For the past five seasons the AFC East has ruled the NFL like the SEC has dominated college football. While Alabama and LSU have continued to lift trophies (along with Clemson from the ACC), the AFC East teams had been passing the Lombardi trophy through the division ranks.
After Buffalo's 19-0 perfect season and an anticipated spreading of arguably the league's four most respected General Managers throughout the league, you could hear a collective sigh of relief from beleaguered fans wanting some sort of changing of the guard atop the standings.
With three of those four GMs taking jobs in different conferences and divisions, we will now see if any of these highly decorated executives can vault their new teams to the top.
In Green Bay, the talk of the season will be the potential passing of the torch from future Hall of Famer Aaron Rodgers to highly touted rookie Tua Tagavailoa from Alabama.
"I'm not going to say I was thrilled by the pick," Rodgers said. "But I understand that the organization is thinking not just about the present ,but the future."
The Packers are still poised to win now. In addition to Tagavailoa the team also added WR Justin Jefferson from LSU to appease their current QB.
For the San Francisco 49ers, the storied franchise will hope for a healthy season for Teddy Bridgewater as the team aims to determine if they have their long-term solution at the game's most important position or if they need to find a different answer.
"Throughout his career, he's someone who makes everyone around him better," Kyle Shanahan said. "I think he's the perfect fit for us, for our offense, for where our team wants to go."
Waiting in the wings is Marcus Mariota who took over admirably for Bridgewater midway through last season and led the team to the playoffs.
The question in Houston is who will start during the 2020 season. The Texans will have options in the upcoming expansion draft and in free agency, but will they be able to choose a franchise QB? The eyes of the NFL world will be on Houston and their upcoming decision.
As the Miami Dolphins get ready for 2020, the team kept the world guessing about their final QB plans and ultimately settled on Andy Dalton to take the reins this season. After trading for Cam Newton, drafting Jalen Hurts and then releasing Newton following the draft, Dalton became available and was quickly scooped up by the Dolphins.
"Andy Dalton's, I think, a very underrated quarterback," GM EP said. "His teammates (will) love him to death and he's productive in the NFL, he values the football."
Miami's calling card will be their defense. If Dalton can protect the football and have a 'Ryan Tannehill-esque' season, the Dolphins could surprise as this year's Tennessee Titans.
