With two months until the annual NFL Draft finally arrives, all talk is geared towards the big event at the end of April. It is, after all, the National Football League’s biggest event of the offseason. As it does with all teams league-wide, the draft presents an excellent opportunity for AFC West clubs to fix their more-glaring weaknesses.
For some, that’s the quarterback and running back positions. For others, it’s the offensive line and wide receiver units that could use plenty of work.
Before we get there, however, the NFL’s free agency period is first on the schedule. This is an important period; not only can a team improve their roster during this time, but they can do so by acquiring players that have a proven track record at the next level.
Those in the AFC West cannot afford to not take advantage of that if they wish to rise to Super Bowl contenders–yes, that includes the Kansas City Chiefs, who made the Super Bowl for the third-straight year but looked as downright pitiful as they have in many years due to having no offensive tackle help against a formidable defensive line.
The Los Angeles Chargers, Denver Broncos and Las Vegas Raiders each have their own glaring weakness at other positions. Free agency presents an ideal opportunity to take steps at fixing these problems and get closer to overtaking the Chiefs as champions of the AFC West.
That in mind, here’s one free agent each team in the division should be looking to target this offseason.
One free agent for each AFC West team to target during the NFL’s 2025 offseason
Las Vegas Raiders: Sam Darnold – The newest QB1 in the AFC West
For the Raiders, this is a no brainer; for a variety of reasons. We’ll focus on three specific reasons in particular to keep it short(er) and sweet.
To start, the Raiders have the sixth-overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. The top-two quarterbacks in this year’s draft, Cam Ward and Shedeur Sanders, may very well be off the board by the time Sin City is up to make a selection. Remember: Free agency comes before the draft. This means if the Raiders don’t target Sam Darnold, then miss out on those two aforementioned signal callers, they’re sh*t out of luck.
But don’t worry, Raider Nation–Adam Shefter predicts John Spytek and company will target Darnold this offseason, just as they should.
Secondly, to double-back to a statement mentioned earlier, free agency gives teams the chance to add players who have a proven resume in the National Football League; something draft selections don’t [yet] have, naturally. Darnold is coming off of a 35-touchdown, 12-interception campaign, leading his Minnesota Vikings squad to 14 wins.
If you’re wondering why those numbers are the way they are, turn on virtually any singular game this past season to see Darnold making legitimate franchise quarterback throws that a number of signal callers simply can’t.
Pete Carroll is looking to build a team ready to win now, not in the future. Darnold very clearly gives the Raiders the best chance at piling up wins immediately. His raw talent has surpassed that of many quarterback’s from the start, and the 27-year-old showed exactly why that is in 2024. Darnold’s talent, along with the lowly quarterback class of 2025, combines to make reason number three as to why Las Vegas needs to target Darnold this offseason.
Denver Broncos: Tee Higgins – Getting Bo Nix the help he needs
Bo Nix had a rookie campaign better than what most expected, made especially better by his ability to overcome a blatantly horrific start. The then-rookie tossed 29 touchdowns with 12 interceptions, having comparable numbers in these areas to Sam Darnold.
The two got there in different ways, however.
Darnold compiled 35 touchdowns alongside 4,319 yards through the air largely off of downfield passes and balls thrown in tight windows. The Vikings’ signal caller attempted 68 passes of 20-plus air yards, completing 51.5%. He was able to score a league-leading 10 touchdowns off of these deep passes as well as a league-leading 1,192 yards on such throws.
Darnold recorded over 200 more passing yards than any quarterback across the NFL on deep passes this past season.
Nix, on the other hand, attempted 73 passes of this magnitude. That tied with Josh Allen for second-most deep passes in 2024. The difference? The efficiency wasn’t close to Darnold’s, completing only 42.3% of these throws.
Such a difference between these two quarterbacks is only to be expected. While Darnold had Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison to throw the football to, Nix has.. Courtland Sutton. And not much of anything else.
Getting Nix help is paramount.
