The NFC West has enjoyed a good amount of parity in recent years, as each of the Rams, Seahawks, and 49ers has won three division titles during the last 10 years.

Yes, the Cardinals only have one division crown during that stretch. Also yes, at least they are (seemingly) moving in the right direction and look competitive enough ahead of 2024 with a healthy Kyler Murray under center.

What follows is a breakdown of every NFC West team’s top three needs with corresponding stats related to certain position units' 2023 performance, 2024 salary cap allocation, and more.

Note that the needs aren’t listed in any particular order. Thanks to Over The Cap for the salary cap and contract information. Key free agents are unrestricted unless otherwise indicated and listed in no particular order. 2024 draft picks don’t include projected compensatory selections.

For more divisional breakdowns on team needs, see below!

San Francisco 49ers

Wide Receiver

This isn’t a criticism of Deebo Samuel or Brandon Aiyuk, merely a reflection that it sure seems like the latter receiver isn’t exactly thrilled to be entering 2024 without a big-money extension.

Obviously, the 49ers are a better football team with Aiyuk. His route-running mixtape is as good as anyone’s and he will be just 26 years young next season. The man is fresh off of one of the most efficient seasons from a WR in the last decade.

Maybe the team will figure out a way to keep Aiyuk in San Fran for 2024 and beyond; even then, using some draft capital to fill out the depth chart makes some sense. Badass blocker Jauan Jennings is a restricted free agent, while backup options Ray-Ray McCloud and Chris Conley are also set to hit the open market. 

The 49ers' offense looked its most mortal with Deebo sidelined last season; restocking this WR room with some fresh, young talent will help the 49ers maintain their status as the league’s single-most QB-friendly offensive environment.

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EDGE

The presence of Nick Bosa certainly squares away one side of the 49ers’ pass rush, but some level of work will be needed to ensure the other side is in good shape. Overall, each of Chase Young, Randy Gregory, and Clelin Ferrell are unrestricted free agents, AKA the defense’s reigning second, third, and fourth most-productive EDGE rushers in terms of total pressures and sacks alike.

Even then, it’s hard to be too concerned about this group … when Bosa is healthy. Go ahead and guess which one of the below seasons came when the former No. 2 overall pick was limited to just two games because of injury.

49ers' defense scoring ranks

  • 2019: 19.4 (No. 8)
  • 2020: 24.4 (No. 17)
  • 2021: 21.5 (No. 9)
  • 2022: 16.3 (No. 1)
  • 2023: 17.5 (No. 3)

Similar to WR: Adding depth to this EDGE group is more about keeping a strength STRONG than an indictment on any real performance issues from last season. This squad was a 4th-and-1 stop away from winning the f*cking Super Bowl after all.

Secondary

Starting free safety Tashaun Gipson is a free agent, while starting strong safety Talanoa Hufanga is recovering from a November ACL injury. Throw in the potential loss of backup safety Logan Ryan, and you’re looking at the league’s eighth-cheapest group of safeties in terms of current 2024 financial money.

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September 21, 2023; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers safety Talanoa Hufanga (29) celebrates after an interception during the fourth quarter against the New York Giants at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Adding some resources to the cornerback room also can’t hurt. The position has essentially been ignored in the draft recently, as Ahkello Witherspoon (3.66 in 2017) marks the last top-100 pick added to the group.

The 49ers’ front seven is good enough to make up for a relative lack of firepower in the backend; just realize that further solidifying the final line of defense should help this perennial top-10 defense stay elite in 2024 and beyond.

Honorable mention: Adding some depth at offensive tackle makes sense considering, 1.) Long-time stud Trent Williams turns 36 in July, 2.) Starting RT Colton McKivitz graded out as just PFF’s 53rd-best offensive tackle among 108 qualified players at the position last season, and 3.) The 49ers have only drafted *one* offensive lineman on day one or day two of the last five drafts—something Fantasy Life’s Matthew Freedman sees changing in his first official mock draft of 2024. 

Defensive tackle is also a bit of a priority, as adding additional resources there should help the 49ers stay a bit stouter against the run (26th in EPA allowed per rush) without completely changing their defensive philosophy. At a minimum, some late-round depth is needed with Javon Kinlaw, Kevin Given, and Sebastian Joseph-Day all unrestricted free agents. 

The 49ers have a league-low $1 million devoted to their QB room in 2024, which is great since Brock Purdy has proven capable of playing consistent high-end ball, but also reflects that some backup depth is needed—especially with backup QB Sam Darnold set to hit free agency.

Los Angeles Rams

EDGE

The Rams' defense can never be too bad as long as Aaron Donald continues to lace up the cleats, but they have some SERIOUS work to do around the rest of the defense in terms of their current 2024 finances:

Rams' current 2024 spending:

  • Interior defensive line: $38.5 million (No. 4 highest)
  • EDGE: $5.1 million (No. 31)
  • Linebacker: $3.3 million (No. 32)
  • Safety: $3.8 million (No. 29)
  • Cornerback: $4.9 million (No. 32)

While the Rams ranked 16th in total pressure rate last season, their EDGE rushers (15.6%) posted the league’s second-worst pressure rate and totaled the third-fewest total pressures (103) on the season. The Rams boasted the league’s largest difference in terms of pressure rate between their interior and EDGE defenders.

