The first day of the NFL’s free agency legal tampering period brought big headlines to the NFC West. The Los Angeles Rams broke the ice late last week when they unofficially completed their trade for ex-Kansas City Chiefs corner Trent McDuffie and then signed him to a massive contract extension.
Since then the dominoes continue to fall in one of the league’s most competitive divisions:
- Rams sign another former Chiefs corner in Jaylen Watson
- 49ers bring in veteran WR Mike Evans
- Ex-Seahawk and Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker heads to Chiefs
- Seattle re-signs WR/PR Rashid Shaheed
- Seahawks also retained corner Josh Jobe
- Coby Bryant, former Seahawk, inks deal with Bears
- Ex-Seahawk Boye Mafe to bolster Bengals defense
- 49ers are reportedly shopping LT Trent Williams amidst contract dispute
- Ram killer Kendrick Bourne leaves San Francisco for Cardinals
- Cardinals name Jacoby Brissett their starter and sign Gardner Minshew
Let’s dive into some thoughts on each of the NFC West rivals:
Los Angeles Rams
You can nitpick the Rams’ roster in places (such as inside linebacker, EDGE depth, and WR#3); however, Les Snead has made the most of free agency in order to ensure he has all options open next month in the NFL Draft. LA has taken a glaring weak spot at corner and turned it into a position of strength. This will help maximize an aggressive pass rush and work towards a more complimentary defense.
Does Snead still have some more work to do, especially on offense? Sure. But the Rams have ample draft capital and are the predominant Super Bowl favorites in March.
Seattle Seahawks
For a team with ample cap space coming into the offseason, Seattle seems to be a team that is hemorrhaging talent instead of reloading. The pending contract extensions to Sam Darnold, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, and Devon Witherspoon could be more cost-prohibitive than initially thought, and the Rams did their rivals no favors by inking McDuffie early (and possibly Puka Nacua too).
The Seahawks have lost Walker, Mafe, and Bryant. These were important players and it’s unclear who will fall in place after them. With Mafe, for example, they lose a starting EDGE and DeMarcus Lawrence is another year older.
For an offense that was heavily reliant on the running game, Seattle doesn’t seem to have capable options in the backfield. Zach Charbonnet will likely miss the first half of the season.
It’s difficult to say the arrow is pointing up for the Seahawks. They’ll need to keep pace with the Rams.
San Francisco 49ers
These are the ages of the 49ers” offensive core:
- Trent Williams, LT: 37 (trade candidate)
- Kyle Juszczyk, FB: 34
- Jake Brendel, C: 33
- Mike Evans, WR: 32
- George Kittle, TE: 32
- Demarcus Robinson, WR: 31
- Christian McCaffrey, RB: 29
San Francisco can put up points with the best of them. No matter how many players are out injured, Kyle Shanahan is able to pull the play calling strings to maximize the talent they have available. But we’ve seen the wheels come off before, and this group is only getting older. There is no real threat of dynamism or speed that should scare defenses.
The 49ers’ defense is improving but it’s still a ways off their peak. They’ll cross their fingers that Mykel Williams had a rough rookie season and isn’t a draft bust, or else they could end up with a huge whole opposite Nick Bosa.
Arizona Cardinals
By naming Jacoby Brissett the team’s starting quarterback, the Cardinals are effectively signaling they won’t be competitive in 2026. Brissett is an odd pairing with new head coach Mike LaFleur, and he’s pretty much only good enough to make bad teams mildly interesting. Maybe next year, Cardinals.
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