2025 NFL season lookahead: Commanders among five teams to watch; QB shuffle key storyline

The 2024 season is officially over, with the confetti settled and the Philadelphia Eagles flying high as Super Bowl champions. While Philly will bask in the glory of the franchise’s second Super Bowl title, the rest of the NFL is already in the weeds preparing for the 2025 campaign when they’ll attempt to knock them off the mountaintop.

Of course, there’s plenty of time between now and the start of next season in September, and there will surely be some seismic moves that shake the league this offseason. Below, we’re going to take our first glimpse of the offseason, identifying who currently stands as the favorites to win Super Bowl LX and highlighting some clubs and storylines to monitor over the next few months. 

Super Bowl LX odds

Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook.

Five teams to watch this offseason

Washington Commanders

The Commanders were the surprise team of 2024, advancing to the NFC Championship thanks to quarterback Jayden Daniels bursting onto the scene and putting together one of the greatest rookie seasons of all time. Now that Washington has its franchise QB secured and locked into a rookie deal over the foreseeable future, the Commanders are a fascinating team to watch this offseason and see how they further build around Daniels. 

Overall, the Commanders have seven picks in the 2025 NFL Draft, including No. 29 overall. On top of those assets to further bolster their roster, the club possesses the third-most cap space in the entire league this offseason. That means they should be major players in free agency, and Daniels could prove to be a massive draw in luring players on the open market to the DMV. 

Cincinnati Bengals

The Bengals are in a precarious position with their roster. Even after a disappointing 2024 season where they missed the playoffs entirely, they are in a championship window thanks to the presence of Joe Burrow. However, the depth chart faces some monumental questions that’ll need to be answered this offseason. Most notably, Tee Higgins is set to hit free agency, and it’s a true coin flip if the organization will be able to retain him. 

That’s largely due to the Bengals also needing to hand fellow wideout Ja’Marr Chase what is expected to be a market-setting extension this offseason as well. On top of that, pass rusher Trey Hendrickson — who requested a trade last offseason — is also due for an extension after leading the NFL with 17.5 sacks last season. And we haven’t even begun to talk about filling the holes that were already on the roster. Something will need to give here.

New England Patriots

The Patriots are likely not the first team you’ll think about when looking toward the NFL offseason, but they could prove to be a major player in free agency and in the NFL Draft. New England has far and away the most cap space in the league, currently sitting with roughly $120 million to spend. For reference, the next closest team is the Las Vegas Raiders, with $92.5 million. They also have the No. 4 overall pick at their disposal, creating another avenue to bring in talent for new head coach Mike Vrabel. 

Because the Patriots already have their quarterback of the future in Drake Maye, they can squarely focus on other positions in hopes of jump-starting their rebuild. 

San Francisco 49ers

The recent news surrounding the 49ers is that they have allowed wide receiver Deebo Samuel to seek a trade. Of course, that’ll be a storyline worth following with San Francisco, but the bigger situation worth monitoring is the contract status of quarterback Brock Purdy. He is now eligible for an extension and could be the latest to reset the QB market. Spotrac projects Purdy’s market value to fetch him a contract that’s approximately worth $59.7 million in average annual value (four years, $238.9 million). That would put him just under Dak Prescott ($60 million AAV) for the highest-paid QB in the NFL. 

While all sides have publicly stated that they want to stick together over the long term, it’ll be interesting to see how smoothly — or bumpy — these negotiations get. 

Cleveland Browns

The offseason just started, and it feels like there have already been an endless number of Browns-related stories. Of course, arguably the biggest of them all is the current trade request from pass rusher Myles Garrett (which we’ll talk about more below). The reported asking price for Garrett is two first-round picks, and if Cleveland could get the haul in return, it could help boost the franchise back to relevancy. 

Putting Garrett off to the side momentarily, the Browns continue to have a key dilemma at quarterback. Deshaun Watson suffered another Achilles tear, which now puts his status for 2025 in jeopardy and creates a further need to go out and find a signal-caller. Do they try and secure a veteran quarterback like Kevin Stefanski’s old Vikings buddy Kirk Cousins? Or do they use the No. 2 overall pick in the draft to bring in a youngster to develop? 

Five offseason storylines

How will the QB carousel develop? 

As is the case every offseason, quarterback is primed to be a central storyline, and there is expected to be quite a lot of movement over the next few months. The most notable is Sam Darnold, who is set to be a free agent after having a highly productive season with the Minnesota Vikings. Darnold’s stock took a bit of a hit due to some poor performances down the stretch and in the playoffs, but he should still be a sought-after piece. It’s also possible that the Vikings place the franchise tag on him. 

Meanwhile, names like Matthew Stafford, Russell Wilson, Justin Fields and Derek Carr are other veterans who could step into the game of musical chairs this offseason as well. 

Where will Myles Garrett end up? 

Garrett is one of the major dominos that we have in front of us this offseason. On top of the Browns potentially getting a haul in exchange for the star pass rusher to help their rebuild, where he ends up could shift the balance of power in the NFL. For instance, if he lands with the Detroit Lions and forms a pass-rushing duo with Aidan Hutchinson, that would put the defending-champion Eagles on notice. The same could be said if he ends up with the Commanders and a slew of other teams. 

Who will the Titans take with the No. 1 overall pick? 

The Tennessee Titans hold the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, and unlike previous years where there was a clear-cut player to take, what they’ll do atop the draft seems up in the air. Given the struggles of Will Levis, they need a quarterback to build around, but the front office also noted that it would not pass on a “generational talent,” which gave life to them, possibly taking two-way player Travis Hunter. There’s also a recent report that the Titans could trade the pick altogether. How they operate with this pick will be compelling up until they are on the clock. 

Which wide receivers get traded? 

The trade market for the wide receiver position could be white hot this offseason. Already, Cooper Kupp announced that the Rams intend to trade him, and Deebo Samuel has reportedly been given permission to seek a trade as well. On top of those two, DK Metcalf is entering the final year of his contract and could be a trade candidate out of Seattle, along with veteran Davante Adams, especially with the Jets moving on from Aaron Rodgers. Of course, there’s also the trade that no one sees coming that could be looming as well. 

Will Travis Kelce retire? 

Had the Kansas City Chiefs got the job done and won Super Bowl LIX to complete the three-peat, I think we would’ve already gotten our answer with Kelce electing to hang it up. However, his status going forward remains one of the key questions for the Chiefs. If he decides to retire, that leaves K.C. a massive hole to fill, and the Chiefs will need to find Patrick Mahomes a new go-to option in the passing game.