2015 NFL power rankings: Seahawks stay on top; 49ers drop after the draft

With the NFL Draft in the books and free agency nearly complete, it's time to take another stab at ranking the 32 NFL teams. There won't be any meaningful games for another four months, but it's never too early to start analyzing which teams got better or worse now that the offseason roster movement is largely done.

There are few surprises at the top of the list, with the four teams that played in the conference championship games last year -- the Seahawks, Packers, Patriots and Colts -- each ranking in the top five of the majority of the polls.

USA Today published its rankings after the DeflateGate penalties were announced, dropping New England to sixth place following the four-game suspension for Tom Brady. However, whether he wins his appeal, it might not matter too much for the Patriots. Slow starts haven't really been a problem for them in recent years. The Patriots have won the Super Bowl four times in the past 15 seasons -- in three of those years, they started 2-2 or worse (2014, 2003, 2001).

Another team that seems to have taken a hit this offseason is the Detroit Lions. They won 11 games last year and finished seventh in SB Nation's final regular season power rankings, but the consensus now is that Detroit isn't even a top-10 team entering the 2015 season. A team that could be on the rise is the Baltimore Ravens, who were the sixth seed in last year's AFC playoffs. According to the post-draft rankings, they appear to be the best squad in the AFC North and a potential top-five team.

Reinforcing the notion that money doesn't buy wins, the biggest spenders in free agency -- the New York Jets ($181 million) and Jacksonville Jaguars ($175 million) -- both remain near the bottom of the rankings. Both added several key players this offseason, but there are still too many holes on their rosters to even be considered playoff contenders.