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The draft is over. Outside of a handful of available stragglers, free agency is, too. Preseason rosters are mostly set. OTAs are underway and minicamps are coming soon. There are no more major moves to be made.
Yet mysteries abound across the NFL. Some teams have unfinished roster business. Others have cloudy strategies at key positions. A few are undergoing the kind of front office shakeups that usually take place in January, making it hard to figure out what direction they are heading in.
Let's investigate some the NFL's most baffling unsolved offseason mysteries. We will have to wait until September—or beyond—for real answers. But that doesn't mean we can't unearth a few secrets right now.
Who is the Broncos' quarterback?
Trevor Siemian is the theoretical starter right now, but Paxton Lynch will be given every opportunity to claim the job. Lynch is John Elway's project. Siemian was Gary Kubiak's project, and Kubiak isn't around anymore.
If all goes according to the typical schedule for this sort of quarterback battle, there will be much talk of "open competition" through minicamps and the start of training camp, then the team will announce that Lynch will "play the whole first half with the starters" in the second preseason game, and that will be that.
But if Lynch, a 2016 first-round pick and exceptional size-arm talent, can't supplant the scrappy, extremely limited Siemian after two training camps, it should set off some bust sirens. There are conflicting whispers about Lynch's work habits floating around Denver. Rumors like those and 99 cents will get you a late-night burrito, but Kubiak's reluctance to give Lynch some meaningless Week 17 snaps, even with Siemian nicked up with foot and shoulder ailments and Elway breathing over his shoulder, suggests that someone was dissatisfied with something.
With Tony Romo duffing and already fitted for his broadcast booth blazer, no veteran will arrive to complicate matters. Seventh-round pick Chad Kelly is a cross between discount auto insurance, a lottery ticket and a nephew-of-the-buddy-of-the-boss hire. He won't be a factor this year, if ever. With Kelly unable to throw for at least two months, undrafted rookie Kyle Sloter has a better chance to claim the third quarterback job.
Who is running the Bills?
Good question.
It initially appeared that newly hired general manager Brandon Beane would serve as head coach Sean McDermott's deputy/consigliere, an organizational model similar to the ones the Patriots and Chiefs use for far more experienced head coaches.
Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reported on Wednesday, however, that Beane will have final say over the 53-man roster, a responsibility that typically symbolizes which executive is the big cheese. Beane meets the press on Friday, when there will no doubt be much parsing over who has ultimate authority over what.
The 40-year-old Beane worked his way up from the figurative mail room for the Panthers and served as a high-ranking lieutenant under several regimes. Like McDermott, he has an impressive resume, and of course they worked together for six seasons in Carolina.
McDermott's rise from defensive coordinator under a defensive coach to Bill Parcells-level power felt a little sudden. He is almost certain to retain his role as the public face and the man with the primary vision for the Buffalo Bills. But the organization is wise to enact some checks and balances after three years of borderline chaos.
That said, it will be interesting to learn what role Beane has in helping select a roster full of players he had zero hand in signing or drafting.
What about the Redskins?
Well, it's not former general manager Scot McCloughan, who has sounded chipper, magnanimous and upbeat in recent interviews, not at all like an executive who deserved to be fired beneath a cloud of squicky innuendo during the busiest period of general managing season. It's also not Mike Mayock, though hiring television personalities sure sounds like the next stage in Dan Snyder evolution, just after hiring guys he saw profiled in magazines.
Team president Bruce Allen appears to have consolidated power within the organization, with director of college scouting Scott Campbell playing a higher-profile role.
Campbell revealed before the draft that the team was still working off McCloughan's draft board, which was assembled in February before McCloughan was phased out. Adjustments were made to the board, of course, but the Redskins draft class ultimately looked like a McCloughan class, right down to details like the Richard Sherman-like cornerback (Fabian Moreau) and Frank Gore-like running back (Samaje Perine) in the middle rounds.
So Allen and Campbell drafted off an old McCloughan cheat sheet, earned accolades for their draft, and can now use that as justification for retaining personnel power. It takes some specious reasoning to wrap the brain around that kind of circular logic. Maybe that's the next stage in Dan Snyder evolution.
Not everything has gone right. They utterly botched Kirk Cousins' contract situation and failed to draft or sign even a nominal potential replacement. Maybe McCloughan has left some notes about that.
What the heck are the Panthers planning to do with both Christian McCaffrey and Curtis Samuel?
They plan to ensure we never see touches wasted on Corey Brown, Brenton Bersin or Fozzy Whittaker again. Seriously, it doesn't take much imagination to find ways to get two explosive playmakers who can play running back and slot receiver on the field at the same time.
