With the opening of NFL training camps right around the corner, The Laurinburg Exchange is taking a beforehand look at the state of all 32 National Football League teams.

I'll be breaking down two divisions — eight NFL teams — over each of the next four days. Today, we'll be looking at the NFC South, where the Carolina Panthers fizzled out in their playoff debut following a tremendous regular season, and the NFC West, where the Arizona Cardinals — the most lightly regarded of last year's playoff teams — shocked everyone (maybe even themselves) by reaching Super Bowl XLIII.

The NFC South

Carolina Panthers (12-4 in 2008): The Panthers' roster, more than perhaps any team in the NFL's salary cap era, remains unchanged from the previous season. The only major contributor the defending NFC South champs lost this off-season was cornerback Ken Lucas, and the team did something unheard of in today's NFL by not signing a single free agent from another franchise.

A big reason for that was the money owner Jerry Richardson and GM Marty Hurney invested in veteran defensive end Julius Peppers. Peppers stated shortly after the 2008 season ended that he had "maxed out" in Carolina and wanted to play for a new franchise, preferably one that used a 3-4 as its base defense.

There were no teams willing to give up two first-round draft picks to get him, and, in the end, Peppers agreed to sign a $16.7 million tender as Carolina's franchise player. It is a huge one-year deal; bonuses for making the Pro Bowl and playoff wins could make it one of the richest contracts in NFL history by the end of the season.

The question now is, what exactly are the Panthers getting in Peppers? Will he play as he did last year — in what was a contract year — when he registered 14 1/2 sacks, or could a less-than-happy Peppers look more like the 2007 version, when the 6-foot-7, 290-pound UNC product recorded just 2 1/2 sacks.

Quarterback Jake Delhomme is another question mark heading into this season. Delhomme was dreadful in the Panthers' stunning 33-13 playoff loss to Arizona last year, throwing five picks and accounting for six turnovers in all. This was not an isolated incident; Delhomme had a few stinkers during the regular season in his return from Tommy John surgery.

Some thought Carolina would bring in competition for Delhomme — either through the draft or free agency — but the team stood pat at the position while offering Delhomme a contract extension.

Carolina is a team with a solid defense, a mauling offensive line, the best tandem of running backs in the game (Jonathan Stewart and DeAngelo Williams combined for 2,351 yards and 28 TDs last season) and a receiver in Steve Smith who might only take a back seat to Larry Fitzgerald. Peppers' motivation and Delhomme's ability to bounce back from last year's playoff disaster will be indicators of whether or not the Panthers are capable of making a Super Bowl run in '09.

Atlanta Falcons (11-5): One year ago, rookie head coach Mike Smith and rookie quarterback Matt Ryan led the Falcons to the playoffs and helped Atlanta fans put behind them the Mike Vick saga. Many questions have been answered, but many remain for a franchise that still appears, at least somewhat, to be in rebuilding mode despite its 2008 success.

Ryan had the type of success rookie QBs rarely do last season, and he has a new toy this year in tight end Tony Gonzalez, acquired via trade shortly before the draft this spring. Gonzalez holds most of the all-time career records for tight ends, but the downside to that is the fact the former California basketball and football standout has put these tremendous numbers up over the span of a 13-year career that is clearly on the downside. Can Gonzalez still be a franchise-type tight end, or will this acquisition be a disappointment for the Falcons?

The defense is the biggest question surrounding the team. Atlanta finished in the bottom half of the NFL in passing yards and rushing yards allowed, and the team lost linebackers Keith Brooking and Michael Boley, and defensive backs Lawyer Milloy and Domonique Foxworth in the off-season.

Odd fact: Atlanta's special teams set an NFL record by allowing just 49 punt return yards during the entire 2008 season.

New Orleans Saints (8-8): Only three NFC teams (Detroit, St. Louis, Arizona) allowed more points than the Saints last season. The team's defensive makeover, centered around the acquisition of linebacker Jonathan Vilma from the New York Jets, was a failure.

New Orleans has done even more to upgrade its defense this season, bringing in defensive end Paul Spicer from Jacksonville, safety Darren Sharper from Minnesota and defensive tackle Rod Coleman from Atlanta. Sharper was great, and Coleman and Spicer very good, in their hey days, but the three players have a total of 33 years of NFL experience.

Offensively, the Saints were the best around last season, leading the NFL in points per game (28.9), passing yards and total yards per game (410.7). Quarterback Drew Brees might not be the best quarterback in the NFL, but he has done as good a job as any at taking less-than-household names and doing great things with those players.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (9-7): First-year head coach Raheem Morris inherits the title as the NFL's youngest coach, and the Bucs cut veteran mainstays Derrick Brooks, Cato June, Warrick Dunn, Joey Galloway and Ike Hilliard in the off-season.

No one player has been any more of a leader over the past decade than Brooks. How Tampa's new coach goes about replacing the leadership of the Hall of Fame-bound linebacker is important to the long-term success of the franchise.

