In less than a month, the 2026 NFL Free Agency period begins, and it's shaping up to be one of the more active free agency periods in recent league history. We could not only see a ton of players changing teams, but we also could see some big-time trades as well.
It feels like many teams have sped up their own process in trying to build a contender, and given how the quarterback market has shaken out, for example, the next Super Bowl-winning passer might just be hitting free agency this year.
With free agency now about three weeks away, let's power rank all 32 teams. We'll rank the teams based on where they stand right now and not dive too much into any sort of projection.
Updated NFL Power Rankings as free agency approaches
32. New York Jets
The New York Jets had a metric-ton of issues in 2025 and have already overhauled the coaching staff. With one of the worst rosters in the NFL and no quarterback in sight, the Jets might take an extended stay at no. 32 in our power rankings even as 2026 gets underway later this year.
31. Las Vegas Raiders
If nothing else, the potential duo of Klint Kubiak and Fernando Mendoza could actually give the Las Vegas Raiders a fighting change, but the rest of this roster is a bit of a disaster.
30. Arizona Cardinals
The Arizona Cardinals bottomed-out after a 2-0 start in 2025. Right now, this team is totally directionless and have a new head coach in Mike LaFleur.
29. Tennessee Titans
Cam Ward showed some signs of progess over the past month of the season, but the Tennessee Titans might actually have the worst roster in the league right now.
28. Cleveland Browns
The Cleveland Browns may have to wait until 2027 to find a potential franchise quarterback, and with that harsh reality, there isn't much of a path toward success in 2026.
27. New York Giants
Jaxson Dart absolutely has the goods, but the New York Giants still have to go out, fix the roster holes, and oversee a hopeful year two leap from Dart. There is a lot of 'if' here, but the Giants have a chance to be formidable.
26. Washington Commanders
An injury-plagued season had the Washington Commanders going from 12-5 in 2024 to 5-12 in 2025, which is an insane dropoff. Even with a healthy squad, the roster just is not special.
25. Miami Dolphins
A new regime surely hopes to revive the Miami Dolphins, but both quarterback and overall roster concerns are going to limit this team for multiple years.
24. Cincinnati Bengals
The Cincinnati Bengals have the offense to win a Super Bowl, but some shaky coaching and bottom-tier defense have had this team on the couch and missing the playoffs for three years in a row now.
If the Bengals can simply field an average defense, watch out...
23. Minnesota Vikings
Quietly, the Minnesota Vikings won five games in a row to end the 2025 NFL Season, but this team still has a massive question at the most important position in sports and could very well have a new starting passer when Week 1 rolls around. Mac Jones might not be a bad idea.
22. Kansas City Chiefs
The Kansas City Chiefs missed the playoffs for the first time in a decade and also lost Patrick Mahomes for the final few weeks of the regular season to a torn ACL, so his status for Week 1 is surely up in the air, and this roster is otherwise very average at several key spots where it can't be.
21. New Orleans Saints
Is Tyler Shough good? He just might be. All of a sudden, the New Orleans Saints, a team that nearly finished 2025 on a five-game winning streak, went 4-1 down the stretch and is going to begin to get a bit of hype as a potential NFC South winner as the offseason rolls on. This team might just have what it takes.
20. Carolina Panthers
Make no mistake - the Carolina Panthers were a losing football team, and their quarterback, Bryce Young, ended up playing the best football of his career in 2025, but he was thoroughly average overall. The Panthers aren't a playoff team at the moment.
19. Atlanta Falcons
Kevin Stefanski is now the head coach of the Atlanta Falcons, and I would be shocked if Stefanski was not promised a legitimate quarterback situation as a condition of hire, here. He dealt with dysfunctional quarterback play for years in Cleveland.
18. Dallas Cowboys
Dak Prescott had an excellent season, and the Dallas Cowboys did win seven games, which isn't nothing.
Like the Bengals, an average defense in Dallas in 2026 is going to go a long way.
17. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
A second-half collapse by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers got them knocked out of the playoffs. Simply getting some better injury luck is going to go a long way in 2026.
16. Indianapolis Colts
The Indianapolis Colts were 7-1 at one point in 2025, so it's important to remember just how good this team was in the first half of th season, but an injury to Daniel Jones pretty much ended things. On paper, this is a playoff-caliber team, though.
15. Pittsburgh Steelers
Going from Mike Tomlin to Mike McCarthy might not make much of a difference at all, but a new voice and someone who has a rich history on the offensive side of the ball might be precisely what this team needs. It's a slam-dunk guarantee that Pittsburgh wins 9 or 10 games in 2026, though, as the ceiling with this squad is one of the more 'known' things in the entire league.
14. Philadelphia Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles have already made some notable changes on the offensive side of the ball, and not only that, but there seems to be a chance that both Landon Dickerson and Lane Johnson could retire this offseason. Expect a regression from Philly in 2026.
13. Baltimore Ravens
It just feels like Jesse Minter is going to be a good head coach in this league for a long time, and the Baltimore Ravens being able to bring him in is likely going to pay off, as the defense was a sore spot in 2025.
12. Green Bay Packers
Sputtering to the finish line in 2025, the Green Bay Packers lost guys like Tucker Kraft and Micah Parsons to season-ending injuries. Like a few other teams in our latest power rankings, simply having better injury luck is going to go a long way.
11. Los Angeles Chargers
Sporting the worst offensive line in the NFL, the Los Angeles Chargers went one-and-done in the playoffs this year and have gone 11-6 in each year of the Jim Harbaugh era.
10. Chicago Bears
Chicago nearly made a trip to the NFC Championship Game, but it's clear that this team might still be a year away. However, it's hard to not be very encouraged about what the Bears did this past season.
9. Houston Texans
The defense is plenty good enough to win a Super Bowl, but the offense really turned into a bit of a mess for Houston in 2025.
8. Detroit Lions
I am probably a lot higher on the Detroit Lions than most, as this team was just one year removed from a 15-2 season, and this offense was flat-out lethal in 2025. I would expect the Lions to bounce back in a major way this coming season and win double-digit games, perhaps even taking the NFC North back.
7. San Francisco 49ers
Despite some of the most injuries in the league, the San Francisco 49ers won 12 games and actually were in contention for the top seed in the NFC playoffs this year. However, the pass rush needs a major boost, and the offensive line doesn't really scare anyone.
6. Jacksonville Jaguars
How about that season from the Jacksonville Jaguars? It might be hard for this team to again win 13 games, but the infrastructure is clearly in place for long-term success, and Trevor Lawrence is probably better than you think right now.
5. Buffalo Bills
Buffalo again got bounced out of the playoffs in the Divsional Round, which has been the boogeyman for this team for years now. Up until this season, the real boogeyman was the Kansas City Chiefs, but collapsing in overtime against the Denver Broncos really left a sour taste in fans' mouths.
4. New England Patriots
New England got flat-out embarrassed in Super bowl 60, and if it wasn't for Bo Nix breaking his ankle, the Patriots don't sniff that game. The Pats did have a great season, but they also had a historically easy schedule this past season and should regress in 2026.
3. Los Angeles Rams
Los Angeles just could not go blow-for-blow with the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC Championship Game in 2025. However, an offseason of filling key needs will have the Rams in contention in 2026.
2. Denver Broncos
It's pretty clear to most that the Broncos would have made the Super Bowl had Nix not broken his ankle in shocking fashion in the Divisional Round. Denver should again be at the top of the AFC hierarchy in 2026 with the way things are trending.
1. Seattle Seahawks
The Super Bowl 60 champs are no. 1 in our latest NFL Power Rankings and have a metric ton of cap space to add even more talent to increase their chances at repeating.