These handful of teams I listed were near the bottom of the league last season, or were at the bottom, but have made the necessary adjustments this past offseason to possibly make 2025 a successful year.
And if you haven't yet, be sure to look at our following prediction articles for the season:
10 bold predictions for the 2025 NFL season
10 players who need to prove everyone wrong
15 rookies to watch out for this season
Now, let's get into it!
New England Patriots
I think out of all teams in the NFL, the Patriots are geared up for the best turnaround this season. Like the rest of the teams on this list, they don't have to necessarily make the playoffs to call it a turnaround season. So long as they've won at least around twice as many games as they did in 2024, I consider it a turnaround for the better.
A big problem with the Patriots in 2024 is that quarterback Drake Maye was constantly on his back or running to make sure he wasn't. So what did the Pats do to remedy their terrible o-line? First, they spent money.
During the 2025 offseason, New England signed veteran center Garrett Bradbury. While not his 2022 self when he was top 10 at his position, people overlook the value a veteran center can have for a young quarterback, especially one who can block. Ben Brown was barely a top-60 center last season for New England; meanwhile, Bradbury was a top-30 - instant upgrade.
Then they went out and signed veteran tackle Morgan Moses as well. While not necessarily at his peak anymore, Moses is a viable tackle in his own right and a massive upgrade over Demontrey Jacobs, who ranked 137th out of 140 tackles last year.
To round out their offensive line, they draft Will Jacobs with the 4th overall pick in the draft, who has already started to look like a franchise left tackle who could become one of the best in the league this upcoming season. So the Patriots could really prove the theory of "the game is won within the trenches" right.
How about other signings? Well, the Patriots broke the bank for their defence that ranked 22nd in both yards per game and points per game last season. The team signed linebackers Harold Landry III and Robert Spillane to three-year deals with a combined $80.5 million. They also brought in the top defensive tackle on the market, Milton Williams, with $100+ million deal and defensive end K'Lavon Chaisson, who's coming off a season where he set a career-high in sacks.
Then they signed cornerback Carlton Davis III, who is coming off of his best season in which he ranked 29th out of 222 corners, and veteran wide receiver Stefon Diggs, who, no matter if he's past his prime or not, still gives Maye another good option in the offense along with rookie standout TreyVeyon Henderson.
Ultimately, I'm looking at a 7-10 floor and 9-8 ceiling for the Pats this season with a potential Wild Card birth.
Tennessee Titans
It takes a lot for the worst team in the NFL a season ago to all of a sudden figure everything out and become a capable team. However, that all starts with a quarterback. If No. 1 overall pick Cam Ward is everything the Titans hope he can be, it can completely change the team around just like that - look at the Washington Commanders with Jayden Daniels.
Bringing in veteran receivers Van Jefferson and Tyler Lockett to pair with Calvin Ridley is already an instant upgrade. And while losing running back Tyjae Spears to IR to start the year is a blow, Tony Pollard is more than a capable starting running back.
Signing Dan Moore Jr. to be the new left tackle moves two-year tackle JC Latham back over to the right side, where he played in college at Alabama. Tennessee also brought in veteran centre Lloyd Cushenberry III to replace Daniel Brunskill, both of whom more or less had the same exact season in 2024 in terms of production from top to bottom.
However, replacing Dillon Radunz with veteran Kevin Zeitler is a move that could pay dividends for the team.
Zeitler has been one of the top guards in football most of his career and is even proving that now in his later years. The veteran was ranked the fifth-best guard in the NFL on a top Detroit Lions offence in 2024, and now he'll be lining up next to a young giant with Latham, in what could prove to be a very capable brick wall on the weak side.
Tennessee's defense is still in a weird spot. They gave up the second-fewest yards per game (317.4) yet also gave up the second-most points per game (27.5). Dennard Wilson has remained as the defensive coordinator, so it's going to be interesting to see what happens. They brought in a ton of defensive talent this offseason that includes safety Xavier Woods, defensive linemen Sebastian Joseph-Day and Dre'Mont Jones, and linebacker Cody Barton - all of whom are starters in their first year with the Titans.