With an offensive line that finished the ’24 season as the second-best league-wide, per Pro Football Focus, protection isn’t an issue. Having playmakers to get the football to is, though. That’s where Tee Higgins comes in.
Higgins, a two-time 1,000-yard receiver, totaled 911 receiving yards through 12 contests this past season. The 26-year-old pass-catcher totaled 73 receptions in addition to a career-high 10 touchdowns.
On passes downfield, Higgins found the end zone on three occasions. This was one less than any Denver player had in 2024.
Keep it simple; get your quarterback a true No.1 who does everything.
Los Angeles Chargers: Josh Sweat – Giving L.A. a young, established pass-rusher
The Chargers do have some notable holes, particularly on offense. Luckily for Jim Harbaugh‘s club, the upcoming draft is loaded with talent at those positions. Whether we’re talking running back or wide receiver, the 2024 NFL Draft has exactly what Los Angeles needs, and in bunches.
Michigan tight end Colston Loveland makes for a phenomenal first-round selection for the Chargers, should he be available when they’re on the clock.
With stud receiver Ladd McConkey and players such as Jordan Palmer and Quentin Johnston who have at least proven to be contributors, the need to go after a pass-catcher of Tee Higgins’ caliber is lessened. Given the draft has no shortage of receiver talent in addition to the above statement, the immediate priority should be elsewhere in free agency.
And what better than adding a young, Pro Bowl edge rusher to a team that will be saying goodbye to veteran Khalil Mack this offseason.
Sweat, a four-year starter in Philadelphia, has accumulated 25.5 sacks over the last three seasons combined. The 27-year-old hasn’t had a campaign go by without totaling at least 6.0 sacks since 2019, when he tallied zero starts with the Eagles.
From 2020 onward, Sweat has managed to stuff the stat sheet in a variety of ways. On top of his 39.0 sacks, the former fourth-round pick has batted down 10 passes while forcing seven fumbles throughout this timeframe.
Sweat gives the Chargers exactly what they’ll be missing without Mack, and potentially others who the team decides to part ways with: dependability, versatility, and consistency.
As is, it’s likely Philadelphia Eagles general manager Howie Roseman has no intentions of losing Sweat heading into the 2025 season. If that’s the case, veteran 3-4 edge rushers such as Matthew Judon and Haason Reddick *ducks* are good Plan-B’s.
Kansas City Chiefs: Ronnie Stanley – An immediate fix at tackle
This one really couldn’t be simpler. Patrick Mahomes needs better protection; specifically, from his tackles. As good as Joe Thuney is when lined up at guard, he is absolutely not that when tasked with playing tackle. That’s a fact that’s been proven true on multiple occasions this past season.
Meanwhile, veteran tackle Ronnie Stanley is the best at his position among all free agents this offseason. And it really isn’t particularly close, either.
A two-time Pro Bowler and former first-team All-Pro, Stanley has been an integral piece of what the Baltimore Ravens have been able to do offensively for nearly a decade now.
Despite being on the cusp of 31 years of age, Stanley is still a master of his craft. This past season, the Las Vegas native allowed only two sacks and four quarterback hits on 575 pass-blocking snaps. With a 79.6 grade on passing downs via Pro Football Focus, only 19 tackles across the NFL posted a better mark in this area than Stanley.
That’s just a regular season for Baltimore’s star tackle.
One can imagine that Eric DeCosta, the general manager of the Ravens, would like to keep Stanley around. This is certainly true. However, the Ravens currently find themselves with the 11th-lowest cap space across the league, being in no position to retain all of the players they’d like to.
DeCosta added tackle Roger Rosengarten through last year’s draft; a player whom DeCosta himself acknowledged has the ability to take over at left tackle this week. Add in the fact DeCosta noted electing to get younger last season was “Absolutely the right thing to do,” and there’s reason to believe Baltimore will be content, more or less, with letting Stanley hit the open market.
If that’s the case, the AFC West champs must capitalize.
AFC West Mock Draft 2.0: Updated Two-Round Draft Scenarios For Each Team