The remainder of AFC East lands among the bottom five
Over the last few weeks, I wrote about the offseasons (and specifically drafts) from the New York Jets, Miami Dolphins, and New England Patriots. All of the Buffalo Bills’ AFC East foes come into the 2025 NFL season with the goal of toppling the five-time consecutive divisional kings. But there’s a question as to which of them, if any, is ready for that task at this point in their build cycles.
If Sam Monson and Steve Palazzolo of the “Check the Mic” podcast (both of whom are in the public eye from their work with Pro Football Focus) have any contribution to make towards the topic, the remainder of the AFC East isn’t close to Buffalo in terms of overall roster talent.
Palazzolo specifically called out the defensive line additions made by Buffalo in the offseason and noted that while he does see the concern surrounding the X receiver position for the Bills, it didn’t preclude them from scoring points at a historic level in 2024 (a point that has been made by general manager Brandon Beane as well).
The conversation moved towards Buffalo finding a way to be successful without it being all about Josh Allen every single snap, which both parties remarked was a testament to the talent on the roster and the team’s coaching.
Monson also highlighted the Bills being “top to bottom” a good roster, although there was significant pressure on the CB2 position with Maxwell Hairston being counted on to provide upside there ahead of lower-ceiling players like Tre’Davious White and Dane Jackson.
The Dolphins, Patriots, and Jets occupied three of the bottom five rosters. “It all fell apart” for Miami per Monson, who pointed out that the Dolphins’ cornerback room is arguably the worst in the NFL (assuming the presumed trade of cornerback Jalen Ramsey comes to fruition) and the secondary overall is subpar. Palazzolo pointed out that Miami’s defensive line has gotten better but that the roster was still bottom tier.
The Patriots had one of the worst rosters in the NFL last year, which is one of the main reasons they were in competition for the number-one overall pick right until the end of the season. They arguably improved their roster more than anyone in the division this offseason, but with their draft capital and cap room coming into it, you would expect that. That theory was largely echoed by the podcasters, noting the team was probably still “a year away.”
The Jets were the team that had the most consensus around being a bottom-five roster. Monson and Palazzolo noted that the “go for it” moves (Aaron Rodgers and Davante Adams among them) didn’t work and were gone. Much of the conversation revolved around new free-agent quarterback Justin Fields, who might be the stabilizing “high floor” quarterback the team could use as they transition to the next phase of their organizational timeline.
Overall, it was an interesting discussion around the perceived chasm between the Buffalo Bills’ roster and that of the remainder of the AFC East. Given the last few articles I’ve written on the subject, it felt like a nice cap to that from an outside perspective.
Do you agree that there’s a 20-plus team gap between the quality of the Bills’ roster and that of the remaining AFC East teams?
…and that’s the way the cookie crumbles. I’m Bruce Nolan with Buffalo Rumblings. You can find me on Twitter and Instagram @BruceExclusive and look for new episodes of “The Bruce Exclusive” every Thursday on the Rumblings Cast Network — see more in my LinkTree!