NBA Game of the Day, 2/12: Warriors vs. Mavericks
Alex Christenson
Now that the Eagles have won the Super Bowl, we can fully shift our attention to the 2025 offseason. As always, there will be plenty of players moving throughout free agency, and teams will upgrade their units through the 2025 NFL Draft.
Knowing the teams that need to improve certain position groups can have a ripple effect in fantasy football, especially for dynasty managers evaluating their rosters in the offseason. All position groups could improve with a quarterback upgrade, while other players could see their roles diminished by the addition of a free agent.
Below, you’ll find the “desperation rankings” for each team at each fantasy-relevant position heading into the 2025 offseason. These are ranked from the team with the biggest need to the teams set in 2025.
NFL Offseason Desperation Rankings
Quarterback
Tier 1: Definitely Desperate
New York Jets, New York Giants, Pittsburgh Steelers, Cleveland Browns
Every team in this tier has zero current options on their roster for the quarterback position. The Browns and Giants are in a prime position to add through the draft, while the Jets and Steelers will need to lean on veteran options in free agency since they were good enough to not be awful in 2024.
Tier 2: Would Like a Fix, Not Going Crazy
Tennessee Titans, Las Vegas Raiders, Indianapolis Colts, New Orleans Saints
All the teams in this tier have an answer in 2025, even if the fan base won’t love it. The Titans and Raiders could upgrade the quarterback room in the draft or at the least could grab a veteran bridge, while the Saints are hamstrung by Derek Carr’s contract. Indianapolis needs to give Anthony Richardson one more year to show he can be the guy but will likely target a veteran as insurance if he starts slow again.
Tier 3: Roll With What They Have
Miami Dolphins, Los Angeles Rams, Seattle Seahawks, Carolina Panthers, Minnesota Vikings, Atlanta Falcons
This group has more questions than answers but is free to maintain the status quo in 2025. Matthew Stafford is getting old and is expensive but is still more than capable of operating the Rams offense. Geno Smith was good in 2023 before taking a step back in a poor offensive environment in 2024. Tua has been good when healthy, but the concussion issue will always loom large. Bryce Young was good to close out 2024 but has a lot of games where he was bad to start his career. Minnesota and Atlanta drafted young quarterbacks in 2025, but we haven’t seen enough of them to know if they are the answer.
The Rams would drop down to a Tier 1 or 2 team if they decide to move on from Stafford this offseason and depending on what their bridge option looks like going forward.
Tier 4: No Need to Look
Chicago Bears, New England Patriots, Houston Texans, Jacksonville Jaguars, Dallas Cowboys, Green Bay Packers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Arizona Cardinals, Denver Broncos, San Francisco 49ers
Tier 4 is the group that has either invested recent draft capital in the quarterback position or has a veteran quarterback they trust to hold down the quarterback position. Every quarterback has either shown flashes of high-level play (and gotten paid) or was drafted in the top 12 in the last two seasons. Nobody here is looking to upgrade (yet).
The 49ers are a wild card among this group since Brock Purdy is in line for a big extension starting this offseason. However, they could always franchise-tag him to kick the can down the road.
Tier 5: Absolutely Set, Don’t Ask
Buffalo Bills, Baltimore Ravens, Cincinnati Bengals, Kansas City Chiefs, Los Angeles Chargers, Philadelphia Eagles, Washington Commanders, Detroit Lions
This category speaks for itself. Every team in this tier has a top-end quarterback who has put together sustained success as a quarterback. Jayden Daniels is the outlier, but putting him anywhere else after he dragged a questionable supporting cast to the NFC Championship in the playoffs would be outright disrespect.
Running Back
Tier 1: Definitely Desperate
Dallas Cowboys, Minnesota Vikings, Los Angeles Chargers, Pittsburgh Steelers, Denver Broncos, Las Vegas Raiders
Every team in this tier is set to lose their leading rusher in 2024 to free agency this offseason. The Chargers (Gus Edwards and Kimani Vidal) and Broncos (Jaleel McLaughlin and Audric Estime) do have depth pieces that can step up but would welcome an upgrade in talent. The Steelers can also retain Jaylen Warren as a restricted free agent.
Dallas (Deuce Vaughn), Minnesota (Ty Chandler) and Las Vegas (Sincere McCormick, Zamir White and Dylan Laube) have depth charts that are barren and will certainly be utilizing the depth of this class through the draft.
Tier 2: Would Like a Fix, Not Going Crazy
Cleveland Browns, Kansas City Chiefs, New England Patriots, Houston Texans, New York Giants
All the Tier 2 teams have options on the roster but won’t turn away a chance to add talent or build up the depth chart this offseason. Cleveland is set to be without Nick Chubb going forward but has Jerome Ford and Pierre Strong Jr. set to work the backfield. Kansas City isn’t afraid to lean on Isiah Pacheco but has another north/south smasher as their only depth (Carson Steele). Houston will run the backfield through Joe Mixon but only has Dameon Pierce as its depth.
