Off-Field Storylines in NFL Could Rival On-Field Drama in Upcoming Season

Quarterback Aaron Rodgers (8) of the New York Jets talks to reporters after training camp at Atlantic Health Jets Training Center in Florham Park, N.J., on July 26, 2023. (Rich Schultz/Getty Images)

There’s enough drama on deck in the NFL for the upcoming season that streaming service executives don’t even have to work hard to find ways to leverage the gridiron’s grip on American sports fans into more profits.

They only need to sit back while the cameras roll as the next news-making plots play themselves out.

Five teams, though, figure to garner the bulk of attention—some for non-football-related entertainment value, others because of their compelling figures and one with just plain self-induced pressure to perform.

The following are what might be the top drama kings for the season as training camps open league-wide this week:

5. Dallas Cowboys

Forbes ranks the Cowboys as the most valuable sports team in the United States (2023 numbers) and the club also provides the most free entertainment.

Contract issues for quarterback Dak Prescott and top wideout CeeDee Lamb, who isn’t reporting for training camp, have the Cowboys pulling the rope in different directions. Meanwhile, sports talk radio and TV shows every day leverage topics such as owner Jerry Jones and defensive standout Micah Parsons into chuckle-filled content.

The playoff shortcomings of the Cowboys—who owned the 1990s and last won Super Bowl XXX in the 1995–96 season—have been documented the past three decades, and there’s always off-field theater and constant talk in the media. The old TV show “Dallas” was never this fun to watch.

Popcorn consumption spikes when the Cowboys are on, and while they have fans nationwide, hate-watching is part of the equation.

4. Kansas City Chiefs

Tight end Travis Kelce “swiftly” pushed the Chiefs into the hottest spotlight on the biggest stage, howling from the podium with both hands around the Super Bowl trophy that his club wants to do what no team has done in the history of the NFL—win three consecutive championships.

The 3-peat Chiefs. It has a nice ring, but it’s a tough road. The two-time defending champs have a roster boost in first-round draft pick Xavier Worthy out of Texas, and the rookie made a play this week in training camp that has the team starting off with a kick.

K.C. was thought to have a lesser team last season and went all the way to the top. Quarterback Patrick Mahomes is the best in the game, Taylor Swift’s boyfriend Kelce is considered an all-time great and Andy Reid is the standard for elite coaches.

The Chiefs will inch toward history with every win. Whatever the weekly outcome, their games will be dissected, overanalyzed and picked apart from kickoff to the final whistle.

3. Chicago Bears

Caleb Williams represents a long list of former USC Trojans quarterbacks in the NFL. Many in the past have either been big-time winners—because they duped the league into thinking they were viable performers and raked in millions—or the biggest losers, for being just plain inadequate.

Williams was the No. 1 pick in this year’s draft and has had NFL scouts, executives and coaches drooling all over themselves since he won the Heisman Trophy in 2022.

He comes in to take charge of a Bears team that brings a strong defense, and many experts believe that just league-average QB play could boost the Bears into the realm of Super Bowl contender.

This is a team that has never had a single-season 4,000-yard passer in its rich history and is desperate to hit on a quarterback. Coach Matt Eberflus is 10–24 in two seasons in charge and could be out on his wallet if his team starts poorly, or he could be elevated to legendary status if the Bears put things together and contend in a tough division.

Williams, though, needs to break the bad cycle and become a new kind of Trojan horse.

2. Los Angeles Chargers

Jim Harbaugh and Justin Herbert. Who’s got it better than they do? “Nobody!”

That’s probably not true, but Harbaugh’s well-known motivational catch phrase is going to at least push the Chargers to a better competitive spot on the ratings meter, even if there’s not enough on the roster to push these nomads—who moved back up to from San Diego to L.A. in 2017—past quality teams.

Harbaugh won the College Football Playoff National Championship earlier this year with the Michigan Wolverines, and he guided the San Francisco 49ers to the brink of an NFL title in Super Bowl XLVII in the 2012–13 season, when his brother John Harbaugh coached the Baltimore Ravens to a narrow win.

The Chargers have been underachievers or overhyped pretenders—depending on the viewpoint—for decades, but they now have a proven leader on the sidelines with Harbaugh in charge. And the coach is worth 100,000 times his weight in khaki pants.

Harbaugh brings a tough mental approach, confidence and a gritty personality that will pump some juice into a franchise stuck between San Diego and a hard place to garner attention.

Herbert has earned praise as one of the league’s best QBs, but going into this fifth season, he has shown flashes and created buzz with no wins of substance. Harbaugh was a quarterback in his playing days and it’ll be compelling drama to see how the coach can get the best out of his signal-caller.

1. New York Jets

The Jets are the team soap opera writers watch to steal story ideas.

This team seems to create more drama than an ex-girlfriend at a New Jersey wedding. In fact, perhaps fans of the team are only in this whole thing for the drama, because winning is not something the Jets usually do. The last time they finished over .500 was 2015, when they went 10–6.

Most football fans know Aaron Rodgers’ move to the Jets last season lasted an entire preseason and four regular-season snaps before the 40-year-old quarterback’s Achilles ruptured. Rodgers, coming off a catastrophic injury, had a team-assessed “unexcused absence” from minicamp last month, and the sand still hasn’t settled.

Rodgers reportedly was on a trip to Egypt during that period, and linebacker Haason Reddick—for whom the team traded with the Philadelphia Eagles in earlier this year—is officially holding out at the start of camp as he and his representation work to adjustment his contract.

The Jets have what many expect to be a defense worthy of carrying them to the playoffs. Rodgers is a four-time league Most Valuable Player and won Super Bowl XLVI with the Green Bay Packers way back in the 2011–12 season.

Much is expected from Rodgers, but he has effectively missed a year, and few athletes improve performance after an Achilles tear. It’s just too bad the NFL doesn’t reward points for snark.

The Jets have as good a shot as any team to capture the division, but the drama is likely to bring them crashing down in a season that figures to be snack-worthy entertainment every week.