Roster construction in the NFL is an around-the-clock endeavor with different angles and divisions: Short-term acquisitions merge with long-term thinking as general managers and their personnel staffs work to build a roster set up to compete both now and down the line.
As NFL teams get set for what amounts to football summer vacation, we have a chance to take stock of roster decisions facing each franchise on a macro scale: These aren't necessarily decisions that must be made immediately. Rather, many are moves that could be evaluated up until training camps begin and perhaps even longer.
From contract negotiations for key players to plenty of quarterback planning, here's a look at all 32.
AFC East | AFC North| AFC South | AFC West
NFC East | NFC North | NFC South | NFC West
AFC EAST
Buffalo Bills
The Allen timeline. Among the five teams that invested a first-round pick in a quarterback in 2018, none has a flimsier plan at starting quarterback ahead of its rookie than Buffalo. Josh Allen will likely enter training camp trailing AJ McCarron and Nathan Peterman in the starting derby, but his time as QB1 is coming. GM Brandon Beane and coach Sean McDermott have preached the value of the process in Buffalo: Long-term sustainability is the ultimate goal. In deciding when to insert Allen -- presumably sometime in 2018 -- the Bills must weigh the value to be gained through Allen playing early versus the need he has to develop substantially as a player, some of which can be done by viewing the game from the sideline first.
Miami Dolphins
All eyes on Tannehill, again. An ACL tear ended Ryan Tannehill's 2017 season before it ever began, with Miami turning to Jay Cutler to handle starting duties. Now Tannehill, who should be on track to start Week 1 of 2018, must cement his status as a quarterback of the future for Miami, which may sound like an odd thing to say about a player in his seventh season. Tannehill is no longer owed any guaranteed base salary beyond 2018, meaning he might have to prove to the Dolphins that he should stick around for the final two years of his contract. Miami reportedly flirted with the idea of drafting a quarterback at No. 11 this year -- it's likely not a coincidence that Arizona moved one slot ahead of the Fins to select Josh Rosen -- suggesting the team is contemplating other quarterback options.
New England Patriots
Refurbishing the quarterback pipeline. Put aside any offseason storylines surrounding Tom Brady and start here: He'll be 41 in August with two years left on his contract. It's simply smart business to invest in and develop a young quarterback, something the Patriots have shown themselves capable of in recent years. The team used a seventh-round pick in 2018 on Danny Etling out of LSU, whom they'll work with in a developmental role in camp. The Patriots also brought in last week recently cut signal-caller Christian Hackenberg for a visit. Perhaps more pertinent to note is that they now have an extra second-round pick in 2019 already and potentially three third-round picks, giving them draft capital to find a young signal-caller.