The NFL season has ended with the Los Angeles Rams on top of the food chain. It’s now time for executives and front offices to get into the trenches and make their teams better. The offseason is where championships are won and there are plenty of massively talented NFL free agents who can make teams better overnight. In this Tailgater Magazine series, we’ll be breaking down the needs of every team in the league. Let’s take a look at the NFC West team needs.
Seattle Seahawks
Team Needs: QB, OT, EDGE, CB
The Seahawks made the shocking decision to trade Russell Wilson early in the offseason and reloaded their draft pick stock. There are rumors that Seattle could trade the slew of picks they received from Denver to Houston for embattled QB Deshaun Watson. For the moment though, Drew Lock is the QB for Seattle. However, they are in a good spot to grab a QB in the draft like Kenny Pickett from the University of Pittsburgh. Or if they really like Lock, they could make a much-needed upgrade to their offensive line with a guy like OT Ikem Ekwonu from North Carolina State. The Hawks might be in rebuild mode or they might continue to try to upgrade and fight in a very tough NFC West. I am leaning on a rebuild.
Arizona Cardinals
Team Needs: CB, EDGE, RB
The Cards have some QB drama early in the offseason with Kyler Murray taking to Twitter to demand a new contract. This Cards team will try to make him happy, but he is still a few years away from needing an extension and they might wait a season. On this to-do list, they need to upgrade their secondary and they might look at bringing Haason Reddick back to give them an EDGE rusher. RB James Conner played great in 2021, but Chase Edmonds might not be a suitable backup moving forward. The Cards could look to make a splash with a guy like RB Leonard Fournette and give Murray more weapons.
Los Angeles Rams
Team Needs: OL LB, EDGE
Protecting Matt Stafford moving forward is key and the Rams have some older lineman who could decide to retire this offseason. Getting younger at that position will be the top priority before cap space really crushes this team. The Rams don’t have a first-round pick and they are not in good salary cap shape either. General manager Les Snead went all in last season to win a Super Bowl and it worked, but now he must get creative and find a way to replicate that success with much fewer resources this time around. They may need to replace some defensive players who might leave in free agency as well.
San Francisco 49ers
Team Needs: WR, OL, CB
QB Jimmy Garoppolo made things difficult for the Niners after he had offseason shoulder surgery. That made it more difficult to move him via trade as teams could consider him damaged goods which would diminish his value. The Niners are ready to commit to Trey Lance at quarterback and that means giving him a solid supporting cast. WR Deebo Samuel was brilliant this past offseason, but he needs some help. Finding another option at wide receiver and a healthy running back would help and adding to an already impressive offensive line is never a bad thing. The Niners will also need to improve their secondary in a division where big arms are everywhere.