Arrowheadlines: The Bills will be looking to overtake the Chiefs to become the NFL’s top offense

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How 2023 NFL Offseason Will Elevate Buffalo Bills to League’s Best Offense | Bleacher Report

Mahomes may be the very best, but Allen serves as the position’s prototype. The Bills’ starter is 6’5” and 237 pounds, with outstanding athleticism and significant horsepower packed into his right arm. Previously, Buffalo has relied heavily on his natural gifts to elevate the entire franchise.

“It’s not like he’s playing in a system like in Buffalo where the Bills are relying on Josh Allen sitting back and just chucking the ball all over the field, where it’s like, ‘Good Lord, how are you making those throws?’” an anonymous coach told The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman when comparing Brock Purdy’s emergence with the San Francisco 49ers to other quarterbacks around the league.

But Allen understands his game must change as he matures.

“I know this sounds crazy, but I’m getting older,” he told reporters. “It’s like, ‘I can’t continue to do this.’ I know when I’m using my youth, I feel like I can, but over the course of my career, I’m going to have to learn to adapt and change.”

Quietly, Mahomes’ career reached a crossroads when the Chiefs chose to trade wide receiver Tyreek Hill to the Miami Dolphins. He needed to become a more consistent facilitator within the confines of Andy Reid’s system. He did so on his way to winning a second Super Bowl and MVP trophy last season. The creativity and natural ability are still there, yet the best player in the league adapted to his circumstances and evolved.

NFL worst-to-first candidates: Ranking all 8 teams for 2023 season | USA Today

6. Denver Broncos

The case against: Can Payton really get a 34-year-old quarterback heralded as a franchise savior to change his mindset? Wilson’s big-game hunting is likely more feature than bug at this point in his career, and it’s unclear how he’ll process a new approach after Hackett molded the offense to his liking last offseason. Repairing this team also requires more than a schematic overhaul after last season’s nosedive gave way to a teammate shouting at Wilson and a sideline tussle. Then there’s that pesky matter of the Kansas City Chiefs, winners of the AFC West for the last six years and owners of a 15-game win streak over the Broncos.

Agent’s Take: How Chiefs should tackle All-Pro Chris Jones’ next deal before start of 2023 season | CBS Sports

A tight salary cap situation also cuts in Jones’ favor. The Chiefs are slightly more than $1 million under the salary cap, according to NFLPA data. A Jones extension would be an optimal way to create more breathing room since reigning NFL MVP quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ contract was already restructured for salary cap purposes in March.

Depending upon how a new Jones deal is structured, more than $10 million of salary cap space could be created. For example, giving Jones a $30 million signing bonus on a four-year extension while dropping his 2023 base salary from $19.5 million to $1.5 million would take his cap number from $28,291,668 to $16,291,668. The $30 million signing bonus would be prorated at $6 million annually on the salary cap from 2023 through 2027. An additional $1.25 million of cap room would be gained by removing Jones’ likely to be earned incentive for reaching 10 sacks this season.

NFL offseason 2023: One last roster move for all 32 teams | ESPN

Kansas City Chiefs

Extend defensive tackle Chris Jones

No surprise here, as the Chiefs have talked this offseason about their openness to extend one of the NFL’s best defensive players. Jones is entering the final year of a four-year, $80 million deal and is due for a raise — likely north of $22.5 million per year, which is where other elite defensive tackles have checked in this offseason. An extension for Jones would also create cap space for the Chiefs this year, which they need.

One non-QB each NFL team can least afford to lose in 2023, including Bills’ Stefon Diggs, Steelers’ T.J. Watt | CBS Sports

Kansas City Chiefs: TE Travis Kelce

It wouldn’t have been crazy to vote for Kelce as MVP over Patrick Mahomes in 2022. He’s as reliable as they come, forever finding green grass over the middle. And with Mahomes’ WR room shuffling yet again, he’ll remain the de facto No. 1 pass target.

Around the NFL

Lions unveil new alternate helmet for 2023 season | NFL.com

The Detroit Lions revealed their new alternate helmet on Wednesday, a blue-shelled piece of protective equipment featuring the club’s classic logo used during the 1960s.

The helmet is the Lions’ first alternate shell painted in a color other than silver since they donned a blue helmet for a short time in the 1950s (Detroit’s previous “alternate” helmet was merely a stripped-down shell, with graphics and striping removed for use with throwback uniforms, typically on Thanksgiving). The Honolulu blue helmet displays the team’s 1960s logo, a lion prowling across two vertical stripes (one blue, one silver), on the sides of the helmet, with a silver facemask attached to the shell. Detroit used this logo as its primary mark in the 1960s, but never wore the emblem on the team’s helmets until now.

Former Steelers LB Clark Haggans dies at age 46 | ESPN

The Larimer County coroner’s office said in a release that it responded to a residence in Fort Collins, Colorado, on Monday to investigate the death of a male who was identified as Haggans. An autopsy was completed Wednesday with the cause and manner of death pending further investigation, the coroner’s office said. No foul play was evident.

A fifth-round pick by the Steelers out of Colorado State in the 2000 NFL draft, Haggans spent eight seasons in Pittsburgh and started alongside college teammate Joey Porter on the team that defeated the Seattle Seahawks to win Super Bowl XL in 2006. Haggans had five tackles and sacked quarterback Matt Hasselbeck on the opening drive of the game, putting an exclamation point on a season where he recorded a career-best nine sacks and four forced fumbles.

In case you missed it on Arrowhead Pride

4 Chiefs’ defensive stats to remember from 2022 season

Chiefs’ defense allowed 4.9 yards per carry on 1st & 10 runs

I don’t have league rankings in this statistic, but I can tell you that giving up nearly five yards per handoff on an obvious run down is not good.

This was prevalent throughout the season. The lack of beef in the Chiefs’ interior defensive line caused a domino effect on inside handoffs. Defensive tackle Derrick Nnadi would lose ground, which blocked up the paths of linebackers Nick Bolton and Willie Gay Jr., which allowed ball carriers to gather momentum and hit the second and third levels of a defense at full speed.

To help improve on this number, the Chiefs drafted Texas defensive tackle Keondre Coburn in the sixth round. It was their only attempt at improving the nose tackle spot. He, Nnadi, and veteran defensive tackle Danny Shelton are the three primary hopes for stouter run defense.

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