Team Preview: New Orleans Saints

 

The Saints had an underwhelming season in 2023 after just narrowly losing the NFC South to Tampa Bay by just a game. Once again the NFC South is very up for grabs and the Saints are a much improved team over the last offseason. 

Saints quarterback, Derek Carr finished up his first season in the black and gold with pretty solid numbers after playing in all of their seventeen games. Carr, now 33 years old, has been in the league for a long time now and has yet to prove that he is a winner. Entering his 11th season, Carr will have no excuses to get New Orleans back into the playoffs. 

New Orleans made their mark known in this year's draft with a pretty solid couple of picks. They drafted Taliese Fuaga, an offensive tackle out of Oregon State, to help Derek Carr to play a full season once again. They improved their secondary after taking Alabama cornerback Kool-Aid McKinstry. 

This offseason the Saints did have some notable cuts as well. Michael Thomas is no longer a Saint after one injury riddled season after another. Safety Marcus Maye is also no longer a Saint after he was cut in March as well. 

The Saints were able to sign Cedrick Wilson to a two-year deal to hopefully fill the shoes of Michael Thomas and pair well along with Chris Olave. On the defensive side, the Saints improved mightily after signing Chase Young and Willie Gay to one-year deals. Re-signing Demario Davis and Tyrann Mathieu was also huge for them. 

New Orleans always has a pretty scary defense and this year it looks even scarier for opposing offenses. For those who forgot about Cameron Jordan and Marshon Lattimore, don't worry they are still there as well. 

Dennis Allen desperately needs a healthy season from Alvin Kamara for this offense. When he's healthy, he's up there for one of the top backs in the National Football League. Although there are some contract disputes ongoing, the Saints will more than likely get this figured out. 

Another year where the NFC South is anyone's to win, the Saints are looking pretty good on paper as of now. They are hoping to end their three year drought and make it back into the playoffs for the first time under Dennis Allen. 

Team Preview: San Francisco 49ers

 

It's no secret, the San Francisco 49ers are one of the most prominent teams in the National Football League. But what has been missing for the Niners is that final piece, a Super Bowl victory. 

The 49ers are coming off of an overtime Super Bowl loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. San Fran has been to either the NFC Championship or Super Bowl in four of their last five seasons, yet their last title came back in 1994. However, that does not stop this powerhouse from reloading once again in 2024. 

San Francisco has remained as one of the most, if not the most, complete team in the entire league. Every position on the field they are confident they have the best players. It's a good problem for them to have, but it is hard to go into free agency and upgrade when having a team like this. 

The only big pieces the Niners lost this offseason was their defensive ends: Chase Young and Arik Armstead. Armstead was cut and Young signed with New Orleans. San Fran immediately replaced them with Leonard Floyd and Yetur Gross-Matos on two-year deals. Aside from that, not a lot of other notable transactions for the Niners this offseason. 

The Niners also locked up Christian McCaffrey on a two-year extension, making sure that the best running back in the league stays in the Bay. Pairing him with Deebo Samuel, George Kittle, and Brandon Aiyuk for yet another year will cause nightmares to opposing defenses. 

However, there has been some drama going around in the locker room with star receiver Brandon Aiyuk. Aiyuk has requested a trade from the Bay Area multiple times after numerous failed contract disputes. The 49ers have yet to send him elsewhere and it will be interesting to see if he stays in San Francisco as training camp commences. 

It will be a shock to nobody when the Niners will finish another season with double digit victories and take the NFC West. They have too much talent to continue their Super Bowl drought that will mark thirty years this season. Can the 49ers finally get over the hump or will it be more of the same in 2024?

Team Preview: Los Angeles Rams

 

After being one of the more intriguing teams from a season ago, the Rams are looking to avenge their first round playoff loss in 2024. Los Angeles developed a dynamic offense behind Matthew Stafford as they look to take a leap forward this upcoming season. 

The Rams finished 10-7 in 2023 after many predicted them to be towards the bottom of the NFC. The real reason for their success was the outbreak of their new and improved offensive group. They ranked 7th in the NFL in total offense with Matthew Stafford at the helm. 

The biggest story for the Rams in 2023 was the emergence of late round rookie Puka Nacua. If it weren't for CJ Stroud's unreal season, Nacua would have easily been selected as Rookie of the Year. He finished with almost 1500 receiving yards in his rookie season after being drafted in the fifth round. 

