The Tampa Bay Buccaneers come into 2021 as the defending Super Bowl champions — and also return all 22 starters, an unusually high degree of stability in an NFL off-season. Free agency, retirement, injury and other factors often cause significant turnover, but that won’t be the case for the champs.
As you consider your NFL betting for the next season starting this fall, let’s look at six teams that will look much different.
NFL News: Six Teams with the Biggest Roster Changes
Cleveland Browns
The offense is still stacked: Baker Mayfield will have a ton of weapons around him once again. Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt are ready to pound the ball again, and he has Jarvis Landry and Rashard Higgins back to catch the ball — along with a healthy Odell Beckham, Jr. The defense was the weaker unit last year, as we saw when the Browns simply couldn’t stop the Kansa City Chiefs, led by backup quarterback Chad Henne to get the ball back and try to score.
On defense, though, the Browns have taken a major step forward. Free agents Malik Jackson, Takk McKinley and Jadeveon Clowney make the front line elite. Both safety John Johnson and cornerback Troy Hill join the secondary from the Rams, and the team also drafted cornerback Greg Newson in the opening round of the draft. They also added Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah in the second round at linebacker, a player who was on most first round lists for the draft. This is a team that we predict will win the AFC North, and these additions are the reason why.
Los Angeles Chargers
The Chargers still have Offensive Rookie of the Year Justin Herbert, and he will have rookie wideout Josh Palmer joining Mike Williams and Keenan Allen. The Chargers lost Hunter Henry via free agency but added Jared Cook and drafted Tre’ McKitty to fill the hole at tight end. All-Pro center Corey Linsley and tackle Matt Feller join the O-line via free agency, along with tackle Rashawn Slater, whom they took at #13 in the draft. On special teams, the Chargers brought in Tristan Vizcaino and Alex Kessman to challenge kicker Michael Badgley, who missed 12 kicks in 2020. Ty Long had three punts blocked, so hopefully there will be changes in the special teams play calls too.
Buffalo Bills
Adding Emmanuel Sanders to the wide receiver group in Buffalo (where he joins Cole Beasley, Stefon Diggs, Dawson Knox and Gabriel Davis) gives the Bills even more firepower down the field. In the draft, the Bills got Boogie Basham and Gregory Rousseau to beef up the pass rush. On both sides of the ball, the Bills made needed upgrades as they plan to make it out of the AFC in the playoffs this season.
New Orleans Saints
The Saints go from having one of the transcendent quarterbacks in the sport to having to choose between two backups. Taysom Hill is the perennial backup quarterback who also plays other roles, such as sometime punter, sometime slot receiver or H-back, and he can almost always be counted on to take part in some sort of trickery. The other quarterback with a chance to start is Jameis Winston, who has a crazily high ceiling but also turns the ball over a lot. The choice for the next Saints’ quarterback will play a huge role in their fortunes in 2021.
Los Angeles Rams
The Rams and the Detroit Lions essentially switched quarterbacks, with Matthew Stafford heading to Hollywood and Jared Goff heading to the Motor City. The Rams also had to ship two first-round picks and a third-round pick to Detroit to get the deal done — just two years after Goff led the Rams to a Super Bowl. Since then, the Rams’ offense stagnated, so the Ram defense is still ironclad. If Stafford pays off, then the Rams should win the NFC West.
Chicago Bears
The Bears have two new quarterbacks: journeyman Andy Dalton and rookie Justin Fields. The Bears traded up from #20 in the first round to #11 to get Fields, so it will be interesting how conservative the Bears are this time around, after Mitch Trubisky and Nick Foles both failed to help a team with a strong defense move the ball consistently last year.
NFL Betting Odds
Love betting NFL football games? | Xbet Sportsbook offers up to date NFL lines
