What NFL Teams Need/Want In The Offseason: AFC East

Note: This is an eight-part series that will run each day on OutKick, with one division in the NFL covered each day. Find the whole series here.

Bills

There are serious issues here because five of the team's top seven scheduled cap hits for 2024 belong to players who under-performed, got injured, or have some other issue that makes their cap number something of a headache. Those players include Stefon Diggs (mysteriously disappeared at times in 2023), cornerback Tre'Davious White (10 games played the past two seasons because of an Achilles tear following an ACL injury), Von Miller (not the same since knee surgery), Matt Milano (broken right leg in ’23), and Dawson Knox (injured much of ‘23 and getting replaced by Dalton Kincaid). Free agency, retirement, or cap costs may claim stalwarts such as Micah Hyde, DaQuan Jones, A.J. Epenesa on defense and receiver Gabe Davis on offense. This is because the Bills are looking at being a league-high $41 million over the cap until they address the problem. Restructuring Josh Allen’s deal would save $23 million immediately. The Bills need interior defensive line help, secondary help, and wide receiver help, especially if they move on from Diggs and Davis leaves in free agency. Most of that must come via the draft. More than needing help, the team needs an upgrade because they've been eliminated in the divisional round of the playoffs three consecutive seasons. And that's well short of the goal for this club. 

(Stefon Diggs. Photo by Billie Weiss/Getty Images)

Dolphins

They have the fourth-worst cap situation, according to Spotrac, at $25 million over the expected cap before the expected release of Xavien Howard. But forget all that. Miami can save $44.5 million in cap space by simply restructuring Jalen Ramsey, Tyreek Hill, and Bradley Chubb. The bigger issues are extending quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and paying unrestricted free agent Christian Wilkins. The Dolphins have offensive line questions with free agency threatening to take Robert Hunt and center Connor Williams. They need secondary depth and they need to add edge rush depth in case Chubb and Jaelan Phillips – both of whom have injury histories and are recovering from 2023 season-ending injuries – are anything other than 100 percent for 2024. Keeping Andrew Van Ginkel would help, but he's a free agent and former defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, now in Philadelphia, really likes him.

Jets

Let's see, the offensive line was a mess in 2023 and they have a 40-year-old quarterback coming back from a season-ending Achilles tendon rupture. Yes, the offensive line must be addressed. Good-bye Mehki Becton. Good-bye Duane Brown. The Jets have cap flexibility, particularly if they restructure C.J. Mosley, Quinnen Williams, and John-Franklin Meyers. An $18.8 million cap hit for Laken Tomlinson was also head-scratching and so he was cut, saving some $8 million of cap space. The Jets would be wise to try re-signing Bryce Huff but his 10 sacks may put him in significant free agency demand. The Jets need to upgrade at receiver opposite Garrett Wilson, fix the offensive line, and either keep or replace pending free agent safety Jordan Whitehead. 

Patriots

There's noise about the Patriots starting the season with Mac Jones or Bailey Zappe at QB. Cover your ears: That would be fine if a rookie stud is sitting on the bench and awaiting some growth and development before taking over. But if that's the plan, the season is over already. The Pats have approximately $86 million in effective cap space and only the Commanders have more. But the Pats have a ton of needs beyond, you know, a good QB. They lack playmakers on offense, particularly at wide receiver, the offensive line has aged out (Riley Reiff?) or is facing free agency questions (Trent Brown, James Ferentz, Michael Onwenu). And this entire team lacks speed.