The Allianz Football Leagues kick into gear this weekend and arguably the most intriguing tier will be the second one.
Relegation could spell the end of a county's hopes of competing for the Sam Maguire Cup this summer. Armagh and Donegal are favourites before a ball has been kicked, but the real interest might come at the other end of the table.
With the eight provincial finalists guaranteed their All-Ireland championship status, alongside last year's Tailteann Cup winners Meath, it leaves just seven places available for the premier competition later in the year.
Relegation might be a double whammy, with demotion into the Tailteann Cup for sides that finish in the bottom two in Division 2, should they fail to reach their respective provincial final.
Speaking on the RTÉ GAA Podcast, two-time All-Star Ciarán Whelan suggested that Louth might be in trouble this spring.
"Louth had got momentum last year under Mickey Harte but, and I know Ger Brennan has gone down there, did they overachieve?," he wondered.
"They got it badly wrong against Dublin [in the Leinster final] and they wiped the floor with them. Kerry gave them a bad beating at the end of the group stages.
"Maybe they overachieved last year and I think they might find the pace too heavy."
Kildare have been up and down in recent seasons, inflicting a rare defeat on a Dublin side that would go on to be relegated in the league two years ago, before being relegated themselves.
Last summer they ran Dublin close in Leinster and recorded a spirited victory against Roscommon, only to see Monaghan end their summer in the next game.
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Former footballer of the year Lee Keegan, speaking on the same podcast, warned the Lilywhites must shake off their tendency to produce erratic performances.
"I think there's a lot of pressure on teams," he began.
"Kildare had such an inconsistency in performance, back to back. In championship they beat Roscommon but I think that covered a lot of their cracks during the year. They need to be far more consistent for the pool of players they have.
"[Kevin] Feely was adamant about the same message, that they had to be performing week in and week out. It's ok one week doing it but then they come out the following week and get blown away by a team they should be beating.
"There's big pressure on Kildare."
While neighbours Meath have the Sam Maguire safety net to fall back on, year two for manager Colm O'Rourke will be an important one.
When appointed to the job in the summer of 2022 he told the media that results against Dublin were the measure of any Meath side, and it was a subject he touched upon again when appearing on RTÉ's Tommy Tiernan Show last year.
Talk of competing with the side that would go on to win the All-Ireland was a distant memory when Meath ended up in the Tailtean Cup last summer, but the fact that the Royals went on to win that competition means there's momentum to be built upon.
For Keegan, O'Rourke's charges must improve in one key area.
"We were rightly harsh on some of their performances last year. The first game or two it looked good, all-out attack, but when teams realised they were defensively very open they were just smarter than Meath.
"For Meath it's trying to get consistency against the bigger counties. The Donegals and Armaghs, what can they get out of them?"
Watch Kerry v Derry in the Allianz Football League on Saturday from 5pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, follow a live blog on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app and listen to updates on Saturday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1
Watch highlights on Allianz League Sunday on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player from 9.30pm, follow a live blog every Sunday afternoon on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app and listen to live updates on Sunday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1
Listen to the RTÉ GAA Podcast on the RTÉ Radio Player, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts
