The NFL offseason may be a time for hope, but that can get quickly dashed once the campaign begins in earnest.
Right now, teams can justify nearly every signing and draft pick due to the potential they bring to the table, but it's simply impossible for all these moves to pan out the way a club had envisioned. It's common for veterans to fall off after inking big contracts and plenty of prized prospects bust out of the league without ever contributing anything of note.
It may be too early to say for sure which of the 2023 offseason transactions will be regrettable, but it's well worth taking a crack at predicting them with Week 1 still months away. Factoring in trades, draft selections and free-agent signings, here is a look at five NFL teams that may come to regret this offseason in the near future.
Denver Broncos
The Denver Broncos went into the offseason downright desperate to orchestrate a quick turnaround following an ugly 2022 campaign. Their blockbuster trade to bring in Russell Wilson failed in epic fashion, resulting in the team's worst regular season winning percentage since 2010. To make matters worse, they were bereft of high draft picks after sending them over to the Seattle Seahawks to acquire the quarterback.
With Wilson's contract containing tremendous amounts of dead money that makes it basically impossible to move on from him until at least 2024, the Denver brass was forced to make other personnel adjustments around the aging signal-caller. The most notable was coaxing Sean Payton out of the broadcast booth, returning the former New Orleans Saints coach to the sidelines after a one-year hiatus.
While it would be difficult for Payton not to be an upgrade over Nathaniel Hackett, he cost the Broncos more draft capital and has yet to prove he can truly succeed in the league without Drew Brees. During the lone campaign that Payton coached following the future Hall of Famer's retirement, the Saints went 9-8 and missed the playoffs following four consecutive trips. He's now tasked with installing a system that will play to Wilson's strengths and minimize his weaknesses after a season in which the quarterback took a league-worst 55 sacks.
One of the main ways Payton is hoping to accomplish this is by improving the offensive line. Strong play in the offensive trenches was a hallmark of the head coach's New Orleans teams, but it will be tough with the current crop of talent in the Mile High. The team did make a splash by signing Mike McGlinchey in free agency, but overpaid the offensive tackle in the process. McGlinchey's five-year, $87.5 million could be an albatross if he doesn't improve upon the six sacks and 10 penalties he was flagged for in 2022. Ben Powers also signed a rather expensive four-year, $52 million deal to take over the starting left guard job.
If the protection doesn't improve, Wilson will have his work cut out for him trying to get back to his Pro Bowl form despite the scheme adjustments and coaching staff upgrades. While you can't fault the Broncos for trying to jump-start this offense after such a down year, they likely spent too much on middling reinforcements that won't make enough of a difference to push the team back into the postseason.
