With the opening of NFL training camps right around the corner, The Laurinburg Exchange is spending four days to preview the state of all 32 National Football League teams.

On Tuesday, we looked at the NFC South and NFC West, and today we will examine the NFC North and NFC East divisions. News that affects both divisions in very tangible ways came down on Tuesday, as Brett Favre let the Minnesota Vikings know he will not return for a 19th NFL season, and longtime Phildadelphia Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Johnson passed away after being diagnosed with cancer earlier this year.

NFC East

Philadelphia Eagles (9-6-1 in 2008): The Eagles, won four of their last five games and crushed hated rival Dallas 44-6 to beat out the Cowboys for the NFC's last playoff spot in 2008. Philly defeated Minnesota and the defending champion New York Giants in the postseason before losing to Arizona 32-25 in the NFC championship game.

The Eagles stand to be better on the offensive side of the ball, where they ranked ninth in the NFL with 350.5 yards per game last season. Eleven-year veteran QB Donovan McNabb has more weaponry surrounding him than at any point in his career, but he will be depending on young players to help the team.

First-round draft pick Jeremy Maclin scored 33 touchdowns in two seasons at Missouri. Maclin will be paired with second-year wideout DeSean Jackson, giving Philadelphia two lightning-fast receivers to get the ball to.

Brian Westbrook is one of the best all-around running backs in the league, but he has proven fragile and is still working his way back from ankle surgery that took place in June. The Eagles may have their best insurance at the running back position since Westbrook arrived in the league eight years ago. Second-round pick LeSean McCoy ran for 1,500 yards at Pittsburgh last season, and his tough running style gives Philly more options with its rushing attack. The Eagles have also revamped their offensive line with additions Jason Peters (Buffalo) and Stacy Andrews (Cincinnati).

The sad news of the death of longtime Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Johnson on Tuesday is a big blow for this team. Johnson is one of the greatest defensive minds of the modern era, and his creative blitz packages and aggressive schemes were key to Philadelphia's success (five NFC championship games and one Super Bowl appearance) in recent years.

Johnson, 68, was diagnosed with melanoma and a cancerous tumor on his spine, earlier this year. He showed up at summer mini-camps, but it was later announced he would take a leave of absence while battling the cancer. Stepping into Johnson's shoes will be 35-year-old Sean McDermott, an understudy of Johnson the last several seasons.

Running the type of defense Johnson did takes tremendous feel. He and Pittsburgh's Dick LeBeau have been masters at knowing when to overload one side of the line, when to bring seven and when to send a safety or a corner on a blitz. It's not the type of thing most coordinators can consistently be successful at, so McDermott really has his hands full.

Lastly, replacing 13-year veteran and seven-time Pro Bowl safety Brian Dawkins is a huge order for the Eagles. Dawkins looked almost as good as ever last year, and he has been the heart and soul of the Eagles' franchise for a long time.

Washington Redskins (8-8): No NFL player has been shown a clearer lack of respect than Jason Campbell was shown by team management this off-season. Owner Daniel Snyder — always a sucker for high-profile names — tried to jump in the Jay Cutler sweepstakes when Cutler became available, and the team followed that by flirting with the idea for trading up in the draft to select Southern Cal's Mark Sanchez.

Campbell handled the whole situation with impressive class, and while he may not have the support of management, I'm betting Campbell will have the full backing of Washington fans this season. Many fans of the Redskins came to the opinion long ago that their owner, along with his cronies, were idiots who hardly knew how to run an NFL team. Campbell is not a big name yet, but he has the requisite size, arm strength, pocket presence and leadership skills to become a very good quarterback. He also has many intangibles — such as the way he carries himself — that most great quarterbacks possess.

Snyder is always good for one huge signing each off-season, and he reeled in a big one by signing Tennessee Titans defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth this year. The Redskins were already a top-10 defense, and with the attention Haynesworth demands, it will be 10 defenders against nine offensive players (QB included) on almost every play. If Haynesworth stays healthy, Washington should rank as a top-five defense this season.

Dallas Cowboys (9-7): Tony Romo has no more excuses. With Terrell Owens gone, Romo is expected to be more of a leader in the locker room, and he is expected to be able to play loose and free with No. 81's constant demands for the football a thing of the past.

Romo has repeatedly come up small in games that meant the most, and if he does it again in 2009, it will be hard to make the argument that he is anything but a big-game choke artist.

Can wide receiver Roy Williams — acquired in a mid-season trade with the Detroit Lions last season — step into Owens' shoes as the Cowboys' No. 1 receiver? Williams was a disappointment in Dallas last year, but with a full training camp to work with Romo, the Cowboys should start to get some return on a trade that saw them give up several high draft picks to the Lions.

If the definition of insanity is doing things the same way and expecting different results, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones should be locked in a room with padded walls. After firing Jimmy Johnson following a second straight Super Bowl win in 1993, Jones played owner/GM, and his team became a scrap heap, full of players who couldn't play dead in a cowboy movie, full of third and second stringers who were starting.

After losing so much and for so long, Jones finally came to his senses and hired Bill Parcells, giving Parcells the majority of authority over personnel decisions. In three years, Parcells quickly stockpiled talent, and in 2007 the Cowboys went 13-3 and set an NFL record by sending 13 players to the Pro Bowl in one year.

With marshmallow-soft Wade Phillips serving as head coach the last two years, Jones has gone back to playing owner/GM, and the results have been predictable. In this year's draft, the Cowboys neglected positions of need — cornerback and receiver — and instead went after backup kickers and quarterbacks, drafting several players from the state of Texas, guys Jones probably read about and saw pictures of in the Dallas Morning News before deciding, 'Oh, he looks like he could be a good player. I'll have to keep my eye on him.'

