The NFL offseason truly is the great equalizer. Every team has question marks, every team seemingly has a plan, and every team knows just that one thing their team has to do to win it all. There is a nuclear arms race in the AFC, but there are a number of questions among NFC teams. The NFC is home to some great teams who are almost there, but they have to have a good free agency period and draft.
NFC Teams With Big Question Marks
Philadelphia Eagles
The biggest question in Philly is can they get back to the Super Bowl? There’s a stigma around Super Bowl losers and their situation is not going to make it easy. On one hand, the Eagles have a long, long list of free agents who could be playing football elsewhere. On the other, both their defensive and offensive coordinators were poached to be a head coach elsewhere.
Jalen Hurts is the truth. That offensive line is nasty. A.J. Brown really blossomed into a bona fide WR1. Hurts is going to get paid soon, so how will the rest of the roster shake out? The NFC East was surprisingly tough in 2022 and will likely be just as tough in 2023, even if the Giants decide to overpay Daniel Jones. As of now, the Eagles have the fourth-best Super Bowl odds on online betting sites. Philly looks like they are built for long-term success, but that’s why the NFL is king.
Green Bay Packers
Like predecessor, like successor. “Will he or won’t he?” As was the case with Brett Favre and the Packers, we are all enthralled to know what Aaron Rodgers‘ next moves will be.
Of all the questions facing the Packers, you have to start with the quarterback. Rodgers can’t go a week without being in the headlines, for better or for worse. He’s playing out the drama queen aesthetic after just recently coming out of his weird zero-contact retreat. Is Jordan Love the one to succeed Rodgers? What kind of trade package will it take to pry Rodgers away? It’s not going to be a quiet few months in Green Bay.
San Francisco 49ers
As is the case with most on-the-cusp teams, the questions remain at quarterback. The 49ers got to the NFC Title game off of the back of third-string quarterback, Brock Purdy after cycling through Trey Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo during the year.
The real question is are any of these quarterbacks the ones to get San Francisco over the hump? It sure seems like any average quarterback could win a Super Bowl with that loaded roster, hence why the Tom Brady-to-San Francisco rumors will never die down. Any quarterback with a pulse would love to play with that defense and those weapons. San Francisco has built a legit roster and can likely contend for the next few years without missing a step.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
There is a load of questions surrounding the Buccaneers heading into 2023. Life after Tom Brady will be difficult for a number of reasons. There likely isn’t a reason for struggle greater than the fact that, currently, the Buccaneers are projected to be $57 Million over the cap.
Questions at quarterback are enough to stress anyone out. Is it going to be Kyle Trask calling the shots? Will they go for a free-agent veteran? Will they draft a quarterback? One could say they’d trade for Rodgers but they would need to do some serious finagling to get cap compliant. Either way, Tampa Bay plays in an incredibly weak division. They could line up just about any quarterback with a pulse and compete for an NFC South title.
Chicago Bears
Questions surrounding the Bears have their foundation in whether or not you trust the franchise to do the right thing. Where Tampa Bay has absolutely no cap space, the Bears have all of the cap space. Chicago is heading into Free Agency with nearly $100 Million to play with. And, to add compliment to whatever the opposite of injury is, they own the first-overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.
Folks with Twitter fingers speculate daily about the fate of that 1.01 and of Justin Fields. Realistically, Chicago should trade that first pick for a king’s ransom and get Fields a little help. That Bears roster was embarrassingly awful last year. The Bears should add a few top-notch free agents with that cap and trade back. Expect the calls to pour in as we get closer to The Combine and Pro Days so a quarterback-needy team can overpay for the services of Bryce Young or C.J. Stroud.
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