NFC off-season grades: Lions get a D-minus

With the off-season complete, it’s time to hand out report cards for each NFC team’s performance over the past few months:

A-

Seahawks: Assuming their Super Bowl XLIX scars have healed, they should enter training camp with excellent odds to return to the big game. TE Jimmy Graham brings needed red-zone presence and certainly was worth the 31st pick of draft. RB Marshawn Lynch got his new deal. CB Cary Williams only toughens Legion of Boom. Second-round DE Frank Clark (Michigan) was controversial choice but fills a need, as did third-round WR/KR Tyler Lockett. All that’s left now is to fine-tune a new-look O-line, for DBs Richard Sherman, Earl Thomas, Kam Chancellor and Jeremy Lane to fully heal after a bruising postseason and, of course, QB Russell Wilson still needs to get paid.

B+

Cardinals: GM Steve Keim has so many deft strokes to his credit, he’s almost beyond reproach. Perhaps his only failure this spring was the inability to pry Adrian Peterson out of Minnesota, no easy feat. Still, the Arizona ground game could take off with first-round T D.J. Humphries, free agent G Mike Iupati and sneaky good third-round RB David Johnson. ILB Sean Weatherspoon, OLB LaMarr Woodley (Michigan) and former Lions DE Cory Redding were nice short-term investments.

Packers: Per usual, they took care of most of their own, re-signing WR Randall Cobb, RT Bryan Bulaga, NT B.J. Raji and DE Letroy Guion. The draft brought versatile DBs Damarious Randall and Quinten Rollins, but picking QB Brett Hundley raised some eyebrows, considering that he very likely may never start a game for Green Bay. GM Ted Thompson purged most of his inside linebackers without adding obvious replacements, meaning Clay Matthews likely has to man the middle again in the base defense.

Vikings: They have their most important player, RB Adrian Peterson, back on the roster -- a major plus, even if he’s not exactly a totally happy camper. But time (and maybe some guaranteed money at some point) tends to heal the NFL’s emotional wounds. Peterson rejoins a promising, young team seemingly bolstered by a top-shelf draft that included CB Trae Waynes (Michigan State), LB Eric Kendricks and OL T.J. Clemmings. And back to Peterson -- he should find more room to roam with new WR Mike Wallace taking safeties deep.

B

Rams: The headliner is first-round RB Todd Gurley, who just may be Marshawn Lynch 2.0 -- if his knee is, in fact, healed. An offensive line in disarray also received four reinforcements in the draft, plus the arrival of Isaiah Battle in the supplemental draft. If newly acquired QB Nick Foles (who started his college career at Michigan State) doesn’t pan out, third-rounder Sean Mannion might just be worthy of a shot in 2016. Lions free agent Nick Fairley becomes the fifth first-rounder on an imposing D-line.

Redskins: New GM Scot McCloughan didn’t make a bunch of headline-making moves … which is pretty much exactly what this team has needed for years. He quietly revamped his defensive line, added quality players such as Dashon Goldson and Chris Culliver to the secondary and got a nice, solid piece in OL Brandon Scherff atop the draft. All of those transactions should directly or indirectly help determine whether Robert Griffin III is a franchise quarterback this year, a mandate for McCloughan.

Saints: The stunning trade of Pro Bowl TE Jimmy Graham in March signaled a bit of an organizational reboot as the Saints loaded up on young defensive players and seemed to telegraph a desire to stress a more physical ground attack. Versatile RB C.J. Spiller joins Mark Ingram (Flint) in the backfield while the O-line was upgraded with first-round T Andrus Peat and Pro Bowl C Max Unger, who arrived from Seattle in the Graham deal. If healthy, second-round OLB Hau’oli Kikaha could cause a lot of havoc as a pass rusher.

B-

Buccaneers: If No. 1 pick Jameis Winston blooms into the franchise quarterback the organization believes he is, this off-season is a home run. If his maturity issues prove founded, GM Jason Licht and coach Lovie Smith will be on the street in no time. Licht largely skirted free agency in the wake of last year’s disastrous foray, capped by the releases of DE Michael Johnson and T Anthony Collins this March. But Licht wisely reloaded the O-line in the draft in an effort to safeguard Winston for years to come.