Why can't Jones look at his own franchise, which hasn't won a playoff game since 1996, and then look at a flagship franchise like the New England Patriots, whose owner, Robert Craft, stays clear of Bill Belichick and allows Belichick and the men he trusts make personnel decisions?

New York Giants (12-4): The defending NFC East champions were the third highest scoring team at 26.4 points per game last season, but they have lost three key players at the skill positions with the departures of wide receivers Amani Toomer and Plaxico Burress and backup running back Derrick Ward.

Don't be surprised if a pair of players from the ACC, players born and raised in North Carolina, end up picking up a great deal of the slack. First-round draft choice Hakeem Nicks of UNC (a Charlotte Independence graduate) has the physical skills to make an immediate impact; Nicks is not the fastest receiver, but he probably has some of the best hands in the league, even though he has yet to play a down.

Farther down the line, the Giants took N.C. State's Andre Brown (a Greenville Rose grad) in the fourth round. Brown was underutilized throughout his career at NCSU, and if third-year back Ahmad Bradshaw proves incapable of stepping in for Ward as the backup running back, Brown could seize the opportunity.

Remember also that Giants head coach Tom Coughlin is not afraid to hand playing time over to rookies. During New York's Super Bowl season two years ago, the Giants were receiving significant contributions from five of their eight-man rookie draft class by the time the playoffs arrived.

NFC North

Chicago Bears (9-7): Jay Cutler got what he wanted. He got out of Denver after the team toyed with the notion of trading him for Matt Cassel in the off-season. Cutler may be in for a rough go of it during his first season in the Windy City, however.

Chicago falls well short of having the type of offensive talent that Denver has. With Richard Marshall, Eddie Royal and Brandon Stokley, the Broncos are far more talented at receiver than Chicago. Denver is deeper and more talented at running back and tight end, and rookie runner Knowshon Moreno of Georgia will emerge at some point this season to give the Broncos a dangerous new weapon.

Cutler has the type of talent to be good anywhere he goes, and he was the SEC's Offensive Player of the Year on a 2-9 Vanderbilt team that was less talented than every league foe it lined up against in his final season of college football. Cutler showed a lot of toughness that year, and he may have to exhibit patience while waiting for the Bears to put the necessary offensive pieces around him.

Green Bay Packers (6-10): Don't blame Aaron Rodgers for the Packers' disappointing 2008 season. In replacing Green Bay legend Brett Favre, Rodgers had as much pressure on him as any player in the league last season, and he shined.

A comparison of Rodgers to Favre showed the Packers' new QB had a much better year, throwing for 4,038 yards, 28 touchowns and 13 interceptions with a 93.8 passer rating while playing all 16 games. Favre threw for 3,472 yards with 22 TDs, 22 INTs and a QB rating of 81.0 for the Jets last season.

The problem in Green Bay was the defense, which slipped from 11th to 20th in yards allowed, and from sixth to 22nd in points per game yielded. Green Bay blew several big leads that Rodgers helped establish last season, and the team has made a dramatic change on defense, switching to a 3-4 base under new coordinator Dom Capers.

The success of Green Bay's switch to the 3-4 will depend heavily upon how Aaron Kampman adjusts to his move from defensive end to outside linebacker. Kampman has 37 sacks between 2005 and 2008, but it is rare for a player as well established as he is to make a position change this late in his career.

Minnesota Vikings (10-6): The news that Brett Favre would not be coming out of retirement (again) to play for the Vikings on Tuesday was unexpected, but Minnesota doesn't have to have No. 4 to be a Super Bowl contender. The Vikings brought in quarterback Sage Rosenfels from Houston in the off-season, and he is expected to compete with Tavaris Jackson for the starting job.

Minnesota as a top-flight defense, a strong offensive line and the best running back in the NFL in Adrian Peterson. Managing the game and not turning the ball over are the biggest requirements of whoever the starting QB ends up being, and that is a role that would not have fit Favre, the gunslinger, very well. Jackson is a good athlete with a great arm who cannot read NFL defenses, so Rosenfels, or even second-year QB John David Booty of Southern California, might end up being the Vikings' best bet under center.

Life should be easier for whoever the Vikings' quarterback is this season with the addition of Percy Harvin. Harvin, the leading rusher and receiver on Florida's national championship team last season, fell all the way to 22nd in the draft due to character and injury concerns.

If healthy, Harvin would be my bet for Offensive Rookie of the Year. He can be used in so many ways, and he can change a game while touching the ball no more than four or five times. The thought of Harvin and Peterson on the field together will cause defensive coordinators to lose sleep when game-planning for Minnesota this season.

Detroit Lions (0-16): The good news for the Lions? There is nowhere to go but up from here. The great news? Detroit has the cornerstone of its franchise for years to come with QB Matthew Stafford, the No. 1 overall pick out of Georgia.

The question is, how soon should Stafford play? With the remarkable success of rookie QBs Matt Ryan in Atlanta and Joe Flacco in Baltimore last year, the Lions could be tempted to throw Stafford directly into the fire.

Starting a rookie on a team that did not win a single game the previous season could be an unwise move. What if the offensive line cannot protect Stafford, he is sacked 50-60 times and the team goes 1-15? Putting Stafford in a no-win situation and having him experience 14 or 15 losses while being beaten up all season could be seriously detrimental to his development.

I love the coaching background of first-year Lions head coach Jim Schwartz. Schwartz spent this decade as a defensive coordinator and assistant under Jeff Fisher in Tennessee, and Fisher has probably won more with less talent than any coach in the NFL over the last several years.

Where was Schwartz before that? Working as an understudy to Bill Belichick. There, Schwartz worked in the personnel department while also doing film breakdowns and scouting reports.

Could there be a better possible way to spend 15 years preparing to become an NFL head coach?

Up on Thursday: The AFC West and the AFC South.

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