26 - Arizona Cardinals (2023 finished 30th)
I will hand it to the Arizona Cardinals. While I do not hold their starting quarterback, Kyler Murray, in high regard, they did an admirable job loading up their roster with a transfusion of talent via the 2024 NFL Draft. I found four rookie prospects who are worth keeping on your radar in terms of their NFL careers in a recent NFC West Division draft assessment. And that adds even more fuel to the fire of a team that won two of their last five games, despite being incentivized to simply throw in the towel and tank.
Ranking the Cardinals at 26 suggests that the team will end the 2024 NFL season with six or seven wins. And that is a solid projection for a team whose success depends almost entirely upon the durability of oft-injured starting quarterback Kyler Murray.
24 - Seattle Seahawks (2023 finished 16th)
While I did not find as many obvious upgrades in the Seattle Seahawks 2024 NFL Draft, I cannot see a team that finished 9-8 in 2023 falling to a record of 7-10 in 2024. While it's true that the team did oust long-time head coach Pete Caroll and hired former Baltimore Ravens DC Mike McDonald to take over as their new head coach, does that warrant a tumble from competing for a playoff spot to ending the last month of the upcoming NFL season on autopilot?
The Seahawks struggled on defense in 2023, prompting the team to hire a defensive-minded head coach. Now it will be a race to see if the Seahawks defense can improve faster than the offense worsens in 2024. While I don't see that the offense is as effective, I can still see the Seahawks winning eight games this season. This ranking seems a bit low.