Wheelhouse Blog

1. Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes – Kansas City Chiefs
2. Sean McVay and Matthew Stafford – Los Angeles Rams
3. Mike Macdonald and Sam Darnold – Seattle Seahawks
4. Mike Vrabel and Drake Maye – New England Patriots
5. Jim Harbaugh and Justin Herbert – Los Angeles Chargers
6. Sean Payton and Bo Nix – Denver Broncos
7. Kyle Shanahan and Brock Purdy – San Francisco 49ers
8. Dan Campbell and Jared Goff – Detroit Lions
9. Matt LaFleur and Jordan Love – Green Bay Packers
10. Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams – Chicago Bears

Honorable Mention:

Nick Sirianni and Jalen Hurts – Philadelphia Eagles

Liam Cohen and Trevor Lawrence – Jacksonville Jaguars

Name the four QBs to lose their first Super Bowl start then win one later in their career.

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HINT 1

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One is an all-time great player who lost his first three Super Bowls, then won two at the end of his career.

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HINT 2

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One did it very recently. This QB beat the team he had lost to and won SB MVP.

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HINT 3

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The last two are both Hall of QBs who played in some of the earliest Super Bowls. One made it to three in a row, losing his first, then winning his next two. The other QB lost the first ever Super Bowl, then went on to win his next appearance.

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ANSWERS BELOW:

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John Elway, Jalen Hurts, Bob Griese, and Len Dawson

Offensive Line

As the postseason showed, our biggest area of need is offensive line. No one on the o line is so bad that they must be replaced, but no one is good enough that they could not be replaced if we find a better player.

I think we should target a new RT as Morgan Moses will be 35 next year. LT Will Campbell looked good before he got injured towards the end of the year. Coming back from the injury and playing versus great defenses in the postseason, Campbell really struggled. I think he should get one more year at LT and if that doesn’t work out, then move him inside. However, if they were to have the chance at a star LT, I would say get that star LT now and move Campbell inside to guard.

If they can find any great interior linemen, they should try to add them too. Any improvement will benefit the team.

Skill Players

I also think it would be great to try to get another high end wide receiver or tight end. That will help solidify the passing game much more.

Coaching

Figure out how to blend Terrell Williams and Zak Kuhr. Hopefully Williams will be healthy enough to return as DC next year. Kuhr was so great calling plays, you’d like to see him stay in that role. Ideally, there is a way to retain both of them, without demoting either one and keeping continuity with our defense.

Below, I will evaluate how my Pat’s season goals from before the season ended up doing this year.

• At least double their win total (at least 8 games) and contend for playoffs: Blew this out of the water. More than tripled their win total in the regular season and if you include the playoffs, they more than quadrupled their win total from last year. They won the division, made the playoffs as the number 2 seed, and made it to the Super Bowl. No team had more wins than them.
• Drake Maye starts looking like a top 10 QB: Blew this out of the water. Maye was an MVP candidate and is an undisputed top 10, borderline top 5 QB in the league. A franchise QB we can build around.
• Young offensive skill players break out and look like future players we can build on: I would call this a goal achieved. TreVeyon Henderson played great this year. Kayshon Boutte and DeMario Douglas played pretty good as well. The one guy I would have liked to see being used more is Kyle Williams. He looked explosive when used, but only had 10 catches all year.
• Will Campbell looks great and Oline plays well: This is an up and down one. Campbell specifically looked good before he got injured towards the end of the year. Coming back from the injury and playing versus great defenses in the postseason, Campbell really struggled. I think he should get one more year at LT and if that doesn’t work out, then move him inside. However, if they were to have the chance at a star LT, I would say get that star LT now and move Campbell inside to guard. As for the whole offensive line, they were much improved from last year, but still have a long way to go. No one is so bad that they must be replaced, but no one is good enough that they could not be replaced if we find a better player.
• Defense is top 10 in the league: Absolute grand slam. Our defense was great this whole year and played their best in the playoffs.
• Milton Williams lives up to contract while Christian Barmore and Keon White continue to improve giving us a great front 4: This mostly panned out. Milton Williams was a stud and so was Barmore. White ended up getting traded, as he wasn’t being used much. Our front 4 was great overall when Williams was healthy.
• Christian Gonzalez gets into discussion as best CB in league and gets extension after the season: Gonzo was our best defensive player this year and is a top 3 to 5 CB in the league. He absolutely deserves a contract extension that puts him at or near the top of the CB market.

The NFL is making significant strides in its global expansion. In the 2024 season, the NFL played five international games, including their first game in Brazil. This momentum continued in 2025, as the league had seven games, including its first games in Ireland and Spain. Looking ahead to 2026, the NFL has confirmed nine games. New locations for these international games are Australia and France, as well as a return to Mexico.

Goodell has expressed a vision of hosting 16 international games annually within the next five years, a move that could significantly boost the NFL’s revenue. This expansion is not only beneficial for the league’s financial health but also for fans in the United States. The introduction of more international games could lead to the creation of a new TV package, with standalone times for these games. This would not only increase the NFL’s revenue but also potentially raise the salary cap, allowing teams to pay players more and attract higher-quality talent.

The NFL’s strategy to expand internationally is a smart move, given the sport’s entertainment value and its suitability for television. Since it is mainly an American sport, it also has so much room to grow abroad.

The potential for an 18 game season, with each team playing one game internationally, would ensure that fans in the U.S. won’t lose any games, maintaining the current 17-game US schedule, while adding an international game.

The NFL’s financial success is evident in the rising salary cap, which is expected to exceed $300 million for the first time this year, marking a $20 million increase from the previous year and a nearly $100 million rise since 2022. Since 2016, the salary cap has nearly doubled, reflecting the league’s ability to generate substantial revenue through TV deals and other ventures. This financial growth underscores the NFL’s prowess in business and its ongoing efforts to expand its reach and influence in the world.