SI’s MMQB Staff Debates the NFL’s Worst Offseason Moves

The drafting of a first-round QB, a coach still employed and two veteran coaches out of work, especially one with a few Super Bowl rings, are among the decisions our panel didn’t like.

The Falcons plan to sit Penix for at least a couple of years behind Cousins. / Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

Welcome to the NFL offseason, where receivers get paid lots of money (just ask Justin Jefferson, A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jaylen Waddle and Nico Collins), the NFL continues to push for an 18-game season, the league and NFLPA discuss ways to ruin the offseason calendar and teams continue to go through their OTAs and mandatory minicamps. 

So we asked our MMQB staff of NFL experts to answer a series of eight questions over the next two weeks. They debated the best move Monday, so today they’re going to weigh in on the worst offseason moves. 

Let’s get to their answers as we get closer to the NFL taking a break before July training camps.

The worst offseason move was …

Matt Verderame: The Atlanta Falcons drafting Michael Penix Jr.

Look, it’s nothing against the young man or his talent. He could develop into a quality quarterback. But the problems are obvious.

For starters, he’s a 24-year-old who will sit for at least two seasons, maybe three unless Cousins is injured or he doesn’t play well. The pick also puts Cousins in an impossible spot. He’s the team leader, but everyone in the locker room knows the organization doesn’t see him as the legitimate guy. Finally, having a quarterback on a rookie deal is a huge advantage, but the Falcons will end up wasting most of Penix’s cheap years unless something happens.

Atlanta is in a position to compete not only for the NFC South title, but perhaps to win a postseason game. Adding a pass rusher such as Dallas Turner could have helped that cause. Instead, the Falcons used a top-10 pick on someone who can’t help for years.

The whole thing makes no sense.

Gilberto Manzano: The Dallas Cowboys sticking with Mike McCarthy. 

McCarthy was retained by the Cowboys despite losing in the wild-card round to the Packers. / Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports

If only there was a coach out there who could help the Cowboys advance to an NFC championship game for the first time this century. Oh, wait, Bill Belichick was available and Jerry Jones didn’t even interview the six-time Super Bowl-winning head coach. 

The Jones family decided to give McCarthy another opportunity despite the Cowboys’ disappointing wild-card loss to the Green Bay Packers. McCarthy and his “Texas Coast” offense did well enough to win the NFC East, but the Cowboys have had plenty of regular season success over the years. They’re long overdue for a lengthy postseason run, something Jason Garrett, Wade Phillips and Bill Parcells failed to do the past two decades. 

Sure, the Cowboys could hire Belichick next offseason if it doesn’t go well with McCarthy, but he’ll be a year older—he’s 72. And it rarely works out for a coach to operate with one year left on their contract. Also, McCarthy lost his defensive coordinator, Dan Quinn, to the Washington Commanders and the team had a quiet offseason because of salary cap issues. Belichick was the ideal coach to help the Cowboys get over the hump, but Jones said no thanks.

Conor Orr: No team hiring Bill Belichick. 

The greatest head coach in NFL history is going to be doing Q1 on the Manningcast, which feels like Lin Manuel-Miranda doing community theater (no offense to Peyton and Eli). Belichick not working is proof that owners do not consult the people they should be consulting when making the most critical decision of the offseason: opposing coaches, players, scouts and people who know football that do not have a political interest in their own employment. 

Belichick can absolutely cook as a defensive coordinator and an owner with some foresight would have paired him with a young offensive coordinator and watched their organization coast into the playoffs. I don’t know if Belichick will get another job in the NFL, but I do know that he hasn’t lost his fastball. Someone will eventually figure that out.   

Belichick is not coaching in the NFL for the first time in 49 years. / Eric Canha-USA TODAY Sports

Albert Breer: No team hiring Belichick or Mike Vrabel.

I’ll piggy-back on Conor here—it’s ridiculous that there were eight job openings, and Vrabel and Belichick were still standing when the music stopped. My suspicion? Dumb, backwards reasoning.

Both guys run detailed, demanding programs. Neither guy is going to give some dude in corporate warm feelings as a co-worker. Which, more and more, I think is a problem for NFL owners. They want people to like to come to the office. They want to be able to play with the toy they bought themselves. They want to get some validation of their own genius from the guys they hire.

Coaches such as Vrabel and Belichick won’t prioritize those things. But if you ask their assistants or their players about them, they’ll explain how those guys make everyone in a team’s football operation better. Unfortunately, in some organizations, that’s not the top priority anymore.