The Patriots (Rhamondre Stevenson and Antonio Gibson) and New York (Tyrone Tracy Jr. and Devin Singletary) have reliable pieces in the backfield but shouldn’t be afraid to take a shot on another rookie in the draft to upgrade and set up for the future.
Tier 3: Roll With What They Have
Cincinnati Bengals, Indianapolis Colts, Jacksonville Jaguars, Washington Commanders, Chicago Bears, Carolina Panthers, Buffalo Bills, New Orleans Saints
All of the Tier 3 teams return their leading rusher from 2024 and don’t necessarily need to hunt for upgrades in the draft. The Bengals (Chase Brown and Zack Moss), Jaguars (Tank Bigsby and Travis Etienne), Bears (D’Andre Swift and Roschon Johnson) and Bills (James Cook and Ray Davis) return two key contributors from 2024 but shouldn’t shy away from upgrading or adding more depth to their respective groups.
Carolina (Chuba Hubbard), New Orleans (Alvin Kamara) and Indianapolis (Jonathan Taylor) all feature running backs that can handle a three-down workload that have recently been paid but need to add depth pieces to account for potential injuries or breaks.
Tier 4: No Need to Look
New York Jets, Tennessee Titans, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Arizona Cardinals, Los Angeles Rams, San Francisco 49ers, Seattle Seahawks
This group is composed of teams that have multiple pieces in their backfield that have shown the ability to contribute at the NFL level and have drafted a young player that can either split the backfield or take over in case of injury. The 49ers are probably the one team in this tier that could move up or down depending on how Christian McCaffrey bounces back from an injury-riddled 2024, but the chance for him to come back fresh locks them firmly in as an upper-echelon group.
Tier 5: Absolutely Set, Don’t Ask
Baltimore Ravens, Miami Dolphins, Philadelphia Eagles, Detroit Lions, Green Bay Packers, Atlanta Falcons
Our top tier is reserved for the teams that have elite options capable of dominating touches for their respective backfields. Baltimore (Derrick Henry), Miami (De’Von Achane), Philadelphia (Saquon Barkley) and Green Bay (Josh Jacobs) have true bell-cow backs that function as workhorses. Detroit (David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs) and Atlanta (Bijan Robinson and Tyler Allgeier) have two capable backs that can rotate situationally or take over in case of an injury.
Even the teams with the locked-in backfields have intriguing young players that can take on a role within the offense to alleviate their lead back. Any of these teams can use their late-round picks to create more depth within their backfields, but nobody would fault them for trying to upgrade other positions instead.
Wide Receiver
Tier 1: Definitely Desperate
Buffalo Bills, New England Patriots, Kansas City Chiefs, Las Vegas Raiders, Carolina Panthers
The Bills (Keon Coleman) and Chiefs (Xavier Worthy) invested premium draft picks in their wide receiver position in 2024 and got positive results. However, they still need to add more to their current receiver rooms to elevate their offensive production.
Las Vegas does have a 1,000-yard receiver (Jakobi Meyers) on the roster but few other impact receivers. Both New England and Carolina failed to have a pass-catcher on the offense surpassing 700 receiving yards in 2024 and desperately need to add weapons to help their young quarterbacks take the next step in 2025.
Expect all of these teams to be active in free agency and the draft since they do not have a slam-dunk WR1 on their roster at this point.
Tier 2: Would Like a Fix, Not Going Crazy
New York Jets, Pittsburgh Steelers, Houston Texans, Tennessee Titans, Los Angeles Chargers, Dallas Cowboys, Washington Commanders, New Orleans Saints, Los Angeles Rams
Every single team in this tier has a legitimate WR1 that earns a target at a high rate in their offense. However, none of them have anything notable to complement their top-tier player.
There are some question marks in this tier that could move teams in this group down. The Saints need to hope that Chris Olave can overcome his concussion issues, especially with Rashid Shaheed working through his 2024 knee injury. Calvin Ridley is paid like a WR1, but he needs to be more consistent to earn top billing. Nico Collins is a certified stud, but the team will be without Tank Dell in 2025 due to his catastrophic knee injury. The Rams have Puka Nacua but are expected to move on from Cooper Kupp and have Demarcus Robinson and Tutu Atwell set to hit free agency.
None of these teams are desperate to find a WR1, but they all have significant needs to upgrade the complementary pieces around what they have.
Tier 3: Roll With What They Have
Miami Dolphins, Baltimore Ravens, Cincinnati Bengals, Chicago Bears, Arizona Cardinals, New York Giants, Cleveland Browns, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
All of these teams have pretty established depth charts heading into 2025 with a top target earner and some solid complementary pieces. Teams like Miami (Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle) and Chicago (DJ Moore and Rome Odunze) have an alpha receiver with a young complementary piece. Arizona (Marvin Harrison Jr.) and New York (Malik Nabers) have young top-end talent at WR1 surrounded by good complementary pieces.
