Best and Worst 2017 offseason moves by every team: AFC South
NFC
EAST | NORTH | SOUTH | WEST
AFC
EAST | NORTH | SOUTH | WEST
Houston Texans
Best: Getting rid of Brock Osweiler
Less than one year after realizing what a terrible mistake they had made, the Texans found a way to end the Osweiler era early. While it cost a second-round pick to get him off the team, it was worth it to be able to give the rest of the roster the hope that comes with not having Osweiler at quarterback.
Worst: Getting rid of Brock Osweiler
While not having Osweiler around is great, the means only barely justified the end. In total, the Texans gave up their 2018 first- and second-round picks to "upgrade" from Osweiler to rookie Deshaun Watson just a year after paying $37 million guaranteed to add the unproven quarterback. It's good that they could get out from his contract, but it was a steep price to pay to fix a mistake.
Indianapolis Colts
Best: Hiring GM Chris Ballard
Owner Jim Irsay had high praise for Ballard when he was first hired, calling him the best GM candidate "in the 21st century," and he's been living up to the hype. The Colts upgraded their front seven through free agency before attacking the weaknesses of their secondary in the draft. For the first time since Bill Polian was running things in 2011, the Colts are looking like a professional organization.
Worst: Keeping head coach Chuck Pagano
If Irsay had the confidence to fire Ryan Grigson one year into a long-term extension, he should have had enough to pull the trigger on Pagano, too. After five seasons, Pagano hasn't shown that he is able to improve his players' talents, be a motivator, or strategize creatively. Now, instead of Ballard starting with a clean slate, he's mopping up Grigson's mess with the guys who couldn't keep things tidy to begin with.
Jacksonville Jaguars
Best: Continuing free-agent overhaul
Jacksonville got a fast start to building its defense last offseason and continued to reinforce that area with the likes of Calais Campbell and A.J. Bouye in free agency. Having produced the sixth-ranked total defense in 2016, the Jaguars have the opportunity to become a control-the-clock team with Leonard Fournette coming over on offense, too.
Worst: Exercising Blake Bortles' 5th-year option
Drafting any player, particularly a quarterback, in the top three can make them more difficult to part with - even if they haven't been overly impressive. Bortles' stats have been alright in his first three years, but his actual play hasn't reflected so positively. At best, the Jaguars should have let Bortles play 2017 as a try-out year and make a definitive long-term decision on him next winter.
Tennessee Titans
Best: Drafting Corey Davis fifth overall
The NFL has yet to see if Davis will be a worth a top-five pick, but the Titans were smart to grab him when they did. All three first-round pass-catchers went off the board before the 10th selection was made, so the Titans wouldn't have been able to wait on a receiver with the 18th pick. Though it had needs in the secondary, Tennessee had the foresight to know good DBs would be available later on and receivers would not.
Worst: Releasing Jason McCourty in mid-April
First off, if you're going to cut veterans in the offseason, do the right thing and cut them at the start, so they have a chance to find new teams. Secondly, McCourty was the leader of the Titans' secondary and arguably their surest starter. Tennessee's defensive backfield got somewhat better but could have used McCourty to lean on as a leader. Paying him $7 million for one more season wouldn't have hurt that much cap-wise.