Niner Noise
FanSided

NFL power rankings: Final post-Super Bowl LII standings around the league

By Peter Panacy

MINNEAPOLIS, MN - FEBRUARY 04: The Philadelphia Eagles celebrated defeating the New England Patriots 41-33 in Super Bowl LII at U.S. Bank Stadium on February 4, 2018 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MN - FEBRUARY 04: The Philadelphia Eagles celebrated defeating the New England Patriots 41-33 in Super Bowl LII at U.S. Bank Stadium on February 4, 2018 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images) /
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SEATTLE, WA – DECEMBER 31: Wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald #11 of the Arizona Cardinals makes a catch against the Seattle Seahawks in the first quarter at CenturyLink Field on December 31, 2017 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images)
SEATTLE, WA – DECEMBER 31: Wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald #11 of the Arizona Cardinals makes a catch against the Seattle Seahawks in the first quarter at CenturyLink Field on December 31, 2017 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images) /

25. team. 32. . . Previous: . Arizona Cardinals

Head coach Bruce Arians? Gone. Quarterback Carson Palmer? Gone.

Retirements claimed two key contributors for the Arizona Cardinals. And while the hiring of former Carolina Panthers defensive coordinator Steve Wilks seems to be a smart move, he’ll be inheriting a roster just shy of a complete rebuild.

In fact, Palmer’s retirement just stresses one major thing — Arizona has zero QBs on its roster heading into 2018.

That’s not exactly bad, as Palmer’s backups included Drew Stanton and Blaine Gabbert. But one can figure this area of need will be high on the Cardinals’ priority list this offseason. Free agency, trades or the NFL Draft are all options, but the likeliest is the last one.

Why? Well, the Cardinals are still in salary cap hell after Palmer’s retirement — having just $10,847,439 to work with, per Over the Cap.

OTC’s Jason Fitzgerald listed Arizona as one of the five worst teams, cap-wise, this offseason. Here’s what he had to say of note (prior to Palmer’s retirement):

"The Cardinals are an example of a team that continued to invest heavily in a roster whose window closed and now they will finish no better than 0.500 for the second straight year. Though the team can save money by releasing Carson Palmer and some linemen (Mike Iupati, Jared Veldheer) who have outlived their usefulness they have no real plan of succession either."

Fortunately, the Cardinals still have some useful weapons on both sides of the ball. Wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald is still contributing at a high level, and running back David Johnson (wrist) should return from his devastating injury.

But those are the only reasons why Arizona doesn’t drop down much deeper on our NFL power rankings right now.