Kudos to the Rams for making the most out of their late-round draft picks over the years; just realize this is one of just three teams to only draft *one* day-one or day-two defensive lineman over the past five years.

Let’s give just a little bit of help to maybe the single-best football player on the planet and see what happens.

Offensive Line

This group can probably re-sign their three starters entering free agency and be in a good position ahead of 2024. After all, the Rams finished 2024 with PFF’s 14th-best offensive line and boasted pretty damn good advanced metrics marks in both the pass and run game:

  • 33.3% pressure rate allowed (No. 9)
  • 1.3 rush yards before contact (No. 10)

The Rams used each of their last two highest draft picks on offensive linemen, although 2022 third-rounder Logan Bruss has yet to play in a game. Few defenses are capable of containing Matthew Stafford and company … when he has time to throw:

Stafford since joining the Rams in 2020, among 49 qualified QBs:

  • PFF pass grade under pressure: 49.5 (No. 23)
  • PFF pass grade kept clean:  92.7 (No. 8)

Puka Nacua, Cooper Kupp, and Kyren Williams are all capable of blowing up a game during any given week; investing in the men responsible for protecting the guy who needs to get them the ball makes a lot of sense. Fantasy Life’s Matthew Freedman seems to agree: He has the Rams selecting Oklahoma OT Tyler Guyton in his first official mock draft of 2024.

Secondary

The Rams’ aforementioned lack of defensive spending on anything other than Donald leaves this group in a fairly meh spot ahead of next season. Look no further than Jared Goff’s performance in the 2024 Wild Card round to get an idea of how inept this secondary was without the luxury of a great pass rush.

This organization has only added S Terrell Burgess, S Taylor Rapp, and CB David Long to the secondary inside of the draft’s top three rounds over the past six drafts. None remain on the roster, and 2023 starters Jordan Fuller, John Johnson, and Ahkello Witherspoon are unrestricted free agents.

More help here, please.

Honorable mention: The Rams probably need to add some level of depth to their backfield; this is the league’s second-cheapest RB room entering 2024 after all. Of course, there’s no debate who the lead back is after Kyren Williams’s second-year breakout. 

A QB of the future candidate—or at least a reasonable backup—is needed with Stetson Bennett’s status uncertain and Carson Wentz hitting free agency.

Seattle Seahawks

Offensive Line

The Seahawks presently have the single-cheapest offensive line by a whopping $10.4 million ahead of 2024. PFF’s reigning 28th-ranked unit certainly dealt with plenty of injuries last season, although it’s not like this was expected to be an overly elite group to begin with entering 2023.

Something needs to be done here in order to assist whoever winds up under center in 2024 and beyond.

Seahawks' ranks in pressure rate allowed

  • 2023: 39.9% (26th)
  • 2022: 34% (20th)
  • 2021: 37.4% (28th)
  • 2020: 38% (28th)
  • 2019: 39.9% (30th)

The offense’s consistent willingness to test defenses downfield has at least a little bit to do with these brutal numbers, but then again this offense had the league’s seventh-quickest time to pressure (2.41 seconds) in the league last season. Geno Smith actually deserves quite a bit of credit here: Smith was actually one of just six QBs to allow less than 15% of his dropbacks to result in a sack last season:

Fantasy Life’s Matthew Freedman has the Seahawks filling this need in the form of Washington OT Troy Fautanu in his first official mock draft of 2024. Sign me up!

Linebacker

This is the league’s seventh-cheapest group of linebackers going into 2024. Maybe future Hall of Famer Bobby Wagner returns, but even then we’re talking about a soon-to-be 34-year-old veteran.

Fellow starter Jordyn Brooks and backup Devin Bush are also unrestricted free agents; there’s a lot of work to be done to a unit that will also need to adjust to head coach Mike MacDonald’s new scheme—especially considering just how bad the Seahawks were against the run for most of 2023:

  • Rush yards allowed per carry: 4.6 (27th)
  • Rush yards after contact allowed per carry: 3.1 (30th)
  • Rush yards before contact allowed per carry: 1.3 (22nd)
  • Explosive run play rate allowed: 12.4% (20th)
  • Missed tackle rate: 14% (31st)

Quarterback

Seattle might run things back with Geno, although ESPN’s Adam Schefter had an important caveat after reporting that the Seahawks were keeping him on the roster:

“The Seahawks believed that, in today’s market, with salaries soaring for starting quarterbacks, the right decision was to pay the money. Now Geno Smith will represent a value to them — or any other team that decides to reach out to see if it can acquire Smith via trade.”

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Jan 7, 2024; Glendale, Arizona, USA; Seattle Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith (7) throws a pass against the Arizona Cardinals during the first half at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

Smith has posted top-15 marks in EPA per play, CPOE, and yards per attempt in each of the past two seasons. Of course, the performance did drop off just a bit in 2023, and it's not exactly a given that Smith (34 in October) is only going to get better, especially if forced to play in a lesser offensive environment without as many talented WRs to throw the football to.

