Prisco's NFL Power Rankings, free agency edition: NFC West dominance; Dolphins starting over from ground floor

Now that most of the dust has settled in free agency, let's see how teams stack up before the NFL Draft

Now that free agency is basically behind us, we can officially start to look toward the 2026 NFL season -- even with the NFL Draft a little over a month away. As usual, some teams spent in free agency like they printed money, trying to replicate what the New England Patriots did last year when they used their expensive free agency class to get to the Super Bowl. Most of the time, that plan doesn't work. Even so, those teams that spent big in free agency, teams like the Tennessee Titans and Las Vegas Raiders, have to feel better about their teams now than they did 10 days ago. Their rosters are better, even if it cost them. The really good teams targeted players to fix their issues because they know now is the time. One such team was the Los Angeles Rams. They first traded to get cornerback Trent McDuffie from the Kansas City Chiefs and then landed his Chiefs teammate in corner Jaylen Watson in free agency. The main problem that kept them from being a Super Bowl team last year was suddenly fixed. Of course with Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford coming to the end of his career, it made sense for them to go all in. The last time they made moves like this they won a Super Bowl.

Those moves to improve the secondary have the Rams up to the No. 2 spot in my Power Rankings. They are right behind the Seattle Seahawks, the Super Bowl champs who beat the Rams in the NFC Championship.

Seattle suffered a few hits in free agency -- losing running back Kenneth Walker III to the Chiefs was one of them -- but they will be just fine. The loss of offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak, who is now the coach of the Raiders, could be the biggest loss of all.

But the Seahawks stay in the top spot, and they will open there when the preseason rankings come out in September.Theses rankings are done with an eye on the coming season. Free agency gives us that first glimpse of what teams might look like. The next step is the NFL Draft in April. That's when smart teams build their roster -- even if it might take time to see on the field.The early returns are that the NFC West will be king again, especially since the San Francisco 49ers are sixth in my rankings. It's too bad the Arizona Cardinals and new coach Mike LaFleur have to navigate through that division.The Cardinals released Kyler Murray -- he signed with the Vikings -- which means they are one of the teams that will be looking to the 2027 draft to fix their quarterback issues. The New York Jets are another team in that category. That's why those two teams are down near the bottom of the rankings.The Miami Dolphins are actually the team in the bottom spot. They spent big to land quarterback Malik Willis, but is he the long-term guy? Then they traded receiver Jaylen Waddle to the Broncos for three draft picks: a first, a third and then they exchanged fourth-round picks. The rebuild is in full force, but why sign Willis if that's the case? They have to hope Willis can show he's the long-term guy, or they wasted a lot of money to get him with this roster. For now, they are looking up at the rest of the league in these rankings as the new regime tries to build and overcome poor roster decisions from the past several years. Just don't call it tanking. Nobody wants to hear that.