By Jeff Zrebiec, Mike DeFabo, Paul Dehner Jr. and Zac Jackson
Each week during the regular season and occasionally during the offseason, our AFC North beat writers gather for a roundtable discussion on the happenings, player movement and pressing issues facing all four teams. We’re on to Week 7.
The AFC North’s cumulative record is 11-13. Are you ready to acknowledge that we may have overrated the division coming into the season, or are you still bullish on its potential?
Jeff Zrebiec (Baltimore Ravens): I’m ready to acknowledge that the division doesn’t have four teams capable of winning it and making the playoffs, which I originally thought it would. Joe Flacco isn’t walking through that door in Cleveland. However, I’m not ready to concede more than that. I still believe the Bengals will get hot and make a regular-season run, and there will be three teams from the division in the playoff mix in late December. I also believe the Ravens, Steelers and Bengals match up favorably with the top three in every division except maybe the NFC North. So yes, I’m bullish.
Mike DeFabo (Pittsburgh Steelers): Yeah, the record isn’t great. But when I look at this division, I still see a legit AFC contender (Ravens) with an MVP candidate at quarterback and a Super Bowl ceiling, a playoff team (Steelers) off to a better-than-expected start and, to quote JuJu Smith-Schuster, “The Browns is the Browns.” This division’s ability to live up to expectations hinges on the Bengals — and more specifically, their defense. Joe Burrow is playing at an MVP-caliber level, just like Lamar Jackson. If he had a competent defense, it would be easy to see three teams from the AFC North making the playoffs and living up to our collective preseason hype. Right now, it’s been too inconsistent. As the season unfolds, the Bengals will need to give Burrow enough support to rally. And if they can squeak in, they’ll be the proverbial team that no one wants to play.
Paul Dehner Jr. (Cincinnati Bengals): I’m still bullish. There’s a convincing argument the two best quarterbacks in the NFL this season have been Jackson and Burrow. The Steelers could have a playoff run in them if the quarterback and offensive line situations improve. I didn’t see the cataclysmic meltdown from Cleveland, but that’s the only thing that distorts my view. I’d still be stunned if there wasn’t an AFC North team in the AFC Championship Game.
Zac Jackson (Cleveland Browns): Could I choose both? Or do I need to just sit quietly in the corner until it’s officially time to cover the 2025 quarterback draft class? There’s a lot of bad football played in the NFL early in the season. There’s not much worse than how the Browns have played, the Bengals losing to the New England Patriots or a lot of what the Steelers have done on offense. I think the Bengals and Ravens could still be there at the end of the AFC run, and I think the Steelers could still become the kind of difficult opponent that wins a few it probably shouldn’t. This is an interesting question that we can revisit down the road.
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Amari Cooper is no longer a Brown. Davante Adams was traded, but he didn’t wind up with either the Ravens or Steelers. The trade deadline is just under three weeks away. Name a player who your team could have trade discussions about, whether he’s coming or going.
Zrebiec: The Ravens fancy themselves as contenders, so they’re not going to subtract unless we’re talking about moving a young player who’s not contributing as part of a deal for an accomplished veteran. As for an acquisition, we’ll hear the Ravens connected to any pass catcher or offensive lineman that is rumored to be available, but with the way they are playing offensively, it seems a safer bet that general manager Eric DeCosta targets a defensive player who impacts the opposing quarterback. Maybe that’s an edge rusher like Haason Reddick, Jadeveon Clowney or Za’Darius Smith. Maybe that’s a defensive back like Budda Baker. Or maybe they add to their defensive line depth. The Ravens will be limited by salary-cap constraints, but DeCosta typically is active in trying to pull off a deal.
DeFabo: From the moment the Steelers traded Diontae Johnson, the team has been connected by reports and rumors to virtually every receiver on the market. That should only intensify over the next couple of weeks after Pittsburgh missed out on Adams. I’d expect the Steelers to make phone calls on several targets, including the New York Jets’ Mike Williams. But if they are serious about addressing a position that’s going to continue to be a question mark, they need to take a bigger swing. I’d like to see them make a push for Carolina’s Adam Thielen or Tennessee’s DeAndre Hopkins. Thielen is coming off a 100-catch, 1,000-yard season in 2023 and could provide a veteran voice to a young Steelers wide receiver room. Hopkins, while 32 years old, is still a great route runner and a big body who could contribute in the run game and Arthur Smith’s heavy personnel groupings.
Dehner: To be clear, I still don’t expect the Bengals to make any moves at the deadline, as is their standard. Right now, the only move that would even enter their conversation would be shipping Tee Higgins if they lost the next three games. If he truly isn’t in their long-term plans, they should trade him now to a contender for whatever pick they can land. Again, I don’t see a world where the Bengals wave the white flag this season, even at 2-7.
Jackson: I’d guess Za’Darius Smith is the next player the Browns will engage in serious discussions about moving. And though he’s probably not the only one, I mean both in terms of there being somewhat of a real market generated by interested teams and the Browns realistically thinking they’d move off Smith, who’s 32. I don’t know how ugly things might get eventually, but I don’t believe the Cooper trade was necessarily the start of a fire sale. It remains entirely possible the Browns thought they found proper value and didn’t want to wait for a variety of reasons, one of which could be just getting Cooper out of his temporary misery and getting an evaluation on the next guys up.
Deshaun Watson’s contract looks worse by the week. Apply the question to the team you cover: What’s the most regrettable contract currently on its books? And for Zac, what would be the Browns’ second worst?
Zrebiec: When Baltimore signed safety Marcus Williams from the New Orleans Saints to a five-year, $70 million deal in 2022, it felt like a shrewd move. The Ravens needed a playmaker on the back end and Williams had 15 interceptions and 38 pass breakups in five seasons with the Saints. He also rarely missed a game. In Williams’ first two games with the Ravens, he had three interceptions and 17 tackles. However, he hasn’t come close to maintaining that form. He’s battled injuries, missing 13 games over his first two seasons, and struggled to make big plays. This season, he’s been one of the league’s lowest-ranked safeties, per Pro Football Focus, and Ravens fans are suddenly calling for his benching. With Williams carrying the Ravens’ third-biggest salary-cap number at over $18 million, much more was expected and is needed.
DeFabo: Give credit to Omar Khan, the Steelers’ cost-conscious general manager, because, truthfully, there’s not really an obvious answer to this question. The offense is full of rookie deals, including receiver George Pickens, running back Najee Harris and most of the offensive line. Both quarterbacks are extremely affordable. On defense, T.J. Watt is worth every penny he’s paid, and Cameron Heyward has nearly returned to All-Pro form after an injury-plagued 2023 season.
I guess the low-hanging fruit is safety Minkah Fitzpatrick. He’s in no way been bad. He’s still solid in coverage, his presence in the middle of the field is a deterrent and he’s a reliable tackler. That said, as the NFL’s third-highest-paid safety with a yearly salary of more than $18 million, you’d like more splash. Fitzpatrick made his name in this league as a ball hawk. But he hasn’t intercepted a pass, forced a fumble or recovered a fumble since Week 16 of the 2022 season — a span of 17 games he’s been healthy. Considering so many teams choose to cut costs at safety, at some point you have to start wondering if the Steelers would be better served with a more affordable option that allows them to spend more on offense.
Dehner: Say what you want about the Bengals’ contract stance. Their refusal to do big guarantees largely keeps them without regrettable contracts. There isn’t anything egregious they couldn’t easily get out of next year. Truly, the most regrettable contract would be one not on their books. It would still be the four-year, $64 million deal they saw Jessie Bates III sign in Atlanta. They could have had him for even less than that when he was first extension-eligible, but instead they played hardball with guarantees and saw him ascend to one of the best safeties in the league while they’ve drowned at the position.
Jackson: I love all my children equally. In the realm of Watson’s contract, there is no second worst. The Browns made the worst trade in NFL history, and they now have more than $170 million in fully guaranteed cap commitments they must take on at some point in the next five months to five years. I understand the question, and it’s a perfectly valid one across the rest of the league, but this thing is in its own galaxy like the Browns’ current run of one touchdown in their last 29 possessions. They face a bunch of difficult contract decisions in other spots as part of the trickle-down effect.
The AFC North will be well represented in prime time in Week 7 with the Steelers hosting the Jets on Sunday and the Ravens going on the road to play the Buccaneers on Monday. Then, there’s Sunday afternoon’s “Battle of Ohio” between the Bengals and Browns. Will the AFC North go 3-1 this week?
Zrebiec: I’ll say 2-2. I was expecting more offensively from the Bengals against the Giants, but they did enough to win and that will be the case against the Browns, too. The question at about 4:15 p.m. Sunday will be: Is Watson still the Browns starting quarterback? I’m going to go with a desperate Jets team to win at Acrisure Stadium. The Jets have more offensive firepower than the Steelers, and their defense will rebound following a poor performance against Buffalo. I’ll go with the Ravens in a close one in Tampa. Jackson is playing as well as he ever has, and he and the team’s unique offensive style have dominated NFC competition.
DeFabo: The Ravens keep facing tests and keep passing them. This will be another challenge for their pass defense, but I think their history against Baker Mayfield will help get the job done. The Steelers are honoring the 1974 Super Bowl team and always seem to bring it in prime time. I like the Bengals to win and cover.
Dehner: Pittsburgh’s pass rush might put the Jets’ season on ice one game after acquiring Adams. This feels like a trap for the Ravens against a scrappy Tampa team in prime time. I’ll take a chance predicting an upset, even though I still think Baltimore is the best team in football. The Bengals roll for their first win in Cleveland under Zac Taylor.
Jackson: I think the Jets win in Pittsburgh. I actually think there’s a better chance the division goes 1-3 than 3-1 this week. Now my track record of picking NFL games, especially lately, is a little like the Browns’ track record with quarterbacks. But this weekend I’m taking the Jets in the 20-17 range, the Bucs in the 27-26 range and the Bengals in an ugly one 16-13.
(Top photo of Joe Burrow: Jason Miller / Getty Images)