The Bengals are probably the most interesting team in this group with a huge decision coming in the form of Tee Higgins’ contract. Failing to re-sign him probably drops them into the second tier even with Ja’Marr Chase as the projected WR1 in fantasy in early drafts.
Tier 4: No Need to Look
Indianapolis Colts, Jacksonville Jaguars, Detroit Lions, Green Bay Packers, Denver Broncos, Atlanta Falcons
This is the most interesting tier since only two of the teams (Jacksonville and Detroit) have an undeniable WR1 on the roster. Brian Thomas Jr. was sensational as a rookie for the Jaguars and is surrounded by veteran receivers (Gabe Davis and Christian Kirk) who have each been productive veterans. Detroit’s passing attack funnels through Amon-Ra St. Brown, but Jameson Williams proved that he can take over games with his explosive playmaking ability in 2024.
Indianapolis, Green Bay and Denver have all their key producers returning in 2025 along with depth pieces that can take a logical step. None of these teams have a true WR1 (the closest thing is probably Courtland Sutton) but are versatile wide receiver rooms that have players who can play defined roles.
Atlanta finally got to see Drake London pay off his top-10 draft capital in an offense that embraced the forward pass (158 targets, 100 receptions, 1,271 receiving yards and nine touchdowns). Darnell Mooney isn’t an “alpha receiver” but would have posted a second career 1,000-yard season if he had played a full 17 games (992 yards in 16 games).
Tier 5: Absolutely Set, Don’t Ask
Philadelphia Eagles, San Francisco 49ers, Seattle Seahawks, Minnesota Vikings
The top wide receiver tier features teams that have two players who have both shown the ability to produce in their passing offense. Nobody will question the Eagles (A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith) or the Vikings (Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison) on this list. Few will push back on Seattle (DK Metcalf, Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Tyler Lockett) or San Francisco (Brandon Aiyuk, Deebo Samuel Sr., Jauan Jennings and Ricky Pearsall) either.
These are excellent wide-receiver groups that have multiple ways to attack opposing secondaries every week.
Tight End
Tier 1: Definitely Desperate
New York Jets, Indianapolis Colts, Denver Broncos, Los Angeles Chargers, Washington Commanders, Carolina Panthers, New Orleans Saints, Cincinnati Bengals
This entire group is composed of teams that have unproven veteran starters or uncertain young pieces that were drafted recently.
Washington (Ben Sinnott) and Carolina (Ja’Tavion Sanderss) both addressed the position in 2025, but neither player was a massive hit, and both teams need to add depth with veterans set to hit free agency. The Chargers, Broncos, Jets and Saints all have veterans that have played well at times as professionals but could certainly upgrade the position.
The Bengals are losing Mike Gesicki in free agency. Drew Sample is a good blocking option, but the team will likely need to draft another tight end after rookie Erick All Jr. tore his ACL and will miss most, if not all (no pun intended), of the 2025 season.
Tier 2: Roll With What They Have
Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots, Houston Texans, Tennessee Titans, Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants, Chicago Bears, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
These teams all have a solid veteran pass-catcher who is either getting older (Miami, New England, Houston, Tennessee, Dallas and Chicago) or a younger option with developmental upside (Tampa Bay and New York).
The 2025 tight end class has a slew of really good athletes, so it wouldn’t be shocking if any of these teams looked to upgrade their situation and add another body to the tight end room.
Tier 3: No Need to Look
Buffalo Bills, Cleveland Browns, Pittsburgh Steelers, Jacksonville Jaguars, Kansas City Chiefs, Atlanta Falcons, Los Angeles Rams, Seattle Seahawks
This group is made up of teams with veteran tight ends that can be relied upon in 2025.
Buffalo hasn’t gotten what they hoped from 2023 first-round pick Dalton Kincaid, but having Dawson Knox puts them at this level. The same can be said for Kyle Pitts in Atlanta with Charlie Woerner as his backup.
Travis Kelce was finally showing his age in 2024, but the Chiefs have interesting options behind him (Noah Gray and Jared Wiley) to keep them content in the position in 2025. Cleveland certainly needs to add more depth, but David Njoku has been excellent his last two seasons and will continue to dominate the snaps.
Tier 4: Absolutely Set, Don’t Ask
Baltimore Ravens, Las Vegas Raiders, Philadelphia Eagles, Detroit Lions, Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings, Arizona Cardinals, San Francisco 49ers
The top tier of the tight end position is as good as ever for a multitude of reasons. The Vikings and 49ers have great veteran options who have been at the top of their game for a long time (T.J. Hockenson and George Kittle). The Ravens have an excellent veteran (Mark Andrews) paired with an explosive receiver (Isaiah Likely). Trey McBride, Sam LaPorta, Tucker Kraft and Brock Bowers have all been drafted in the last three seasons and dominated as all-around tight ends. Dallas Goedert is consistently a weapon after the catch, and Grant Calcaterra made some plays in his absence.
Every team in this tier is set at the position next year and for the foreseeable future.
