Grades for all 4 teams in the NFC West this offseason
Let’s go back and look at the last 13 seasons. Dating back to 2011, the NFC Championship Game has featured at least one NFC West team 10 times. The San Francisco 49ers lead the way over that span with a total of seven appearances, followed by the Seattle Seahawks (2), Los Angeles Rams (2), and Arizona Cardinals (1).
The Seahawks knocked off the 49ers in 2013, and the Rams edged the Niners in 2021. The division has been represented on Super Sunday seven times over that span. Seattle rolled the Broncos in Super Bowl XLVIII, 43-8, and the Rams rallied to be the Cincinnati Bengals, 23-20, in Super Bowl LVI. All told, the NFC West has sent at least two clubs to the playoffs in each of the last six seasons.
What stands out the most about the offseason for this foursome are the changes on one side of the ball. The Rams (Chris Shula), 49ers (Nick Sorensen), and Seahawks (Aden Durde) all have new defensive coordinators.
All of these franchises were extremely proactive, most notably the defending NFC champions. Meanwhile, the fun is just beginning in this division as Seattle is the only team that enters Thursday night without at least 10 draft choices.
That’s for later. So how have the Cardinals, Rams, 49ers, and Seahawks graded out this offseason to date?