Heading into the 2025 NFL season, the NFC South is looking like it could contend to be the "worst" all-around division in the league. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are the reigning division champions here, and who is going to emerge as their top competition?
The New Orleans Saints are widely expected to be one of the worst teams in the NFL. The Carolina Panthers and Atlanta Falcons have major issues or question marks defensively. It's tough to see another team truly emerging this year, but that's the fun of the NFL -- you never know.
How do the rosters in this division stack up against each other with the regular season now just days away?
NFL Power Rankings: NFC South roster rankings for 2025
4. New Orleans Saints
If you asked your spouse who doesn't like football at all to draft a fantasy football team, it would probably come out looking a lot like this year's New Orleans Saints. You look at the Saints' roster, and you can clearly see the presence of some good players, but then you look at other positions and scratch your head.
Saints general manager Mickey Loomis has built some contenders through the years, and it looked like he had one last year after his offense put up 90-something points in the first two games of the season. But the Saints were caught off guard by the surprise retirement of Derek Carr, and they had to scramble to prepare for drafting a quarterback in 2025.
And it shows in the final result. The Saints have so many notable veterans, yet arguably the worst quarterback situation in the NFL. It's going to be interesting to see what it all amounts to this year, but I have a sneaky feeling this team is going to be major sellers at the 2025 NFL Trade Deadline.
3. Carolina Panthers
I like a lot of what the Carolina Panthers are doing to shape the roster under general manager Dan Morgan. The Panthers got a much-needed breakthrough in the second half of last season from former #1 overall pick Bryce Young, and that has given them at least some hope that they can turn things around this coming year.
Young has weapons to spread the ball to and a solid offensive line in front of him, but is the Panthers' defense going to be a liability?
They certainly were last year, ranking dead last in points allowed. They don't have anyone who can even remotely bring to the table what they lost in the Brian Burns trade. There are some young guys this team will be expecting to step up in 2025, but they'll need at least another offseason to really become a viable threat in this division. They might win eight games this year.