NFC East: Cowboys once again paper champions

Dallas Cowboys

VS. RAIDERS: None

ADDITIONS: DE Everson Griffen, TE Blake Bell, CB Maurice Canady, S Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, DT Dontari Poe, DE Aldon Smith, CB Daryl Worley, K Greg Zuerlein

SUBTRACTIONS: WR Randall Cobb, DT Maliek Collins, C Travis Frederick, S Jeff Heath, CB Byron Jones, DE Robert Quinn, TE Jason Witten

OUTLOOK: It’s difficult to find a reason on paper why the Cowboys won’t be successful this season. They have surrounded Dak Prescott with weapons as he pursues a massive contract and the defense has plenty of talent if they can all stay on the field. But Dallas has perpetually underachieved over the past two decades. There is one reason to believe things could be different beyond Mike McCarthy replacing Jason Garrett. McCarthy brought in special teams guru John Fassel to help fix one of the NFL’s worst units. That should help, as should kicker Greg Zuerlein, who comes over from the Rams with Fassel.

PREDICTED FINISH: First place, 11-5

Philadelphia Eagles

VS. RAIDERS: None

ADDITIONS: LB Jatavis Brown, DT Javon Hargrave, CB Nickell Robey-Coleman, CB Darius Slay

SUBTRACTIONS: WR Nelson Agholor, LB Nigel Bradham, CB Ronald Darby, RB Jordan Howard, DT Timmy Jernigan, S Malcolm Jenkins, S Andrew Sendejo

OUTLOOK: The Eagles fell short of expectations last season, sneaking into the playoffs after several preseason prognosticators had them pegged for a potential Super Bowl appearance. A wide receiver corps depleted by injury was a major factor and the Eagles will once again rely mostly on the same players. Things could have gone even worse for the Eagles if not for their league-best 5.56 points per red zone possession. That’s an incredible rate that may not be sustainable. But Carson Wentz is counting on getting there more often to make up the difference. Defensively, they should be good enough. Philadelphia has the benefit of being the only team in the division with the same coach back from last season.

PREDICTED FINISH: Second place, 10-6

New York Giants

VS. RAIDERS: None

ADDITIONS: DB Logan Ryan, CB James Bradberry, OT Cameron Fleming, DT Austin Johnson, RB Dion Lewis, LB Blake Martinez, QB Colt McCoy, TE Levine Toilolo, OT Andrew Thomas (draft), S Xavier McKinney (draft)

SUBTRACTIONS: S Antoine Bethea, TE Rhett Ellison, LB Markus Golden, WR Cody Latimer, QB Eli Manning, LB Alec Ogletree, OT Mike Remmers

OUTLOOK: The Giants have won 12 games the past three years. Total. Last year’s problems are pretty easy to pinpoint. They turned the ball over a lot and didn’t force turnovers. It’s a big reason they moved on from Pat Shurmur and replaced him with Joe Judge from the Bill Belichick coaching tree. New York still believes in Daniel Jones despite all the turnovers. He should be free to grow now that he’s fully outside the shadow of retired Eli Manning and has plenty of weapons at his disposal, starting with Saquon Barkley. So about that defense. While it was horrific last season, optimism abounds because of how young the Giants were on that side of the ball.

PREDICTED FINISH: Third place, 6-10

Washington Football Team

VS. RAIDERS: None

ADDITIONS: QB Kyle Allen, CB Ronald Darby, S Sean Davis, LB Thomas Davis Sr., CB Kendall Fuller, WR Cody Latimer, RB J.D. McKissic, G Wes Schweitzer, TE Logan Thomas, DE Chase Young (draft)

SUBTRACTIONS: TE Vernon Davis, RB Derrius Guice, G Ereck Flowers, CB Josh Norman, TE Jordan Reed, RB Chris Thompson, LT Trent Williams

OUTLOOK: New coach. New defensive superstar. New name. It’s a whole new era in Washington, where hopes are high that edge rusher Chase Young can be the kind of transformational force that can start the process of changing the toxic culture. The problem lies on the other side of the ball where former first-round pick Dwayne Haskins hasn’t quite lived up to expectations. Washington isn’t giving up hope, but did bring in another young quarterback in Kyle Allen from Carolina, where he started much of year for first-year Washington coach Ron Rivera last season. There’s also the still remote chance Alex Smith will actually see the field, which would be one of the great comeback stories in league history.

PREDICTED FINISH: Fourth place, 4-12

Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on Twitter.