1. Seattle Seahawks
Seattle put itself in this spot when it went out a dominating the Denver Broncos in the Super Bowl in February. However, win a big win comes a big payoff for many free agents, so the Seahawks knew they’d lose a few key players.
Wide receiver Golden Tate left to take lucrative deal with the Detroit Lions and the team let go of Sidney Rice, which gave it some cap room to be able to resign other players. The receiving corps, assuming the Seahawks don’t re-sign Doug Baldwin, will be much worse than last year.
With that said, Seattle signed the free agent it wanted the most in Michael Bennett. Four years and $28 million allowed the Seahawks to maintain their dominance up front, as well as in the secondary.
2. San Francisco 49ers
San Francisco may be No. 2 on this list, but it very well could be second in the entire league. The 49ers, like the Seahawks, lost a few contributors to last season’s NFC title game run. Particularly in the secondary, where Tarell Brown, Carlos Rogers and Donte Whitner all signed elsewhere.
However, the signing of safety Antoine Bethea and cornerback Chris Cook should help fill the holes left by Brown, Rogers and Whitner.
On offense, San Francisco lost a valuable receiver in Mario Manningham, but was able to resign Anquan Boldin to provide leadership and depth to the position. Other than these moves, the 49ers have flirted with interest in Darrelle Revis and Desean Jackson.
3. Arizona Cardinals
Arizona was on the verge on making the playoffs last year, and looked to make another attempt with a strong defense. However, the Cardinals lost cornerbacks Javier Arenas, Antoine Cason and Karlos Dansby to free agency, which hurt them.
The signing of Antonio Cromartie will help ease the blow, but it’s not enough to make up for all three, who helped Arizona to the 14th-best pass defense last year. The top-ranked rush defense must maintain its dominance to keep the Cardinals a force in the NFC.
Arizona did, however, improve on offense, reaching deals with offensive linemen Jared Veldheer and Ted Larsen, as well as running back Jonathan Dwyer and wide receiver Ted Ginn Jr.. With these additions, Carson Palmer should have a quality season and possibly lead the Cardinals back to playoff contention.
4. St. Louis Rams
With the 19th-ranked rush offense and 27th-ranked pass offense, the Rams needed to improve drastically. However, the Rams got worse, losing linemen Chris Williams and Shelley Smith to free agency. They did resign lineman Rodger Saffold after his debacle with the Raiders, but it wasn’t enough to salvage a less-than-stellar offseason.
Running back Zac Stacy might have another great year, but the lack of a consistent offensive will hurt his chances. St. Louis did add risky receiver Kenny Britt, but his actions off the field have overshadowed his talent lately.
And to top it off, recently signed cornerback Greg Reid was arrested Tuesday for violating probation. It’s safe to say the Rams did not make up any ground in what seems like a three-team race in the NFC West.