Tampa Bay could go all the way to the last week of the preseason before knowing who the team's starting quarterback will be in Week 1. Veterans Luke McCown and Bryon Leftwich have failed to impress, opening the door for rookie Josh Freeman. Freeman was taken 17th overall out of Kansas State in this year's draft, and he could claim the starting job with a strong showing in camp and preseason games.

The NFC West

Arizona Cardinals (9-7 in 2008): Some say the Cardinals winning the NFC Championship last season was a fluke, and there is ammunition for their argument. The Cardinals had, by far, the worst point differential (+1) of any playoff qualifier last season after scoring 427 points and allowing 426.

Arizona was 2-3 over the last five weeks of the regular season, and there were a pair of brutal losses mixed in there. The Cards backed into the playoffs as NFC West champs with a 9-7 record, representing the worst division in pro football, where the other three teams combined to go 13-35.

But once they got there, the Cardinals — led by quarterback Kurt Warner and the game's best receiver, Larry Fitzgerald — got hot, beating Atlanta, embarrassing Carolina in Charlotte and surviving Philadelphia to reach the Super Bowl. Arizona would most likely have hoisted the Lombardi Trophy if not for an interception by Warner late in the first half that was returned nearly 100 yards for a touchdown by Pittsburgh linebacker and Defensive Player of the Year James Harrison.

The biggest loss for the Cardinals in the off-season: offensive coordinator Todd Haley, who is the Kansas City Chiefs' new head coach. The biggest gain for the Cardinals: rookie running back Chris "Beanie" Wells of The Ohio State University, who fell into Arizona's lap at No. 31 in this year's draft.

Wells runs with speed, balance and power, and, if healthy, could help lift an Arizona running game that ranked dead last in the NFL last season at 73.6 yards per contest.

San Francisco 49ers (7-9): Mike Singletary did a great job by all accounts last season, leading the 49ers to a 5-4 record after being named interim coach near the midway point, after the in-season firing of Mike Nolan.

Singletary has brought a new attitude to the once-proud franchise, and the players have responded to their intense coach's my-way-or-the-highway approach, so far. Singletary followed up a solid coaching job in '08 with one of the best drafts had by any of the NFL's 32 teams: the 49ers got great value in the middle to late rounds with running back Glen Coffee (4th round, Alabama), quarterback Nate Davis (5th round, Ball State) and defensive tackle Ricky Jean-Francois (7th round, LSU).

The first draft choice of the Singletary era was the 10th overall pick, Michael Crabtree. Crabtree was immensely productive in three years as a star receiver at Texas Tech, but his NFL Draft stock was hurt moderately by his less-than-blazing 40-yard dash times.

More than two decades ago, the 49ers snatched up a receiver in the first round who had dropped on other teams' draft boards due to average 40 times — his name was Jerry Rice. The biggest problem Crabtree faces as a rookie is that, unlike Rice, who had Joe Montana, Crabtree will be catching passes from either Shaun Hill or Alex Smith.

Singletary will continue to build his defense around Pro Bowl linebacker Patrick Willis, entering his third year out of Mississippi. There are not many players any better to build around than Willis, who, in some ways, plays the game like a young Mike Singletary.

Seattle Seahawks (4-12): Seattle was 25th in the league in scoring (18.4 ppg) last season and ranked 29th in passing yards (163.6). Those numbers will improve dramatically if quarterback Matt Hasselback can return from injury and return to his former Pro Bowl form.

Hasselback missed nine games last season, just three years removed from leading the Seahawks to the Super Bowl. Hasselback will be learning a new offense under first-year head coach Jim Mora Jr., and it will be interesting to see how he plays after the retirement of long-time coach Mike Holmgren.

Hasselback will have one important new weapon to work with, as Seattle went out and signed T.J. Houshmandzadeh in the off-season. Houshmandzadeh has long been one of the league's top wideouts, but has been trapped in Cincinnati, on bad teams and in the shadow of prima donna WR Chad Ocho Cinco.

Fayetteville native Aaron Curry should immediately help give Seattle one of the best linebacking units in the business. A week prior to the draft, Curry, the 4th overall pick out of Wake Forest, was called "the most complete player I have scouted in a decade" by one NFL personnel man who currently works for NFL Network.

St. Louis Rams (2-14): The Detroit Lions' 0-16 campaign is all that kept the Rams from being referred to as pro football's worst team last year. Only Cincinnati scored fewer points, and only Detroit had a worse point differential than lowly St. Louis (-233) in 2008.

This season doesn't figure to be much better. The Rams let go of wide receivers Torry Holt and Isaac Bruce, and left tackle Orlando Pace, the final reminders of the offense known as "the greatest show on turf" in the late 90's and early this decade. The problem is, St. Louis seems to have failed at going out and getting promising young talent that could eventually step into the shoes of those players.

Running back Steven Jackson has rushed for over 1,000 yards each of the last four seasons, despite missing four games due to injury last year and in 2007. St. Louis needs Jackson to have a monster 2009 season, and the Rams might settle for mediocrity even if he does.

Check back on Wednesday for previews of the NFC East and the NFC North divisions.

Michael Gilliland is sports editor of The Laurinburg Exchange. Write to him at mgilliland@laurinburgexchange.com.