Pairing him with All-Pro Cooper Kupp made for a deadly duo that is going to become even scarier in 2024. Although Kupp was not always healthy last season, we saw glimpses of the nightmares that these two can impose on defenses throughout the National Football League. 

The emergence of Kyren Williams also played a huge role in 2023. Yet another Ram selected in the fifth round, Kyren accounted for over 1100 rushing yards in 2023. The Rams certainly caught lightning in a bottle with the outbreaks of Nacua and Williams last season. 

This offseason was not the busiest for LA compared to some other squads. They did sign Jonah Jackson in free agency to bolster the offensive line and protect their veteran quarterback. Los Angeles also improved their secondary after signing both Tre'Davious White, Kamren Curl, and bringing back Darious Williams on a three-year deal. 

The one blow that the Rams suffered this offseason to their defense was losing Aaron Donald. After a memorable career, Donald decided to hang up the cleats this offseason and retire after spending his entire career in LA. Donald was one of the best defensive tackles in the NFL and also one of the best of all time. The Rams will certainly miss his presence on the defensive line. 

With a healthy offense, I believe the Rams can go toe to toe with any team in the National Football League. Being in the same division with the NFC champions is never easy, but the Rams will look to accelerate into 2024 and be back playing meaningful football in January. 

Team Preview: Seattle Seahawks

 

After just barely missing the playoffs a season ago, the Seahawks are looking to set the tone early in 2024. The team was a bit shaken up this offseason and will have a whole new dynamic added to them this upcoming season. 

The biggest story of the offseason for Seattle was the departure of Pete Carroll. Carroll was the head coach of Seattle for the past fourteen seasons, one of the longest tenured coaches in the league. Carroll had brought the city of Seattle a lot of success during his tenure, but the front office felt it was time that the Seahawks took a new course of direction. 

Seattle went out and hired Mike Macdonald to take over the helm of the coaching position. Macdonald was the defensive coordinator of the Ravens for the past two seasons and the Seattle front office was quite impressed with what he was able to do there to say the least. He now takes over as the youngest head coach in the NFL at just 37 years old. 

Despite the Seahawks completely rebuilding their safeties room, not many big headlines came across them this offseason. They moved on from safeties Quandre Diggs and Jamal Adams. They signed Rayshawn Jenkins as a free agent and promoted Julian Love to take over the safeties room as of now. They also selected a Byron Murphy II, defensive end out of Texas, to bolster the front of their defense. 

The offense remains the same after there was some speculation that Seattle would move on from Geno Smith. They did trade for Sam Howell to backup Geno Smith, but other than that this offense still looks very reminiscent to last year's. If Kenneth Walker, DK Metcalf, and Geno Smith are all clicking, this offense can get scary. I also expect a big jump for Jaxon Smith-Njigba this year and could possibly take that WR2 away from Tyler Lockett. 

Seattle is definitely going to have an uphill climb not only with a rookie head coach, but also playing in the same division as the Rams and the defending NFC Champion 49ers. A new era of Seattle football will get underway in September and I'm intrigued to see what the Pete Carroll-less Seahawks are all about. 

Team Preview: Arizona Cardinals

 

After finishing back to back seasons with 4-13 records, the Cardinals look to bounce back in 2024. A full season of Kyler Murray and a healthy offense surrounding him could be exactly what they need. 

Kyler Murray was only able to play in five of seventeen games for the Cardinals a season ago due to his ACL injury. Even though Arizona only went 2-3 in that stretch, they looked like a team with more much life than the team in the previous twelve games. 

The Cardinals focused a lot on defense in free agency after signing a couple of key pieces including: Justin Jones, Sean Murphy-Bunting, and Mack Wilson. Arizona ranked 25th in total defense in 2023, so they are hoping these new guys will sway that number upwards. 

Moving onto the biggest story of the Cardinals offseason, the fourth overall pick in the NFL Draft. With that pick, the Cardinals took Marvin Harrison Jr. from Ohio State. Harrison Jr. was undoubtedly the best wideout in all of college football, making it an easy decision for Arizona to take him at number four. 

