Free Agency Review - NFC West

And finally to wrap up this free agency review we have the NFC West, now the home of possibly one of the scariest rosters constructed after this free agency period and debatably one of the weakest too. A changing of the guard seems well underway in the division and for two teams, the rebuilding years are about to begin.

-Arizona Cardinals-

Key Additions:

Sam Bradford	QB	1yr	$20m
Mike Glennon	QB	2yrs	$8m
Brice Butler	WR	2yrs	$tbc

The Cardinals have been so close to success for a few seasons but it appears they are running out of steam and running out of options. David Johnson and Larry Fitzgerald will carry most of the load and for as long as he is healthy Sam Bradford will be the guy giving them the ball. I actually liked the move in signing Bradford and if he does the unthinkable and plays the majority of the season the Cardinals might find themselves back in the playoffs. If he does go down and their new backup Mike Glennon has to step in, they still have a competent guy at the helm but the expectations have to reduce.

Brice Butler gets a chance to break out now he’s left Dallas and joins Larry Fitz and JJ Nelson on a team which has seen John and Jaron Brown leave. Speaking of departures the headline news really has been Tyron Mathieu leaving for Houston. He didn’t want to stay for the rebuild and wanted a change of scenery and it sort of signifies the beginning of the end for the defence too. Jarred Veldheer also left for Denver leaving the O-Line a man down so there’s a lot of pieces which need picking up.

The Cardinals need to re-find their defensive form if they are to succeed this season. DJ and Fitz with Sam Bradford are enough weapons to get a team down the field and are fantastic fantasy assets, but they are going to need help. With new coach Steve Wilkes on board, hopefully a bit of work on defense can prevent the team from a slide that Larry does not deserve to end on.

-Los Angeles Rams-

Key Additions:

Brandon Cooks	WR	Trade
A Scary Defence	DEF

Losing Sammy Watkins to the Chiefs feels like a distant memory when you look at the Rams roster now. Trading with the Patriots for Brandon Cooks and then acquiring one of the scariest defences in football shows they really are in win now mode, which is almost a pre-requisite of basing a team in LA. The Cooks trade wasn’t great as they gave up a lot for a player who doesn’t necessarily end up miles ahead of Woods and Kupp on the depth chart. He is a quality player, there’s no doubting that, but the Patriots weren’t willing to commit and nor were the Saints so will the Rams see him as an expensive rental or commit long term?

The big moves have been defensively and the Rams looks set to join the Jaguars and Ravens as one of the most desirable DSTs in fantasy football this year. Aqib Talib, Marcus Peters and Ndomakung Suh join Aaron Donald and company to create a scary defensive line and linebacker corps that may leave opposing offences wondering what tactics to use against them and where to go. Trumaine Johnson and Alec Ogletree were casualties of the signing spree but they kept the talented Nickell Robey-Coleman. Frankly, it’s insane what they have created.

A strong defense and a multitude of offensive weapons such as the 3 receivers and Todd Gurley with an improving Jared Goff at the helm mean the Rams will be a team with a lot of fantasy assets owned and indeed going for high picks during draft day. Gurley is worthy of the #1 overall pick if he is chosen there purely because the game script of having a strong defense and a variable passing game makes his role is secure and likely to be often used.

-Seattle Seahawks-

Key Additions:

Mike Davis	RB	1yr	$1.35m
Ed Dickson	TE	3yrs	$10.7m
Jaron Brown	WR	2yrs	$5.5m

For the Seahawks it would appear that the legion has gone boom! Richard Sherman, DeShawn Shead and Jeremy Lane were all released and Michael Bennett was traded to Philly. That’s a lot of the Legion of Booms identity gone and with Cam Chancellor and Cliff Avril still not guaranteed to return from injury by the beginning of the season (if at all), that defence is going to look remarkably different and a lot less intimidating. They brought in Bartavious Mingo and CJ Smith but they aren’t going to fill the gaping holes left by some of the aforementioned departures.

On offence it’s still departures that dominate arrivals. Paul Richardson, Luke Willson and Thomas Rawls might not be big losses but Jimmy Graham does cause a big dent in their offence. With backup tight end Willson also leaving they are going to roll with Nick Vannett and new recruit Ed Dickson which is a move that could go either way. They still have Russell Wilson and Doug Baldwin, and have replaced Richardson with Jaron Brown (who hardly excelled in Arizona) but really there doesn’t seem to be a lot there.

They still have no Offensive-Line to speak of and no running game. Chris Carson, Mike Davis and CJ Prosise may well be all they have which is understandable when you have no real intention of committing to a run game. Everything considered, Russell and Doug may be worth having as that could be the whole offence and I can see the Seahawks having to throw long from behind quite often. Elsewhere, it feels a lot like a rebuild and a long one at that.

-San Francisco 49ers-

Key Additions:

Jerrick McKinnon

RB

4yrs

$30m

The 49ers have been towards the bottom of the pile for a few years now but this year the momentum appears to have shifted. They’ve not had a worthwhile quarterback since Kaepernick but it appears Jimmy Garoppolo might be the answer and with that one move last year, the whole outlook for San Francisco has turned on its head. Carlos Hyde is out the door and Jerrick McKinnon arrives from Minnesota. He wanted to join a team where he can do it all and the 49ers fit that bill. The talk that McKinnon could be a 3 down workhorse is exciting for any fantasy owners but be aware that you can probably expect some more resources to arrive before the season starts.

Don’t underestimate the moves on the O-Line either. Weston Richburg comes in at Centre after trading Daniel Kilgore to Miami and with a few moves at Guard they’ve built something perhaps more serviceable. With Garoppolo, Garcon and Goodwin they have the talent but are either of those their WR1? There’s room for one more wide receiver and I’d be surprised if they didn’t go out and get one. With a better defence now thanks to the addition of Richard Sherman they look stronger at both ends but there’s still work to be done on that defence, especially as Eric Reid remains as yet unsigned and doesn’t look like he will return to the team. A strong draft will go a long way to building this team up for some prolonged success.

If they can add a few pieces on defence and possibly make that one additional receiver choice count, they will be a team people will look out for in the playoffs and indeed fantasy drafts. They have assets, but can they put it all together and just how many are going to be worth their draft capital?