In the end, there can be only one winner.
And some of those who have appointed themselves judges of such things think — maybe using some combination of "selective memory'' and "recency bias'' — that in the AFC North, we have ourselves a "winner'' ...
And three "losers.''
The Pittsburgh Steelers absolutely deserve to be celebrated for their aggressiveness as they shift in a "win now" mode.
The team is acquiring Jonnu Smith and Jalen Ramsey from the Miami Dolphins. Earlier in the offseason, Pittsburgh signed Darius Slay Jr. from the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles. And of course there's the trade for DK Metcalf and the signing of Aaron Rodgers.
We can take our pokes and we can make our jokes ... but pending how it all unfolds on the field, that is an impressive haul of veteran names.
But does it make the rivals of Steelers general manager Omar Khan a collection of "losers?"
That is the contention of CBS Sports, which thinks the Steelers' Ramsey/Jonnu trade is so obviously the result of having made the right move that the rest of the AFC North will suffer.
And so we've got ourselves an en masse "Biggest Losers'' claim.
"The Pittsburgh Steelers are seemingly getting better by the day as we inch closer to training camp, which is bad news for the rest of the AFC North," CBS' Tyler Sullivan wrote in an evaluation of who are the "winners'' and the "losers'' in the deal. "Clearly, the Steelers are making these moves to seriously contend in 2025, which makes the road that much more difficult for their division rivals.''
That's actually only half-right.
The Steelers' motivation is good and clear, yes.
The road toward success for the Baltimore Ravens (the favorite to win the AFC North) or Cincinnati Bengals or the Cleveland Browns is not "clearly'' more difficult. Not yet.
"Pittsburgh adding Ramsey and Smith could further put a dent in the overall playoff hopes of Baltimore and Cincinnati,'' Sullivan writes, "and hurt the chances of any of them rivaling for the No. 1 seed in the conference."
And in that assertion, there is accuracy ... because "could happen'' with "will clearly happen'' are two different things entirely.