A reinvented Steelers identity and a familiar Bengals blueprint headline the boldest moves of the AFC North from the 2025 offseason
The AFC North's reputation as a hard-nosed corner of the NFL should live up to it's standard once again in 2025. The Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers are looking like loaded rosters, whereas the Cincinnati Bengals were able to maintain the core of their explosive offense after some uncertainty going into 2025. The Cleveland Browns appear […]
The AFC North's reputation as a hard-nosed corner of the NFL should live up to it's standard once again in 2025. The Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers are looking like loaded rosters, whereas the Cincinnati Bengals were able to maintain the core of their explosive offense after some uncertainty going into 2025.
The Cleveland Browns appear to be re-aligning but did retain the most dangerous pass rusher in football after it appeared that a split was imminent.
Which moves from each team were the most ambitious amid the chaos within the AFC North? Here are my picks for the most bold move for each AFC North franchise this offseason.
The Baltimore Ravens
The Boldest Move: Not extending either member of their 2022 first-round draft class yet
The Baltimore Ravens are a team that, generally speaking, doesn't do "bold". They're a strategic, methodical operation that finds value in both the draft and free agency, drafts by volume, and pays their own. Moves like Jaire Alexander and DeAndre Hopkins come to mind for Baltimore as inspired veteran additions but the financials of either contract don't exactly qualify as "bold". Instead, I'll go with the moves that Baltimore hasn't done yet that feel right up their alley.
Both Tyler Linderbaum and Kyle Hamilton are eligible for extensions and both feel like no-brainers for the long-term nucleus of the roster. Linderbaum had his fifth-year option declined by the team — not because he isn't playing to a certain level but rather because the collective bargaining agreement buckets all offensive line salaries together. This means Linderbaum would, essentially, be paid as a tackle on his fifth-year option in 2026. I get why Baltimore bypassed the option amid their negotiations.
The Ravens have plenty of time. But we've already seen the safety market reset courtesy of Kerby Joseph and the Detroit Lions. And, as we know, the longer you wait, the more you pay. These extensions feel right up Baltimore's alley, so we'll see how this one plays out.
The Pittsburgh Steelers
The Boldest Move: Take your pick…dealer's choice
The Ravens were just described as a strategic, methodical operation that finds value in both free agency and the draft. That has been, for decades, the MO of the Pittsburgh Steelers. General manager Omar Khan didn't get the memo this year. "Bold" is a great way to describe pretty much everything about this offseason in Pittsburgh. You have:
– The DK Metcalf trade (2025 second-round pick plus a pick swap) and $33 million per year extension
– The Aaron Rodgers signing
– The Jalen Ramsey & Jonnu Smith trade
– The subsequent one-year extension for Smith worth $12 million
Each one of these moves would feel like a marquee event for the Steelers in offseasons past. To get them all in just a few months? Talk about bold. General manager Omar Khan seemed to push the right buttons, as he was rewarded this week with a multi-year contract extension for his efforts.
The Cincinnati Bengals
The Boldest Move: The Trey Hendrickson saga
The Bengals are one of the organizations who are currently most committed to the fill needs via the trade philosophy. The roster that took the Bengals to the Super Bowl a few years back looks dramatically different these days, with recent draft picks inserted all throughout the lineup. A select few, such as QB Joe Burrow and wide receivers Ja'Marr Chase & Tee Higgins, have gotten contract extensions.
Pass rusher Trey Hendrickson has not. And he has made it very clear that he would like one. These conversations started last summer and Hendrickson promptly responded with a league-leading 17.5 sacks and his first First-Team All-Pro honors in 2024. Not only is Hendrickson not further compensated as he preps to enter into a contract year, he's also getting more agitated by the situation.
Recent reports suggest that there's some new momentum on this front — which would be a sorely needed development for Cincinnati's defensive outlook in 2025. Here's hoping this one, mercifully, gets done sooner rather than later.
The Cleveland Browns
The Boldest Move: Trading out of Travis Hunter
The selling point around trading down in the draft is always easy — collecting more draft capital as a rebuilding team is always a good thing. Hunter is such a unique talent, however. And I think I'd have been less surprised by the move had the Browns had a different resolution to the Myles Garrett situation. Garrett had requested a trade this spring, will be playing in his age-29 season in 2025 and the Browns are the epitome of backed up against the cap amid an aging roster and their three-year cash spending strategy. They're spending more cash than anyone else in the league.
Had they decided to trade Garrett for picks and avoid paying out the early chapters of a new, $40 million per year contract extension, the decision to move down and collect even more draft capital in the 2025 NFL Draft would signaled a true tear down and rebuild of the roster.
Perhaps Garrett still gets traded next offseason. He's due his $29.2 million option bonus by the 15th day of the league year in March 2026. But for now, keeping Garrett and then trading out of Hunter feels like a bold attempt to walk the line between tearing down and turning it around quickly.
Predicting the 2025 records and end of season rankings for the AFC North
History is on the line for the AFC North in the 2025 season.
