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.
2. Atlanta Falcons
After landing Kirk Cousins in free agency last year, the Atlanta Falcons were supposed to be a darkhorse Super Bowl team in the NFC.
It's wild how quickly things can change in the NFL, isn't it?
Cousins is shockingly still on this Falcons roster, but as the backup to Michael Penix Jr. There's no doubt that the Falcons have one of the most talented groups of offensive skill players in the league, but just like the Panthers, the defense is a major question mark right now for Atlanta.
At least the Falcons have multiple first-round rookies on the roster looking to make their mark on the defensive front. Jalon Walker and James Pearce Jr. are going to be relied upon heavily to bring this Falcons team up to contender status sooner rather than later.
Overall, it's hard to deny the elite group of weapons on offense, but we're in the "TBD" stage for the players the Falcons brought in on the other side of the ball.
1. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
There's really not much to complain about with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' roster overall. They've got a quarterback in Baker Mayfield who is playing at the highest level we've seen from him as a pro, and he has an absolute all-you-can-eat buffet of weapons to spread the ball to.
And the Bucs got him yet another in the first round of this year's draft with the selection of Emeka Egbuka. I believe they call that an "embarrassment of riches".
The Buccaneers' pass rush needed a jolt this offseason, and they got it in the form of Haason Reddick. Reddick's time with the New York Jets did not go as planned, but if the Bucs can get even half the player the Eagles got when Reddick was in Philly, they're going to have a closer late in games.
The pieces are there for the Bucs to be a tough threat to the Eagles in the NFC.