NFL
AFC East training camp preview: Major questions linger in wide-open division
![AFC East training camp preview: Major questions linger in wide-open division AFC East training camp preview: Major questions linger in wide-open division](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/newspress-collage-m0737pkfa-1721493403263.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&1721479077&w=1024)
The Post’s Ryan Dunleavy breaks down the AFC East storylines going into training camp:
Buffalo Bills
Coach: Sean McDermott (eighth year)
Training camp site: Rochester
Key additions: Curtis Samuel and first-round rookie Keon Coleman could battle for No. 1 WR rights.
Maybe S Mike Edwards and WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling can share some of the Chiefs’ secrets as they switch sides in the AFC’s best rivalry.
QB Mitch Trubisky is back for a second backup stint. DT Austin Johnson will help the run defense.
Key losses: Tensions with Stefon Diggs finally bubbled over, and their four-time 1,100-yard receiver was traded to the Texans.
He isn’t the only WR moving on: Gabe Davis joined the Jaguars.
The Bills also broke up their annual-playoff core, cutting C Mitch Morse, S Jordan Poyer and CB Tre’Davious White in a salary-cap purge.
EDGE Leonard Floyd took his 10.5 sacks to the 49ers. S Micah Hyde is unsigned.
Training camp storylines to watch: Can the Bills complete a pass?
QB Josh Allen needs to build quick chemistry with an almost entirely new six-receiver set than he has had for the past four years.
Khalil Shakir (39 catches) is the only returning piece from last season.
Can the Bills defend the pass with a remade secondary that won’t have the same time-tested cohesiveness as the last group?
McDermott is out of coordinators to blame and will be on the hot seat if this team starts slowly again.
Miami Dolphins
Coach: Mike McDaniel (third year)
Training camp site: Miami Gardens, Fla.
Key additions: The speed-obsessed Dolphins will see how much WR Odell Beckham Jr. has left in the tank.
The same can be said on defense for fliers taken on EDGE Shaq Barrett, S Jordan Poyer and DL Calais Campbell.
At least LB Jordyn Brooks, CB Kendall Fuller and C Aaron Brewer are on the right side of 30. First-round rookie DE Chop Robinson addressed a big need.
Key losses: DT Christian Wilkins (Raiders) and RG Robert Hunt (Panthers) cashed in big time in free agency.
CB Xavien Howard and EDGE Emmanuel Ogbah were cut to clear $32.3 million combined in salary-cap space.
The theme of defensive departures continued with EDGE Andrew Van Ginkel (Vikings), LB Jerome Baker (Seahawks), DT Raekwon Davis (Colts) and S Brandon Jones (Broncos).
OG Conor Williams leaves a big hole.
Training camp storylines to watch: QB Tua Tagovailoa is “antsy” about getting a contract extension done, perhaps sensing reluctance for the Dolphins to dish out the market-rate $50 million per year given his injury history.
He also has slimmed down after last year’s much-hyped bulk-up.
Do the Dolphins have enough pass rush?
After finishing No. 3 last season with 56 sacks, defensive coordinator Vic Fangio and several key pass-rushers left town.
EDGEs Bradly Chubb (torn ACL) and Jaelan Phillips (torn Achilles) need to regain top form off of serious injuries.
New England Patriots
Coach: Jerod Mayo (first year)
Training camp site: Foxborough, Mass.
Key additions: The Drake Maye Era is here, even if the first-round rookie starts off on the bench.
QB Jacoby Brissett returns for a second stint. RB Antonio Gibson, WR K.J. Osborn, rookie WR Ja’Lynn Polk, and TEs Pharaoh Brown and Austin Hooper are supposed to bolster one of the NFL’s worst offenses.
RT Chukwuma Okorafor and LB Sione Takitaki round out an understated free-agent class.
Key losses: The Mac Jones Era was a bust, so the starting quarterback was traded to the Jaguars after three seasons.
TE Mike Gesicki and RT Trent Brown will remain teammates — only with the Bengals.
RB Ezekiel Elliott returned to the Cowboys after one season as the Patriots’ leading rusher. CB J.C. Jackson remains unsigned.
All-time great special-teamer Matthew Slater and WR DeVante Parker retired.
Training camp storylines to watch: The Bill Belichick Era — six Super Bowl wins in 24 years — is over. Will the “Patriots Way” of little fun and heavy secrecy continue under his protégé Mayo?
Or is Mayo a breath of fresh air?
Can Maye accelerate his timeline and steal the Week 1 start away from Brissett?
Are both quarterbacks doomed regardless, playing with journeyman weapons? The Patriots spent big to keep a young core intact.
Time for RB Rhamondre Stevenson, RT Mike Onwenu and S Kyle Dugger to take the next step.
New York Jets
Coach: Robert Saleh (fourth year)
Training camp site: Florham Park, N.J.
Key additions: Overhauling the offensive line included signing LT Tyron Smith and LG John Simpson, trading for RT Morgan Moses and drafting OT Olu Fashanu in the first round.
EDGE Haason Reddick, and DTs Javon Kinlaw and Leki Fotu are part of a new-look defensive line.
Mike Williams and rookie Malachi Corley will complement Garrett Wilson in the receiving corps. QB Tyrod Taylor is the new insurance plan.
Key losses: Two separate trades with the Broncos sent QB bust Zach Wilson and versatile DL John Franklin-Myers out west.
EDGE Bryce Huff turned his breakout 2023 into a big contract with the Eagles, making Reddick available in return.
OG Laken Tomlinson was a cap casualty who joined the Seahawks.
S Jordan Whitehead (Buccaneers) and the Browns-bound duo of DT Quinton Jefferson and special-teamer Justin Hardee left in free agency.
Training camp storylines to watch: QB Aaron Rodgers, 40, returns from a torn Achilles (played four snaps last season) and tries to defy Father Time in a manner only Tom Brady really has done.
The starting offensive linemen did not take enough snaps together to jell either of the past two summers.
That can’t happen again. When will Williams (torn ACL) be medically cleared?
Reddick skipped all OTAs and mandatory minicamp because of a contract dispute.
Will he practice or stage a hold-in?
The pressure is on Saleh.