Two days before the NFL draft, teams have been making lots of big moves in the league. And to my expectations, teams are ready for the draft and are done making moves before the draft. Based on the Sporting News website, they have decided to make a top five list of which teams had the best free agency grades and why. With every team on the list sharing an A grade. I will be critiquing and making my list as to who I believe was the top five in drafting this year.

Starting with the top five teams, Journalist Vinnie Iyer has put The Houston Texans at number One, the Atlanta Falcons at Number Two, the Detroit Lions at Three, the Washington Commanders at Four, and finally the Tennessee Titans at number Five. The Texans had won the free agency this year, seeing how the signings of Danielle Hunter, who was one of the leading players in sacks this year with 16.5 sacks, and also Stefon Diggs, who may not have been as productive as he once was, but still a good receiver makes for a massive increase in both offensive and defensive production on the team. And for an upgrade at the running back position, it’s not hard to see why the Texans were ranked at the top.

Onto number two, the Atlanta Falcons. This just isn’t right, The Falcons didn’t do anything that incredible, other than overpaying a quarterback who yes, is good, they hadn’t done much else other than keep a lot of their productive players, which many teams were able to do. With most of their other significant signings being wide receivers, the Falcons are very out of place being put second out of any other team in the entire league.

Going to number three, the Detroit Lions truly do deserve that spot on the top Five, signing players such as D.J. Reader, Kevin Zeitler, and even Carlton Davis III, the team had truly added a lot to fix and fill holes on the team. D.J. Reader is a massive addition to the defense as it now forms a defensive line consisting of Alim McNeil, Aidan Hutchinson, Marcus Davenport, and D.J. Reader, the defensive line seems much better than it did just a year ago.

Number four, The Washington Commanders. The team had genuinely attempted to make a complete 180 on their team. Signing the most amount of players in free agency, the Commanders were trying to revive the team as they had entered the off-season with the highest salary cap. Key additions this team had were running-back Austin Ekeler, linebacker Bobby Wagner, and linebacker Frankie Luvu. These additions will improve the offense and defense pretty well, and honestly, it’s fair to put the Commanders in the top Five.

Finally, The Tennessee Titans. The team that most people know right now for losing star running back, Derrick Henry. Many people have unreasonably written the Titans off; however, when in reality, the team has been making more additions than they have lost L’jarius Sneed, Tony Pollard, Chidobe Awuzie, and Calvin Ridley. All of those names are massive when it comes to additions to a team that people have been saying will be the worst in the AFC South. This team not only rightfully deserves to be in the top five, but I believe this team will end up as one of the most underrated teams this year.

Now that I have finished going over Iyer’s Top Five, it is time for me to give my top five and explain why I chose each team to be where I put them.

At number one I will too put the Texans at this spot. The Houston Texans are just showing an incredibly promising future and this gets them ever so closer to a spot to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl in New Orleans in 2025.

For number two I want to put the Detroit Lions, the team has made plenty of additions that can and will improve the team and give Michigan higher hopes for a Super Bowl ring. Reinforcing the Defensive Line, refilling the position that released Graham Glasgow, and adding two corners that show lots of skill and production. The Lions were focused on fixing holes in the team; because of this, they are one step closer to hoisting that Lombardi Trophy.

For number three, I have the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Steelers finished the season with a 10-7 record and a first-round exit in the playoffs. However, the reason I have the Steelers at three is because of the moves they made on the defense, and the moves they made at the quarterback position removing hazardous Kenny Pickett and adding two quarterbacks: Russel Wilson, and Justin Fields. I believe the team will not only show off the offense much better this season, but with additions to the defense like former Ravens linebacker Patrick Queen and cornerback Donte Jackson; the defense will perform at an even higher level than they were before. And because of that, I believe that the Steelers deserve to be put at number three on this list.

Making way to number four, The Tennessee Titans deserve to take this spot. The Titan’s signings were incredible, regardless of the massive price and chunk this creates in their salary cap. I believe that the loss of Derrick Henry won’t hurt the team as much as many fans and Scouts believe it will. Only time will tell how the team will do when we see them in the next season, and hopefully, they can show out incredibly well.

Finally, the Commanders. While I believe they did well with this free agency, I believe they made moves on too many players, which is what puts them at five. I believe that if they were to go for better players than to go for as much quantity as they did, they could have easily gotten number one on this list. 

In conclusion, I believe that Iyer’s list was pretty decent, as he only had the Steelers at number six. I think next season will feel different, as teams move around players like a checkerboard. I hope that the draft will be fun to watch and that teams will have the opportunity to improve their teams even more and of course, find some diamonds in the rough.