The last time they only won three games in a season was in 2015, then they rebounded to a 9-7 record the following year. So they can definitely turn it around just like that.
I think Tennessee is looking at a 5-12 floor with an 8-9 ceiling.
Chicago Bears
Chicago is undoubtedly on everyone's list for this kind of topic - as they should be. Bringing in Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson to head a new and improved offensive unit will only make them better, more so because they can't get any worse after being ranked 32nd last season.
Giving Williams a formidable tight end duo in Cole Kmet and rookie Colston Loveland that even has the potential to rival the Ravens' duo of Mark Andrews and Isaiah Likely. And much like the Titans and Patriots, the Bears have three new names on the offensive line this year - Joe Thuney at left guard, Drew Dalman at centre, and Jonah Jackson at right guard.
Dalman was rated the fifth-best centre in all of football last year, while Thuney is widely regarded as one of the best guards as well. While Jackson may not be a top-20 guard like Thuney, he still didn't allow a single sack last season or commit a single penalty.
With veteran wide receiver DJ Moore leading the pack, that's loaded with young talent in two-year man Rome Odunze and rookies Luther Burden III and Olamide Zaccheaus, the Bears offense could do a complete 180 this season under Johnson with the headset.
They brought in defensive end Dayo Odeyingbo to help on the pass rush and veteran defensive tackle Grady Jarrett to help the line up the middle. But the 13th-ranked scoring defence that also ranked 10th in takeaways is looking to run it back with practically the same unit this year. So I wouldn't expect too much of a change other than the unit has a lot of chemistry built up between each other, which would prove to be worthwhile.
I understand they're in the toughest division. In fact, the Bears have the second-toughest schedule outright of any team in the league. So, a turnaround could look extremely bleak, and hopes shouldn't be raised.
That being said, the last time the Bears had five wins was in 2017. A year later, under a new coach, they went 12-4 and won the NFC South.
I see Chicago's floor being 6-11, but their ceiling is a lot higher than the others on this list at 12-5.
Carolina Panthers
Carolina is the only team on this list that has changed just one thing with their offensive line heading into the 2025 season - replacing former starting centre Cade Mays with Austin Corbett, and the former is still on the team.
However, they didn't really need to. They were the eighth-best unit last year. Adding another year between the front five in front of now two-year QB Bryce Young.
So it's not necessarily a worry for the Panthers like the others and that's something worth noting. However, Carolina's offence hasn't changed much in general besides giving Young a couple more young studs as weapons in rookies Tetairoa McMillan and Jimmy Horn Jr. Other than that, it's practically the same unit, one that was starting to find its footing in the second half of last season.
The offence still ranked towards the bottom in both points and yards per game, but anyone who watched knows what was on the rise. In the first eight games, Carolina scored 124 points. In the final nine games? 217 points, scoring at least 20 points in six of those games.
So I think the offence isn't to be worried about - it's the defence.
They gave up more points and yards per game than any team in the NFL. Their CB duo of Michael Jackson and Jaycee Horn is returning to their starting spots, while newly signed strong safety Tre'von Moehrig is taking over for Xavier Woods (Titans). Bobby Brown III (DT), Pat Jones II (LB), Christian Rozeboom (LB), and Nick Scott (FS) will all be new starters for the defense.
However, every single new defensive signee that will be starting for them this season didn't even rank in the top 50 of their respective positions. So while the Panthers could have a turnaround, it'll be built on their explosive offensive unit - not their defence.
It really depends on whether Young really lights a fire after the spark we saw at the end of last season, and if the defensive unit can give their offence a chance to win games.
After finishing with five wins in 2024, three of which came during the back nine of the schedule, I see Carolina's floor at 5-12 but their ceiling at 8-9.