The reigning NFC champion San Francisco 49ers are heavily favored to repeat as the winners of the NFC West.
The Niners fell short of winning it all in the NFL Championship game, but they kept the key pieces of their team together. Their biggest rivals for the division crown are likely to be the Los Angeles Rams.
The two teams with the longest odds are both rebuilding and figuring out their respective identities, but they enough top-end talent to pick up wins over quality opponents, making this division one worth watching.
SF 49ers | -210 |
LA Rams | +350 |
SEA Seahawks | +750 |
ARZ Cardinals | +1200 |
The San Francisco 49ers did not need to do much this offseason aside from keep together the group that got them to the NFL Championship game last season. It's easier said than done to keep a team that good intact, but the Niners did it and will be looking to lift the trophy this time around.
They return the offensive core of QB Brock Purdy, RB Christian McCaffrey, WRs Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk, and tight end George Kittle. They also added first-round draft pick WR Ricky Pearsall to the receivers room.
Aiyuk demanded a trade as he seeks a new contract, but there has not been any movement on that front at this point in the offseason.
San Francisco acquired lots of defensive back help this offseason, as well as some pass rushers for depth. They signed DBs Rock Ya-Sin, Chase Lucas and Isaac Yiadom and drafted Renardo Green and Malik Mustapha. Up front, they got Leonard Floyd, Maliek Collins and Yetur Gross-Matos.
After the retirement of 10-time Pro Bowl and eight-time All Pro defensive tackle Aaron Donald, the Los Angeles Rams are a young team with a well-constructed roster that is led by an experienced quarterback in 15-year veteran Matthew Stafford.
To try and accomplish the difficult task of replacing Donald's production, the Rams drafted two pass rushers from Florida State in Jared Verse and Braden Fiske, who join former Washington Commanders safety Kamren Curl as new additions to the Rams defense.
The Rams still have Cooper Kupp, Puka Nacua and Tutu Atwell at wide receiver, Tyler Higbee at tight end, and running back Kyren Williams for Stafford to get the ball to. Williams will be joined by six-year veteran Boston Scott and rookie draft pick Blake Corum in the backfield.
The Seattle Seahawks were a mediocre team in the 2023 NFL season, and signs point to that being the case once more in 2024. They fired Pete Carroll and hired former Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald to be the new head coach.
A defensive specialist, Macdonald will have solid contributors including Devon Witherspoon, Riq Woolen, K'Von Wallace, Leonard Williams, Jonathan Hankins, Jerome Baker, and rookie first-round pick defensive tackle Byron Murphy.
There are more questions on offense. The team traded for former Commanders QB Sam Howell to potentially have a QB battle with last year's starter, Geno Smith, in training camp. Neither player is close to being a franchise QB, but they'll have good targets to pass to in DK Metcalf, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Tyler Lockett and Noah Fant.
The Arizona Cardinals went 4-13 in 2023, but they picked up quality wins over the Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys. Plus, three of their four wins came after franchise quarterback Kyler Murray returned from the knee injury that kept him out to start the season.
Murray got a new No. 1 receiver in the draft when the Cards took Marvin Harrison Jr. with the fourth-overall pick. MHJ has all the tools to be an instant-impact receiver, and he joins a team that did not have any receivers reach 900 receiving yards or five receiving touchdowns last season.
The Murray-to-Harrison connection will be fun to watch, but the rest of the roster needs work.
Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon is a defensive specialist, and that unit is led by safeties Budda Baker and Jalen Thompson. Cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting is a welcome addition, as are defensive draft picks Darius Robinson, Max Melton, Dadrion Taylor-Demerson and Xavier Thomas, but the rookies won't be expected to be effective contributors in Week 1.
Odds displayed within this article were correct at the time of writing and are subject to change.