LAS VEGAS -- With most of the free agency moves in the books, it's a good time to start seeing how the NFL's 32 teams fall into the pecking order.
Lo and behold, the New England Patriots look like they're going to enter the 2017 season right where they left off after winning Super Bowl LI in ESPN Chalk's NFL Vegas Rankings that were put together by our pro football handicappers Dave Tuley and Erin Rynning.
Our rankings fall pretty closely in line with the teams' ranking in the odds to win the Super Bowl at the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook, but there are a few surprises. We'll see how these power ratings compare to when the NFL Week 1 schedule comes out in April.
Here are the full Vegas power rankings:
1. New England Patriots
Vegas Power Rating: 27
Super Bowl odds: 7-2
Bill Belichick is barely standing pat as he already has added WR Brandin Cooks as well as retaining LB Dont'a Hightower and signing CB Stephon Gilmore from Buffalo to help replace departed CB Logan Ryan (and potentially Malcolm Butler). The Patriots should be right in the championship mix again.
VPR: 26
SB: 12-1
The Steelers have been quiet in the free-agent market (well, except for the very important move of retaining RB Le'Veon Bell with the franchise tag). The key is making sure QB Ben Roethlisberger doesn't retire.
T-3. Dallas Cowboys
VPR: 25
SB: 7-1
All the attention continues to be on what's going to happen to backup QB Tony Romo, but the Cowboys do have some work to do with all of the defensive departures. The offense should be loaded as long as QB Dak Prescott doesn't suffer a sophomore slump.
T-3. Atlanta Falcons
VPR: 25
SB: 14-1
The Falcons haven't made many moves, though Dontari Poe is a nice addition on the defensive line, as not that many were expected from a young team that was ahead 28-3 in the second half of the Super Bowl.
VPR: 24.5
SB: 12-1
The Seahawks haven't done much to improve their offensive line, but RB Eddie Lacy comes over from Green Bay to try to fill the role of Beast Mode.
VPR: 23
SB: 10-1
The Packers have been quiet in free agency outside of the Martellus Bennett signing. They lost Lacy to Seattle, but it's hard to panic when your team has shown that it can just plug in a WR at RB -- and you have Aaron Rodgers.
T-7. Oakland Raiders
VPR: 22.5
SB: 12-1
We'll never know how far the Raiders would have gone last season if they hadn't lost Derek Carr before the playoffs. They would be rated a little higher but did lose RB Latavius Murray to Minnesota and LB Malcolm Smith to San Francisco.
T-7. New York Giants
VPR: 22.5
SB: 20-1
We're not sure if upgrading at WR was a priority, but the biggest offseason move for the Giants was signing Brandon Marshall. The Giants were good enough to beat the Cowboys twice last year and appear poised to take basically the same team into battle for the NFC East.
T-9. Minnesota Vikings
VPR: 22
SB: 25-1
The Vikings have parted ways with RB Adrian Peterson, though they've done well to replace him with RB Latavius Murray from Oakland and adding offensive tackles Riley Reiff from Detroit and Mike Remmers from Carolina.
T-9. Arizona Cardinals
VPR: 22
SB: 25-1
The Cardinals apparently talked Carson Palmer and Larry Fitzgerald into sticking around for one more year. The defense has suffered some losses in free agency such as Calais Campbell and Tony Jefferson, but Arizona did retain Chandler Jones and Karlos Dansby is returning home from Cincinnati.
T-11. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
VPR: 21.5
SB: 25-1
The Bucs are a hot dark horse pick heading into 2017, and the addition of speedy WR DeSean Jackson to pair with star WR Mike Evans has only helped to fan the flames.
T-11. Kansas City Chiefs
VPR: 21.5
SB: 25-1
The Chiefs re-signed S Eric Berry but lost Dontari Poe to Atlanta. Otherwise, the team looks mostly the same as the one that has won 23 games over the past two regular seasons.
T-11. Baltimore Ravens
VPR: 21.5
SB: 30-1
The Ravens' defense stays strong in the middle with NT Brandon Williams being retained, plus the addition of S Tony Jefferson from Arizona. It also will be interesting to see how RB Danny Woodhead gets worked into the offense.
T-11. Carolina Panthers
VPR: 21.5
SB: 30-1
Will we see the 2015 Panthers or the 2016 Panthers this year? QB Cam Newton will be the key, and Carolina added T Matt Kalil from Minnesota to protect him. The defense retained DT Kawann Short and adds ageless pass-rusher Julius Peppers.
