Though the 2021 NFL offseason officially began on March 17, in reality, the NFL offseason starts as soon as the Super Bowl is over.
The goal of the offseason for most NFL franchises is to identify weaknesses that hindered their performance the previous season and sign or draft players that can fill those gaps.
Of course, the best laid plans do not always yield success, but usually there are logical thoughts that allow fans to understand the method to the madness.
That is true of most teams, but it is definitely not the case for these two teams who are arguably having the worst offseason humanly possible in 2021.
Those two teams are the Chicago Bears and the Houston Texans.
Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears had a quarterback carousel running back and forth between Mitch Trubisky and Nick Foles last year.
Truthfully, neither was exceptional, but some of that fault could be placed in the lap of Coach Matt Nagy.
The Bears entered the offseason looking for a quarterback.
There were teasers that they were in heated pursuit of the suddenly disgruntled Seahawks QB Russell Wilson.
In fact, they threw a laundry list of draft picks and players at Seattle to get him, but they were ultimately unsuccessful.
About an hour ago DP was told that the #Bears offered Seattle the following for Russell Wilson:
-Three 1st Round picks
-a 3rd Round pick
-2 starters (Was not told who those starters were) pic.twitter.com/lOgH2ZuLVC— Dan Patrick Show (@dpshow) March 17, 2021
Instead of going back to the drawing board and looking for an another trade option, the Bears decided to sign free agent Dallas Cowboys backup quarterback Andy Dalton.
"The Chicago Bears made a splash at quarterback in free agency with the signing of quarterback Andy Dalton to a one-year deal worth $10 million."
One man's "splash" is another man's belly flop.
— Riff2112 (@TheFaxMatter) March 22, 2021
To add insult to injury, the Bears have named him their starting quarterback for 2021.
The whiplash and backlash that occurred from going from a pursuit of Wilson to signing a backup to the be the starter was swift.
A lesser publicized error by the Bears was letting cornerback Kyle Fuller leave the building.
Houston Texans
No one understands what is happening in Houston.
I suppose it was righteous to let the most famous Texan ever, J.J. Watt, walk out the door by releasing him.
Then, there is the Deshaun Watson mess.
To be clear, the aforementioned Watson mess is the one prior to all of the sexual assault allegations that have been leveled at Watson.
Watson did not want to play for the Texans in 2021.
He could not be clearer in saying so.
Despite a new head coach, he seemed willing to sit out the 2021 season if necessary.
The Texans turned a deaf ear to Watson.
In the end, they should have traded him.
Now they have a quarterback who does not want to play with his reputation in shambles.
Could it get much worse?
Well maybe, since the free agent signings did not clarify the direction the Texans are planning to pursue.
Wild free agency for Houston. The #Texans have signed 22 players by unofficial count, and half the signings were for $2.5M or less. Small role players… could be important
— Tommaso Lascak (@NFLNews_Insider) March 19, 2021
Of the Texans’ moves in free agency, Pro Football Focus said:
“Whether or not it’s Houston’s intention, this free agency period is that of a “tanking” team commencing a rebuild. For that reason, I have no qualms with any deal dished out to these non-impactful free agent signings as it gets them in prime position to secure the No. 1 pick in 2022.”
The offseason is far from over so perhaps the Bears and Texans will redeem themselves though it seems unlikely.
NEXT: 3 QBs Likely To Win A Super Bowl In The 2021-2022 Season