frostbitten feet to his helmet fiasco. The Steelers are all too familiar with the distractions, which is why he was traded in the first place. There's no doubt Brown is a great player, but halfway through the preseason his mind seems to be on areas other than the football field.

Weddle remains an elite safety, even in his mid-30s, and the Rams were able to sign him for the dirt cheap price of two years, $10.5 million for the pleasure of returning to Southern California. He makes an already strong and experienced Rams secondary even better and could make for quite the takeaway tandem with cornerback Marcus Peters.

From the great value of Weddle we come to the glaring overpay for Collins. Washington signed the former Giant for six years, $84 million in a deal that screams owner Daniel Snyder. Most of Snyder's past big investments with the Redskins have turned into disasters, and even if this signing isn't a bust, it would take quite a performance for the safety to earn what he's being paid. He's also coming off a 2018 season in which he missed four games.

Baltimore seems fully invested in its run-heavy offense, and the signing of Ingram is proof. The veteran moves to the head of a deep backfield and has been one of the game's most efficient runners in recent seasons, averaging 4.9 yards per carry over the last three years in New Orleans. He gives the team much more versatility than 2018 breakout Gus Edwards and for a reasonable price of three years, $15 million.

Seattle franchised Clark before trading him to the Chiefs for what was effectively a first- and second-round pick. It's hard to criticize that return for the Seahawks, but Clark's loss was at serious expense in the short term. Clark established himself as one of the truly elite defensive ends, with 13 sacks and 27 quarterback hits last year. Without Clark, the Seahawks signed the oft-injured Ezekiel Ansah and drafted L.J. Collier in the first round. It's unlikely that pair will be able to fill the void, and now Seattle has a much bigger problem with star defensive tackle Jarran Reed set to miss six games due to suspension. Seattle has limited margin for error as it continues to reload.

Cook is coming off a career year in Oakland with nearly 900 yards and six touchdowns. Now he enters an offense that has created elite tight end production out of Jimmy Graham and Ben Watson in the past and has been searching for a No. 2 target for Drew Brees. Cook is set to be that target and for a reasonable cost at two years, $15 million.

Pittsburgh made the secondary a priority after some struggles last year, signing Nelson for three years and $25.5 million. He proved capable in Kansas City but was also regularly penalized. That's not a great issue to have entering a season when pass interference penalties can be reviewed for the first time, and the cost was also high relative to some of the other veteran corners signed this offseason.

Simply put, Marcus Mariota has been subpar over the last two seasons. Entering what could be his final season in Tennessee, the team needed to challenge him and did exactly that by signing Tannehill. Injuries sidetracked what was once a promising career for Tannehill in Miami, but he was acquired for minimal draft cost. At the very least, Tannehill gives the Titans a much more formidable backup than they had last season.

Barr has been a staple in Minnesota since he was drafted in 2014, but he's coming off arguably his worst season. After it looked like Barr would sign with the Jets, he turned around and signed for five years and $67.5 million. That's a high price, especially for a linebacker on a team that was already cap strapped. Minnesota was forced to address glaring weaknesses in the draft instead of free agency and is hoping for immediate impacts on a team that still seems all in.