VPR: 21
SB: 100-1
The Saints traded WR Brandin Cooks to New England, but they're trying to get CB Malcolm Butler to help on defense. New Orleans is probably going to be lower in other power ratings (and their 100-1 Super Bowl LII odds foreshadow that), but Drew Brees keeps them in a lot of games.
T-16. Denver Broncos
VPR: 20.5
SB: 20-1
Just over a year removed from their latest Super Bowl win, the Broncos are still trying to figure out who their QB of the future (as well as the present) will be and also have to get used to a new head coach in Vance Joseph.
T-16. Tennessee Titans
VPR: 20.5
SB: 50-1
The Titans have their franchise QB in Marcus Mariota and we'll see if they take the next step forward this year. The defense should improve with CB Logan Ryan and S John Cyprien.
T-18. Indianapolis Colts
VPR: 20
SB: 30-1
There's growing opinion that the Colts are wasting the best years of Andrew Luck's career, and it doesn't appear the front office has done much to help him this year.
T-18. Miami Dolphins
VPR: 20
SB: 30-1
The Dolphins were a pleasant surprise last year in getting a wild-card spot. They re-signed WR Kenny Stills on offense and LB Kiko Alonso along with acquiring LB Lawrence Timmons from Pittsburgh. We're not sure they can challenge New England in the AFC East, but they're clearly the second-best team in the division.
T-20. Houston Texans
VPR: 19.5
SB: 25-1
Houston was a franchise on the rise, but except for the addition-by-subtraction move of dealing Brock Osweiler to Cleveland, the Texans have taken a step back with the loss of DE John Simon, CB A.J. Bouye and S Quintin Demps on defense. This rating will obviously change if Romo goes to Houston. At least they re-signed P Shane Lechler and K Nick Novak!
T-20. Detroit Lions
VPR: 19.5
SB: 40-1
The Lions have upgraded the offensive line with G T.J. Lang and T Rick Wagner but now need more weapons for Matthew Stafford.
T-22. Philadelphia Eagles
VPR: 19
SB: 30-1
All eyes will be on QB Carson Wentz's continuing development and he was given a big pair of helping hands in WRs Alshon Jeffery and Torrey Smith. Now they need some help with a defense that fizzled after a fast start last year.
T-22. Jacksonville Jaguars
VPR: 19
SB: 80-1
Doug Marrone is another new head coach, and the Jaguars brought back former coach Tom Coughlin as the president of football operations. Among their first moves were to improve the defense with DT Calais Campbell and CB A.J. Bouye.
24. Buffalo Bills
VPR: 18.5
SB: 80-1
Sean McDermott replaces Rex Ryan in Buffalo, but the Bills haven't done too much to improve, though they're hoping the re-signing of Tyrod Taylor adds stability at quarterback.
T-25, Cincinnati Bengals
VPR: 18
SB: 50-1
The good news is that WR A.J. Green is back after missing the second half of the season, but the bad news is the Bengals haven't done much in free agency other than lose Andrew Whitworth and Kevin Zeitler.
T-25. Los Angeles Chargers
VPR: 18
SB: 80-1
Anthony Lynn takes over as coach and already has had trouble with the San Diego/Los Angeles relocation. Re-signing Melvin Ingram was nice, but not enough has been done to improve the roster.
VPR: 17
SB: 50-1
Kirk Cousins was the big signing, but Washington needs to do more. It doesn't bode well that they've lost WRs DeSean Jackson and Pierre Garcon and replaced them the relatively unproven Terrelle Pryor.
VPR: 16
SB: 300-1
No team has done more to revamp its roster than the 49ers and now it's up to new coach Kyle Shanahan to pull it all together. The question is still who is starting at QB.
T-29. Chicago Bears
VPR: 15.5
SB: 100-1
The Bears cut ties with Jay Cutler but don't seem to have taken a step forward with QB Mike Glennon from Tampa Bay. They also lost WR Alshon Jeffery to Philadelphia and it doesn't seem that WRs Markus Wheaton or Kendall Wright can fill his shoes.
T-29. New York Jets
VPR: 15.5
SB: 100-1
The Jets didn't improve their team during free agency -- Josh McCown, really? -- and lost WR Brandon Marshall.
31. Los Angeles Rams
VPR: 15
SB: 100-1
Jeff Fisher is out and Sean McVay is in, but not much else has changed on the Rams' roster except for bringing in LT Andrew Whitworth to protect Jared Goff's blind side. But this roster needs a lot more upgrading.
32. Cleveland Browns
VPR: 14
SB: 300-1
It still remains to be seen if Brock Osweiler is staying in Cleveland, but this team should have some question marks answered after the draft.