With the 2026 NFL Draft officially over, teams have now made the most significant roster changes possible ahead of the summer months. At this point, clubs across the league will begin getting their rookies under contract, will slowly begin various offseason activities, and may even dip into the free agency market once again.
Unfortunately, we are approaching the quietest time of the offseason, so there may not be a whole lot happening between now and right before preseason action begins. The way teams are built now is largely how they'll stay for much of the 2026 campaign.
We'll begin to roll out our predictions for the upcoming season, so let's get that started with predicting the seven AFC playoff teams for the 2026 campaign following the NFL Draft.
Predicting all seven AFC Playoff teams following the 2026 NFL Draft
1. Baltimore Ravens
The Baltimore Ravens bringing in Jesse Minter as its next head coach is instantly going to help this defense improve, as Minter was a mastermind as the defensive coordinator of the Los Angeles Chargers, and it's not like the Ravens were bad last year because they're a bad team.
The team struggled to stay healthy and just did not have enough games to rebound from it. Given how loaded the roster is, and adding key players like Trey Hendrickson and Vega Ioane to the mix, the Ravens will be right back atop the AFC North and the AFC.
2. Denver Broncos
Perhaps the best roster in the NFL right now, the Denver Broncos are again going to be in a position to win the AFC West. The Broncos shocked the NFL world in 2025, winning 11 games in a row at one point and finishing 14-3. It is so incredibly difficult for a team to earn the top seed in the conference in two-straight seasons, and the 2025 versions of the Kansas City Chiefs and Detroit Lions prove that.
The Broncos, however, are well-built, well-coached, and truly do not have a major weakness. It'll be another successful regular season for Denver.
3. Buffalo Bills
The Buffalo Bills should be able to ascend back to the top of the AFC East in 2026, as the New England Patriots schedule gets a lot harder, and the Bills have taken a ton of strides to improve this offseason. Last year, the Bills sported the better roster, as the Patriots primarily benefited from an insanely easy schedule. The Bills were a mainstay atop the AFC East for years and will return to that point in 2026.
4. Houston Texans
It's hard to imagine that the Houston Texans miss the playoffs in 2026. We did see Houston lose out on the AFC South title thanks to the Jacksonville Jaguars, but the already loaded Texans somehow found a way to get better in the offseason.
Steady running back David Montgomery came over in a trade, and General Manager Nick Caserio shored up the offensive line with Wyatt Teller and Braden Smith. Not to mention, the defense was the best in the NFL last year and did see the arrival of Kayden McDonald in the 2026 NFL Draft.
Houston's roster is among the three best in the league. While there are valid questions with CJ Stroud, he's been good enough to help his team into the playoffs in all three years of his career.
5. Cincinnati Bengals
The story of the Cincinnati Bengals offseason has been the major defensive overhaul with guys like Dexter Lawrence, Jonathan Allen, Boye Mafe, and Bryan Cook. Cincy has missed the playoffs three years in a row now and does seem to have an average, at best, head coach in Zac Taylor. This roster got significantly better in 2026, but there are still enough questions for the Bengals ceiling in 2026 to be questioned.
6. Los Angeles Charges
The Los Angeles Chargers have earned a Wild Card spot with an 11-6 record in each of Jim Harbaugh's two seasons as the team's head coach. Not only did Los Angeles not do enough along the offensive line this offseason, but losing Minter as the defensive coordinator is a huge blow.
Both of those unfortunate realities are going to again limit the ceiling of this team.
7. Jacksonville Jaguars
The Jaguars played extremely well last year, but did lose Travis Etienne and Devin Lloyd in free agency. There's also reason to believe that a slight regression could be coming, as teams now have a full season's worth of tape on the Jaguars, but that wasn't the case with a new-look coaching staff in 2025.
Jacksonville is still well-coached, and the team may also have a borderline-elite quarterback in Trevor Lawrence. There is enough present with this team to sneak into the playoffs as a Wild Card in 2026.