NFL: 5 teams that didn't fill a positional need they should have this offseason

The offseason is a great time for NFL fans to feel like their team is back and moving in the right direction, but not every team! Some enter the upcoming football season with the same holes they had at the end of the last one.

Depending on the quality of the roster, some teams can overcome issues on their roster and still have great seasons. Here are five teams that could have stood to upgrade a critical part of their roster this offseason.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Quarterback

The Bucs find themselves in a spot where they still have the shell of a quality roster, but they just don’t have the quarterback talent to make some serious noise this year. Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Tristan Wirfs, Cade Otton and Cody Mauch are a solid offensive core and they still have a handful of quality players on defense. However, they’re trying to sell a quarterback competition between Baker Mayfield and Kyle Trask. The "competition" aspect of that seems a bit far-fetched considering that Trask wasn’t even able to supplant Blaine Gabbert as Tom Brady’s backup. Barring something unforeseen happening in training camp, Mayfield will be the starting quarterback for Tampa Bay. That might be enough to win what should be a pretty soft NFC South, but they had a chance to make a statement at quarterback if they were a bit more aggressive in free agency or the draft. Instead, they’re on the journeyman train — which, again, still might be enough to get them to the top of the division. There’s just a cap on what’s possible with their current quarterback situation.

New York Jets: Offensive tackle

It was always going to be tough for the Jets to be as aggressive as they wanted to be in free agency with their hands tied to the Aaron Rodgers pursuit, but their offensive tackle depth is still shaky. They’re relying on some unproven or older pieces to play pivotal roles for them at tackle. Right now, their tackle group consists of Mekhi Becton, Duane Brown, Mike Mitchell and Billy Turner. Brown will turn 38 at the start of the season, Becton and Mitchell are major question marks coming off of injuries and Turner is more of a depth piece at this point in his career. This is a situation that could work for the Jets because Becton still has massive upside if he’s healthy and Mitchell was solid prior to suffering an injury last year. They just could have added a bit more insurance at one of the most important positions on offense in a year where they’re all in to try and win the Super Bowl

Jacksonville Jaguars: Pass rush

The Jaguars have invested a lot into their defensive line over previous years with three of their own first-round picks currently projected to make the team this year in Josh Allen, K’Lavon Chaisson and Travon Walker. Allen has developed into a quality NFL pass rusher, Walker has the tools to get better and Chaisson is probably going to max out as a depth rusher moving forward. That gives them one rusher they can rely on and another player who is still trying to figure things out. This is the same team that ranked 27th in sack percentage last season (5.5%). Expecting Walker’s development to push them toward the middle of the pack might be a bit much, and they had the resources to add a piece during the offseason. The Jaguars need to be more flexible with Walker’s alignment, but they might not have added enough depth this offseason to afford them that luxury.

Philadelphia Eagles: Linebacker

This is definitely nitpicking, but the Eagles’ linebackers have been weak enough for great teams to exploit over the past few years. It hasn’t bungled their overall defensive efficiency, but they can get crushed in specific in-game matchups against teams that can stand tall against their collection of defensive linemen. If the Eagles can figure out a way to patch this (and they might want to, with Sean Desai being their new defensive coordinator), they’ll have a defense that can raze any offense to the ground.

Arizona Cardinals: Defensive line

The Cardinals are likely punting on 2023 given their current setup, but it’s still going to be tough to see them slog through the season en route to a top selection in the 2024 NFL Draft. For new head coach Jonathan Gannon, with a defensive background that has really thrived on having elite talent upfront, it was a bit surprising to see the Cardinals let Zach Allen walk in free agency and not really replace him with a comparable player. Second rounder BJ Ojulari is going to have to carry a pretty heavy pass-rush load as a rookie, but the Cardinals don’t seem to be putting together a strong effort toward this season, so maybe it will be good for him in the long run.