Maserati Marv, as Gus Johnson likes to call him, will now join a receiver room that was in dire need of some new talent and a potential new WR1 for Kyler Murray. Harrison Jr. will join James Conner and Trey McBride as Kyler Murray's top three weapons in this upcoming season.

To say it nicely, Arizona has not been very good the past two seasons. Second year head coach Jonathan Gannon would love to change that in 2024. If Kyler Murray can stay healthy for a full seventeen games, then maybe this Cardinals team can surprise some people this season. If not, this team will surely finish in a similar position as the previous two seasons. 

Team Preview: Indianapolis Colts

 

A season ago, the Colts finished a game shy of making the playoffs and winning the AFC South after dropping their last game of the season to the Houston Texans. This year they hope to have a healthy Anthony Richardson to lead the way for success in 2024. 

Indianapolis only saw a couple games of their rookie quarterback in 2023 before he eventually suffered a season-ending injury. Learning to be more cautious while running the football was a big part of Richardson's journey back from injury and is hoping to play a full seventeen games this season. 

The Colts did not make a lot of new acquisitions this offseason, rather they made the effort to re-sign a lot of their notable pieces on both sides of the football. Indy was able to extend key guys like Michael Pittman, Zaire Franklin, DeForest Buckner, and Kenny Moore, keeping these core players intact. Extending Jonathan Taylor last season took a lot of pressure off the Colts this offseason to get that deal done as well. 

Aside from locking down a lot of their core players, the Colts had one of the better draft classes in 2024 as well. With the 15th pick the Colts were able to scoop up Laiatu Latu, one of my favorite defensive players in all of college football in 2023. In the second round, they were able to give AR15 some more help when they drafted a receiver, Adonai Mitchell. 

Mitchell is now added to a receiver core headlined by Michael Pittman and can easily work his way up the Colts depth chart. Latu will now be working with Kwity Paye in the defensive ends room as Indianapolis looks to cause even more havoc on their opposing offenses. 

The key for the Colts in 2024 will be to stay healthy. With Anthony Richardson being out most of the season, Jonathan Taylor also missed seven games last season. Even with the injuries a season ago, the Colts were still able to finish 9-8, just a game out of the playoffs. With the AFC South improving mightily all around the Colts, staying healthy is a must for Indy in 2024. 

Team Preview: Jacksonville Jaguars

 

After a disappointing season in 2023 which consisted of a massive downfall, the Jaguars look to prove why last year was just a fluke. The Jags look to bounce back with their superstar quarterback, Trevor Lawrence, at the helm. 

Jacksonville was sitting comfortably in the AFC South last season until they dropped five of their last six games, losing the division by one game to the Houston Texans. Duval County has made a lot of notable transactions, including numerous extensions so they don't have a repeat season of 2023. 

The Jags extended two of their cornerstone pieces this offseason after giving both Josh Allen and Trevor Lawrence five-year deals to stay with the team until the near end of the decade. Along with extending Allen, Jacksonville also extended their other starting linebacker, Foye Oluokun, for three more years. Many consider this duo to be one of the top linebacker combinations throughout the NFL. Oluokun has earned a lot of praise for his play throughout the years. 

Moving on from extensions, the Jaguars had a very busy offseason to say the least. The Jags moved on from big pieces such as Calvin Ridley, Foley Fatukasi, and Darious Williams. Jacksonville did sign some notable replacements for these big names such as Gabe Davis, Darnell Savage, Arik Armstead, and more. 

Doug Pederson and the rest of management believed it was a good idea to shake up the dynamic of the team after the collapse they witnessed in 2023. With the rest of the AFC South notably improving around them, the Jags wanted to do the same. 

The Jaguars hope to see more of that dynamic offense featuring Trevor Lawrence and star running back Travis Etienne this upcoming season. Doug Pederson has supplied Lawrence with ample weapons this season including a stacked receiver core, and one of my favorite tight ends in the league in Evan Engram. 

Aside from free agency, the team also announced that they will be building a brand new stadium in Jacksonville coming in the near future. With there being rumors whether the Jags will relocate overseas because of owner Shad Khan, this almost solidifies that Jacksonville will be staying put on U.S. soil. 

It will be a tough climb for the Jaguars to make it back up to the top in the AFC South with the Texans looming, but I do believe this team will be better than last year's debacle. Jacksonville definitely has the talent to at worst sneak into the AFC Playoffs as a wild card team.