Seattle represents a pretty great fit for any gunslinger thanks to their abundance of talented pass-catchers and new scheme that looks poised to air the ball out.

There’s no doubt that Smith deserves to be a starter somewhere in 2024, but it’d make sense if the Seahawks embrace a longer-term view at the position under this new coaching staff. Smith—and unrestricted free agent Drew Lock for that matter—are two of the key pieces in the 2024 off-season QB carousel; whoever gets to throw the ball to DK Metcalf, Tyler Lockett, and Jaxon Smith-Njigba next season should consider himself a lucky man.

Honorable mention: The Seahawks boast the league’s 10th-cheapest cornerback room in 2024 and have some serious questions about their future after TaRiq Woolen regressed in a major way last season. At least 2023 first-rounder Devon Witherspoon looks a lot like the next big thing at the position. 

Failure to re-sign Leonard Williams would immediately upgrade this defensive line to a pressing need. The franchise tag would be a whopping $36 million because Williams has already been tagged twice in his career; Williams and this interior were the main reason why the Seahawks boasted an above-average pass rush without the benefit of an elite EDGE rusher last season. 

Both Noah Fant and Colby Parkinson are unrestricted free agents, meaning the Seahawks have some work to do to complement the inevitable Will Dissly.

Arizona Cardinals

Wide Receiver

It remains to be seen if the Cardinals will bring back unrestricted free agent Marquise Brown or exclusive rights free agent Greg Dortch, who has low-key been one of the league’s better YAC-creators over the past two seasons (and also was responsible for one of the funniest moments of 2023).

Rising second-year WR Michael Wilson received ESPN’s sixth-best catch rating amidst his quietly impressive, yet low-volume, rookie campaign. It’d be reasonable to enter 2024 flanking Wilson with Rondale Moore and Dortch in the slot—but there’s a need for a true alpha on the outside, especially if Hollywood takes his talents elsewhere.

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Jan 7, 2024; Glendale, Arizona, USA; Arizona Cardinals running back James Conner (6) celebrates a touchdown with Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Greg Dortch (83) against the Seattle Seahawks during the second half at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

Good news: Fantasy Life’s Matthew Freedman echoes a popular idea to fill this need in a hurry by selecting Ohio State WR Marvin Harrison Jr. with the fourth overall pick of the draft. As a Columbus, Ohio, native and longtime supporter of the Buckeyes: This landing spot would be borderline erotic, as Harrison’s incredible contested-catch and body-control skillz would match perfectly with Kyler Murray, who proved plenty capable of enabling DeAndre Hopkins to some BIG seasons over the years.

Defensive Line

Arizona has the league’s cheapest defensive line by a full $6 million entering 2024. Woof, especially when considering none of their recent high-round picks managed to really make a meaningful impact in 2023:

  • Myjai Sanders (3.100, 2022): 67.3 overall PFF grade (tied for No. 69 among 144 qualified EDGE defenders)
  • BJ Ojulari (2.41, 2023): 66.4 (No. 73)
  • Cameron Thomas (3.87, 2022): 56.85 (No. 115)

The league’s 27th-ranked pass rush in overall pressure rate boasted below-average marks from their EDGE and interior defenders alike while additionally boasting bottom-five marks in yards per carry and yards before contact allowed per carry. Not great!

Fantasy Life’s Matthew Freedman believes the Cardinals might just address this need in the form of Texas DT Byron Murphy with their second first-round pick in his first official mock draft of 2024. Makes sense!

Cornerback

Surprise: The league’s reigning 31st-ranked scoring defense has a lot of work to do across basically all three levels. While the safety room is always going to be in solid shape as long as Budda Baker calls Arizona home, the Cardinals boast the NFL’s fifth-cheapest cornerback room ahead of 2024 and haven’t spent a meaningful draft pick on the position since selecting (now Vikings) CB Byron Murphy back in 2019.

There really wasn’t much of a bright spot here in 2023, which kind of makes sense when considering the Cardinals allowed the third-most passing TDs (32) of any defense last season. 

The Cardinals (102.9) joined the Commanders (105.7) as the only pass defenses to yield a triple-digit passer rating in 2023. Yikes.

The answer to which cornerback spot needs to be upgraded is simple: Yes.

Honorable mention: The offensive line could certainly use a few extra resources as well. PFF’s reigning 25th-ranked group will be especially hurting if LT D.J. Humphries doesn’t return quickly from last season’s late torn ACL. That said: Don’t underestimate the potential leap this group can make in a hurry—the return of Kyler suddenly had this group functioning at a borderline top-10 level down the stretch:

Cardinals in Weeks 10-18 with Kyler Murray back:

  • +0.038 EPA per play (No. 9)
  • 5.6 yards per play (No. 10)
  • 22.4 points per game (No. 13)
  • 34.9% successful play rate (No. 11)
  • 42.5% scoring drive rate (No. 5)
  • 25% TD drive rate (No. 9)
Team needs 2024-2025