We are just 3 weeks into the 3rd season of the Madden 22 cycle of the Premier Madden League, and we are beginning to see the impact an exciting offseason is having on each team. With each free agency signing, each draft pick, and each trade having the potential to change the entire outlook of a team, for better or for worse. Lets take a deep dive into the offseason moves of the AFC North and see what choices could give these general managers praise and glory, or land them in the dog house.
Baltimore Ravens
BEST MOVE:
In what many are already calling the finesse of the year, the Baltimore Ravens sent Hollywood Brown to the New Orleans Saints for round 1 pick #3 and a future 1st round pick. That round 1 pick #3 turned out to be Kayshon Boutte. The top wide receiver in the draft with blazing fast speed and a physical presence that Hollywood Brown could not provide. This trade allowed the Ravens to stash a 1st for next year and snag a wide receiver in that draft that is just as good, if not better than Brown.
WORST MOVE:
Not addressing the D line. Since Calais Campbell left the team seasons ago the Ravens have had a lackluster group in the front. With the current starting line up featuring Justin Madubuike, Tyus Bowser, Doug Costin, and Taron Vincent. These are all capable players, but none stand out or put fear into opposing quarterbacks.
Cincinnati Bengals
Best Move:
Drafting D.J. Uiagalelei. With Joe Burrow at the helm and some potentially QB needy teams in front of the Bengals in the draft, it seemed unlikely that D.J. Uiagalelei would be suiting up in tiger stripes. After a series of trades that had the Titans move up to take Bryce Young, the 49ers move up to take Eli Ricks, and the Ravens move up to take Kayshon Boutte it was becoming more likely that D.J. could fall to the Bengals. However, you still had the, at the time, Kellen Mond lead Vikings in need of a QB. The Vikings felt other holes needed to be filled and elected to take a CB. This left the Bengals with the golden opportunity to grab a top talent in the draft where many expected him to be long gone. This decision to do so proved to be a wise one as he gained a mobile, rocket armed athlete who also gained superstar abilities. To top it off, he was able to go back to the team who passed on D.J. just a pick before him to acquire a trade partner for Joe Burrow.
Worst Move:
Honestly, It’s hard to find something to criticize within the moves the Bengals made this offseason. Most of them at the very least make sense. The cap situation will be something to keep an eye on. The Bengals were heavily active in the trade market and did not hesitate to send big pieces. In the process they racked a massive 32.9 million dollars in cap penalties and currently sit at just 640K in cap space. The Bengals could find themselves in trouble if injuries plague the team.
Cleveland Browns
Best Move:
Drafting Jaxon Smith-Njigba. After OBJ parted ways with the team and an aging Jarvis Landry walked in the offseason, it was clear that the WR position was something the Browns coaching staff would have to address this offseason. At pick 9 of the first round the Browns had their guy was and went for it. Jaxon Smith-Njigba proved to be a solid pick and earned a star dev trait as well, and at only 21 years old the sky is the limit for this young WR.
Worst:
Byron Jones trade. Byron Jones isn’t a bad player, in fact, he’s probably a starter for a the majority of PML teams. However, he is 30 years old and will continue to regress, and he will also cost you 14 mil a year with 2 years remaining. If a CB needy team had made this deal it would have made sense, but for the Cleveland Browns they already have 3 great and young corners in Denzel Ward, Greg Newsome II, and Greedy Williams. With that talent and dev potential you want those young corners on the field as much as possible and adding 30 year old Byron Jones to the mix doesn’t help with that. This could have been a deal preparing for the potential departure of Greedy Williams, who was on the trade block the entire offseason. However, we are now into week 3 of the regular season and he remains unable to get a trade partner for Greedy. Unless a trade with Greedy is made this season, this trade doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.
Pittsburgh Steelers
Best Move:
Drafting Rylie Mills. The reason I love this pick so much is the fact that Rylie Mills has a rare combination of size, speed, and strength. He stands 6’5″, has nice speed and acceleration at 84 and 87, and is very capable of overpowering lineman with his 91 strength. Mills will have to spend sometime working on his fundamentals, but we know the Steelers will upgrade his game in that aspect and he has already gained star dev. Additionally, it fills a future need for the Steelers. They have veterans T.J. Watt, Frank Clark, and Cameron Heyward right now, but Frank Clark and Cam Heyward are well past their primes. The Steelers will need a solid option opposite T.J. when the time comes.
Worst Move:
James Robinson free agency signing. With the 80/20 split rule you can’t blame a guy for going out a signing a solid second option. However, the league was shocked when the Pittsburgh Steelers gave James Robinson a pretty massive contract for even a starter…James Robinson is the backup. If you look at comparable running backs around the league such as Josh Jacobs and Chris Carson, who are making 8-9 mil per year as starting running backs, you can get an idea of how overpaid James Robinson is with 12.4 mil in 2023, 12.9 mil in 2024, and 13.4 mil in 2025. Is this the best paid back up running back in the history of PML?
