NFL Offseason

After the Seahawks beat the Denver Broncos 43-8 in Super Bowl XLVIII, the NFL off-season officially began. I will breakdown some teams' needs and tells some moves they may want to take this off-season to try and dethrone the reigning Super Bowl champions.

First, let's start with my team, the Detroit Lions. They wasted no time after the season ended to fire head coach Jim Schwartz, and hire Jim Caldwell. More recently, they cut their veteran number two wide out, Nate Burleson, and starting safety, Louis Delmas. These moves finally got Detroit under the cap, but who will step up to become the new leaders of the team? The Lions biggest need remains in the defensive backfield, and losing Delmas doesn't help the situation. Now the question is whether they try to find help in the free agency or the draft. I would suspect they will try the draft to keep cost down, but we will have to see. The next question is, who else would they take in the draft if they don't go DB. I would suggest someone like Sammy Watkins, Marquise Lee, or Mike Evans, wideouts from Clemson, USC, and Texas A&M, respectively. Whatever wideout they choose, they should have a good one as this is thought to be the best wide receiver class in years. If they don't take a DB or wideout, who knows who they may take. The Lions have made some questionable picks in the past. Maybe new coach, Jim Caldwell, will change that.

Now on to one of the Lions biggest rivals, the Green Bay Packers. Last year the Packers fixed one of their biggest weaknesses, their run game, after drafting Eddie Lacy. This year maybe they hope to find another star to improve the defensive side of the team. According to ESPN.com, the Packers have met with, or plan to meet with, Notre Dame defensive lineman Loui Nix III, and safeties Ha Ha Clinton-Dix from Alabama and Calvin Pryor of Louisville. One of the Packers' worries was keeping cornerback Sam Shields. They took care of that by signing the 26-year-old Shields on Monday, to a 4 year, $39 million contract.

Now onto the team with the number one overall pick, the Houston Texans. It is still unsure what direction they will take with their pick, but they are in need of a quarterback. Johnny Manziel has said that it would be, "The biggest mistake of their lives." if the Houston Texans didn't use their number one pick on him. It will be hard for the Texans to pass up the number one prospect, Jadeveon Clowney. Clowney had an impressive combine, running a 4.53 second 40-yard dash. He was one of the top performers in just about every measurable way. The only question is why he didn't participate in the on-field workouts, but by no means is he the first player to do this. The Texans also made some changes to the coaching staff, most importantly being the addition of new coach Bill O'Brian. O'Brien took over at Penn State after Jerry Sandusky was fired, and did a very good job taking an average team and having two solid seasons. Will a new coach, and good draft position improve the worst team from 2013? We will have to wait and see.

Let's close with the Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks. They are entering the offseason the best team in the league, but what improvements can they make to get even better? They won with many late round gems, like cornerback Richard Sherman, and QB Russell Wilson. Can they find anymore this year? They are pretty solid, with not many star players becoming free agents this year. The problem comes next year when many starters, including QB Russell Wilson, will need to be resigned. Who will they keep, and who will they let go to stay under the cap?

Just like you, I can't wait for the NFL free agency, and the NFL Draft to start, to see what moves these teams will make. I will try to keep you updated on the start of free agency and the draft. So stay tuned.