Signings and trades around the Steelers divisional rivals in the AFC North

The AFC North has made some moves just before the new league year starts with signings and trades happening all around the NFL. The Steelers have been cutting away money as other teams in their division sign players to lucrative deals.

Once the legal tampering period began, the floodgates started to open and finally some sports entertainment entered into NFL fan’s lives. Many contracts and trades have been agreed to by teams all across the league, but many of those will not affect the Steelers more than what happened with the divisional rival Bengals, Browns, and Ravens.

Bengals

With the first overall pick, they will add Joe Burrow out of LSU. They have a lot of cap space to work with, but have failed to use much of it at all to this point. They have released tackle, Cordy Glenn and franchise-tagged star receiver AJ Green. Other than that this team has been extremely quiet. Rumors are swirling that Andy Dalton is on the trade block, but rumors are just rumors.

While writing this article the Bengals just made a splash by signings defensive tackle, DJ Reader. He is a very good player coming over from Houston that will cause some issues upfront for all teams in the AFC North.

Browns

This has been one of the two most active teams in the AFC North so far. The Browns were crowned champions of the offseason last year, so this does not mean the team will get any better. The team added a starting tackle from Tennessee, Jack Conklin. Conklin is a decent starting tackle in the NFL, but with him facing some of the best pass rushers in the league six times a season, this signing could get ugly quick.

The Browns also signed tight-end, Austin Hooper to a massive deal. This was puzzling as they already have a good one at that position in David Njoku. Hooper adds another target to that long list of big names on that offense. It didn’t work out last year so we will see if it does this year.

The Browns have also added a veteran Quarterback in Case Keenum. It adds some depth to the team and possibly a replacement for Mayfield if he struggles again this season.

Ravens

The Ravens were extremely talented on both sides of the ball before moves were made during the offseason. They won the AFC North last year and will look to do that again with an improved team during these past couple days.

How do you become a dominant team in the NFL? A good and balanced offensive and defensive attack. The Ravens had top numbers in both those parts of an NFL team. They made moves to improve their defense.

Franchise tag one of their own in Matt Judon, a good edge player for that defense. They then went onto a trade for the multi-time pro bowler, Calais Campbell. They got the aging but extremely talented defensive lineman for just a 5th round pick in this year’s upcoming draft. To sure up their defensive line, the Ravens added Michael Brockers in free agency.