This division has been top-class football and highly competitive since 2011, and it’s a beautiful thing to experience if you’re a frequent fan supporting any of its clubs. Let’s dive into what we have coming ahead in the 2023 NFL season. Free agency has begun, and the offseason is a season deserving of its light. Let’s break it down (shout out to Lucio and Homelander).

If you’ve played Overwatch at any point in your existence, you get it.

Trey Lance and Brock Purdy at Lumen Field

49ers

What an absolute rollercoaster of a season. Not necessarily in the Win / Loss category, but this team’s quarterback position was the talk of the town and the NFL, rightfully so. This team was stacked to the brim, featuring an incredible west-coast offense crafted by Kyle Shanahan and a vaunting defense led by defensive coordinator Demeco Ryans, now the head coach of the Houston Texans. The 49ers offense was a top-4 ranked unit in the 2022-23 campaign per PFF Premium Stats. The passing offense was incredibly underrated, featuring the likes of Christian McCaffery, Deebo Samuel, George Kittle, Brandon Aiyuk and Jauan Jennings, while Trent Williams and company formed the great wall of Berlin on the offensive line. Meanwhile, the defense was arguably the best in football, averaging a league-leading and staggering 15 points per game allowed, while also being a top-rated defense via PFFs premium stats. Brock Purdy suffered a long-term injury that will keep him out for most of the offseason, barging the door wide open for Trey Lance to take back the reigns. The 49ers have a handful of critical free agents they need to make decisions on coming up to the draft.

I believe the 49ers will continue to be suitable this coming decade. The NFL is a league personified by parity, as each year, 50% of the playoff teams are shuffled, and a team can go from picking top-5 to competing in the playoffs and fighting for true honor every year (Bengals and what will be Jacksonville). However, the 49ers, even with the quarterback controversy they have faced, will continue to thrive. The unfortunate part of success (and yes, this team’s season was a success) is people need to get paid.

What a beautiful ride this season turned out to be. Predicted to be the league’s worst team in the pre-season, predicted to host the #1 pick in the NFL draft that the bears currently hold, and predicted to fail, with Pete Carroll being met with his walking papers. Instead, the Seahawks finished with a 9-8 record in an inspiring season, with Geno Smith winning Comeback Player of the Year, earning a playoff spot with an assist from the Detroit Lions, and a plethora of incredible young talent gaining vital playing time and succeeding in those snaps. General manager John Schneider hit on just about every draft pick in the 2022 NFL draft, landing the likes of stud cornerbacks Tariq Woolen and Coby Bryant (RIP Kobe), Offensive Rookie of the Year runner-up and star RB Kenneth Walker, and brick-walls-for-offensive-tackles Charles Cross and Abraham Lucas. This team has a talented, young core, with great pathways toward the future to regain consistent 1st place contention in this division. The story of Geno Smith is one that the NFL has never seen before, going from 2nd round pick and starter to a bust, and back to the height of his powers. Shane Waldron and Geno Smith formed a connection like few others in Geno’s first season of starting since 2015. He completed 69.8% (nice) of his passes for 4,282 yards total and 30 touchdowns in comparison to 11 interceptions. It was one of the most incredible resurgences in NFL history. Many believed that Geno Smith’s career as a starter was over, at most that he would reemerge as a bridge quarterback. Thanks to the trade that sent Seattle Seahawk’s former franchise QB Russell Wilson to the Denver Broncos, the Seahawks have a haul of fantastic draft capital, including the number 5 overall pick in the draft, an incredibly powerful piece.

Re-signing Geno Smith to this contract was a steal. He earned the right to be paid at market price for a productive starting quarterback, and the Seahawks have the space to make that happen. This draft calls for trade-backs, increasing the draft capital for this year and the next, filling in positions of need, augmenting the roster with even more young talent, and surging into the future. This team is going to be dangerous during the 2020-2030 decade. There’s a fountain of youth running in Seattle, and it resides in Pete Carroll’s mansion. They have powerful capital in the draft and enough cap space to make some magic happen.

With all that being said, this is rare territory for a team like Seattle to be drafting at #5, thanks to the Denver Broncos. Teams coached by Pete Carroll are never this high in the draft. With Geno’s contract leading us to believe he’ll be the starter for at least the following season, potentially two, don’t be surprised if the Seahawks draft their Quarterback of the future. Whoever comes through the door would have no pressure of starting over the next two years barring injury, a wonderful place to sit, learn and get stronger every day.

Rams

Only two years removed from their heroic Super Bowl runs which featured one of the best seasons ever from a receiver by Cooper Kupp, the Rams are in rebuild mode. Jalen Ramsey, one of the best defenders of our generation is gone to Miami. Seahawks, Niners, and Cardinals fans rejoice! We are saved from the terror, crafted by one of the best lockdown corners of this generation. The Rams could’ve finished with 3 wins and they (fans) wouldn’t have cared this season, with every right. They just won a Super Bowl last season with a QB they paid a hefty price for in Matt Stafford, who seems to be still onboard even after his Iron Man legacy (barely ever hurt) seems to be coming to a close. This team is clearing cap space and rebuilding draft capital to transition to a new phase of the franchise under Sean McVay, who’s longevity as a coach is under question, as it seemed he was ready to call it a career post-Super Bowl Victory, although that struggle could’ve been leverage for contract negotiations. The Rams’ only free agency moves have included re-signings of LT Joseph Noteboom, center Brian Allen, RG Colemen Shelton, and a few other in-house players. This team may be contending for 3rd or 4th in division next year, but the Rams are always led by a bright mind, making them a tough out until further notice.

Cardinals

The Cardinals were a mess in 2022-2023 and they are dragging that mess right into this next season. The season was a debacle before it even began for the Cardinals, as former General Manager Steve Keim presented Kyler Murray with the contract extension he was looking for! Kyler Murray on July 21st, 2022 signed a 5-year, $230.5M contract with $160M guaranteed. Too bad that contract had legal language littered in as if Kyler is a 16-year-old who can’t get off Call of Duty after school and practice, refusing to do his homework until his parents scream at him and pull the plug on the internet. Kyler viewed the “independent study addendum” as so disrespectful, he held an impromptu press conference immediately to defend his honor. The clause, according to the contract, required Murray to study “material provided to him by the Club in order to prepare for the Club’s next upcoming game.” Murray was to receive “credit” for completing his film study, according to the contract. However, the addendum stated the time that Murray spends in mandatory meetings studying does not count and that Murray also won’t receive “credit” if he does not “personally study the provided material in good faith.” Housto--- I mean, Arizona, we have a problem.

If you’ve been a frequent of Loaded Coverage, you’ve seen what I’ve stated and how I feel about Kliff Kingsbury, Steve Keim and the Arizona Cardinals regime of old. I’m not here to say I told you so, I’m simply here to say, you should’ve saw this coming, too. From a mile away. Kyler Murray sustained an injury late into the season that derailed an already reeling team who couldn’t seem to get out of their own way or stop anybody else on the defensive side of the ball. Now, new General Manager Monti Ossenfort and new Head Coach Jonathon Gannon, formerly the defensive coordinator of the Philadelphia Eagles take the reigns of a ship that was sinking, fast. Kyler may not be available immediately at the start of the 2023 campaign due to a torn ACL suffered in Week 14 of 2022, so the challenges will be screaming at the Cardinals all season. Don’t expect too much from this squad and give this new regime a pass for this season (unless it’s egregious).

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