Eagles: Good-bye, LeSean McCoy … hello and good-bye, Frank Gore … hello, DeMarco Murray and Ryan Mathews. Good-bye, Nick Foles … hello, Sam Bradford. Good-bye, Jeremy Maclin … hello, Nelson Agholor. Good-bye, Trent Cole … hello, Kiko Alonso. Good-bye, Cary Williams … hello, Byron Maxwell. Good riddance, Evan Mathis. Welcome, Tim Tebow … at least for now. Lots of talent lost, lots of talent gained. Few teams keep it as compelling on or off the field as Chip Kelly’s operation.

C+

Cowboys: The past few months have been fraught with gambles -- swapping 2014 rushing king DeMarco Murray for far cheaper but much less reliable Darren McFadden in free agency, signing controversial DE Greg Hardy and drafting promising but checkered pass rusher Randy Gregory. MLB Rolando McClain returns -- sort of -- but his substance-abuse violation and resulting four-game suspension obviously did not help. But signing rookie OL La’el Collins may be a coup. And finally securing all-pro WR Dez Bryant for the long haul brings a sigh of relief from Valley Ranch. And the reduction of Hardy’s suspension already shows that some of the risks incurred seem to be paying off.

Falcons: New coach Dan Quinn has been a hot prospect for a few years but accepts daunting tasks as he tries to build a new culture and turn around the league’s worst defense. GM Thomas Dimitroff opted for quantity over quality -- a reasonable strategy in this situation -- during free agency. Many of the incoming rookies appear to have serious boom-or-bust potential, though fourth-round WR Justin Hardy could be the gem.

Giants: Draft procured help on O-line and at dangerously depleted safety spot (which shouldn’t be an issue with rookie Landon Collins now aboard). However, the arrival of first-round T Ereck Flowers was offset by the off-season pectoral tear suffered by starting LT William Beatty. But the promising passing attack may yet hit a new gear with arrival of third-down back Shane Vereen and healthy return of WR Victor Cruz, who should form quite a tandem with Odell Beckham Jr.

D+

Bears: No argument with the hire of turnaround specialist John Fox. Yet it feels like 2015 already is a lost cause, as he and new GM Ryan Pace assess the roster. Unable to unload Jay Cutler, new staff will be latest trying to salvage mercurial quarterback’s career. First-round WR Kevin White may ultimately prove an upgrade over Brandon Marshall, who was traded. But a defense that probably has been the worst in a century of Bears football needed more than OLB Pernell McPhee, NT Eddie Goldman and some aging vets. The Ray McDonald debacle didn’t exactly get Pace off on the right foot, either.

D-

49ers: A tough stretch not necessarily of the Niners’ making after retirements of LBs Patrick Willis and Chris Borland, DL Justin Smith and RT Anthony Davis. But identity of a team that also parted with hard-driving coach Jim Harbaugh (Michigan) and franchise rushing leader Frank Gore remains a question. And here’s another one: Why didn’t they draft any corners? WR Torrey Smith and former Lions RB Reggie Bush may help, but only if QB Colin Kaepernick’s off-season tutorials with Kurt Warner truly have taken root.

Lions: Shame on them -- and we’re talking unwise salary cap management over the years -- for creating scenario that allowed game-wrecking DT Ndamukong Suh to escape for nothing. Losing fellow DT Nick Fairley was clearly an organizational decision, but a void remains that even an established player such as Haloti Ngata can hardly be expected to fill. First-round G Laken Tomlinson leads a draft that may be fine but lacked flash … and D-tackles with high-end potential.

Panthers: The draft was thin on numbers (just five selections) and maybe talent with Shaq Thompson a seeming reach in the first round, while second-rounder Devin Funchess (Michigan) could be too slow to play receiver and too small to be a tight end. Locking up a bona fide tight end, Greg Olsen, made sense. But after saying he’d be a player in free agency, GM Dave Gettleman settled for spare parts and declining veterans. O-line will be under major scrutiny.