There are two models coordinator Mike Shula can look to when tinkering with his offense. The Patriots have a long history of mixing and matching slot players, and the Panthers could deploy McCaffrey, Samuel, Greg Olsen and the Battleship Benjamin the same way the Patriots use Julian Edelman, their various running backs, Gronk and their conventional wide receivers.
If you cannot picture Cam Newton channeling Tom Brady, look to the Chiefs, whose offense is built from screens, options, draws and misdirection designed to get the ball in the hands of Tyreek Hill, Travis Kelce and (formerly) Jamaal Charles.
If all else fails, Shula could run the wishbone with Newton, Samuel and McCaffrey, with Jonathan Stewart as the fullback. It wouldn't work, but it would be appointment viewing.
Why is Mark Ingram still on the Saints' roster?
Because there is nothing to be gained by releasing him, and Ingram's trade value isn't what you think it is.
The Saints signed Adrian Peterson and drafted Alvin Kamara, making Ingram an expensive committee back sandwiched between a Hall of Fame workhorse and the kind of third-down back who goes ham in Sean Payton's system. Releasing Ingram would create a $3.8 million dead money hit for a team that is already scraping the cap ceiling and facing a possible prolonged injury to center Max Unger.
The Philly media was ginned up this week about Ingram-for-Jason Kelce speculation: the Saints would get a center, the Eagles a power runner to pair with pocket-sized Darren Sproles and Donnel Pumphrey. (Injured incumbent Ryan Mathews is not expected to be on the team for long). But real football is not fantasy football, and Ingram's trade value doesn't match his name recognition in a marketplace that was just flooded with both rookies and Peterson-level veterans.
The Saints have a long history of finding roles for their third running backs, from Pierre Thomas to Chris Ivory and Khiry Robinson to Tim Hightower. Don't be surprised if they keep Ingram around as insurance against Peterson injuries and Kamara rookie blunders. It's pricey insurance, but the Saints do everything as expensively as possible.
Are the Colts trying to assemble a front office the size of a marching band?
No, but they are thinking outside not just the box but the entire warehouse.
New player personnel strategist Brian Decker creates a conundrum for conventional football thinkers. He's a science-y guy from the Browns, so normally it would be open season to make fun of his analytical mumbo-jumbo. But he's also a retired Special Forces lieutenant colonel, so…maybe that's not the best idea.
Decker's job appears to be advancing the NFL's character-assessment models beyond the we looked the kid in the eye level of sophistication, using techniques he developed while running the Special Forces selection program. Frankly, it's about time someone thought of that.
Newsday's Kimberley Martin and others reported early in the week that Jets director of college scouting Rex Hogan and Seahawks senior personnel executive Ed Dodds are also joining Chris Ballard's staff in Indianapolis. Both execs are expected to be named vice presidents of player personnel.
The Falcons took a similar approach to restructuring their front office a few years ago, when former NFL general managers Scott Pioli, Phil Emery and Ruston Webster joined Thomas Dimitroff in a kind of full-house front office. The Falcons reaped the rewards of a turbocharged think tank this year, so there's wisdom in adopting a similar strategy. It's not like there's a front office salary cap; why not pull a reverse-Redskins and assemble as many expert opinions as possible?
Division of duties and chain-of-command logistics will be key for the Colts; good thing they have an Army officer on board. Ballard has built an impressive infrastructure, the kind the Colts could have used over the last two seasons of wandering in the Ryan Grigson wilderness.
How do the Jets plan to be competitive in 2017?
The buzz phrase around the Jets organization right now is "changing the culture." For the Jets, changing the culture means retaining the same head coach and general manager and somehow making a downgrade from Ryan Fitzpatrick at quarterback, but drafting some high-character safeties and upping the tempo at rookie practices.
Culture change is just a first-year management team's euphemism for "rebuilding year"; the Jets are just being innovative in their own way by unveiling it in the third year of the Todd Bowles-Mike Maccagnan regime. So brace yourself for lots of talk about positive vibes and a new energy and atmosphere in the locker room, all of which translates to "we're a 6-10 team at best and we know it, but please don't fire us, because we've got spunk."
Judging from my Twitter mentions whenever I write about the Jets, their fanbase suffers from a kind of Stockholm syndrome and now prefers never-ending rebuilding cycles and hopes of distant-future Super Bowls led by Sam Darnold to actual competitiveness. This should be the season for them.
When will Colin Kaepernick get signed?
When the lion lies down with the lamb and the nations of the world hold hands and sing. C'mon folks, this story is about unsolved mysteries, not minor miracles.
Mike Tanier covers the NFL for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter: @MikeTanier.
Read more NFL news on BleacherReport.com
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