AFC East
Buffalo Bills: 11-6
After years and years of playoff heartbreaks, the Buffalo Bills had to do something different this offseason. Moving on from Sean McDermott and promoting Joe Brady to head coach was a good start, and we could be entering a season where the head coach did end up being the problem. McDermott was a very good head coach and did get the franchise back on track, but it's clear that a ceiling was continually hit in that era.
Buffalo knows how to win games and have won double-digit games in the regular season each year since 2019, so even this major shift should still not prevent the Bills from doing well this year. Obviously, at this point, the regular season is what it is for Buffalo - the playoffs is really where things begin.
New England Patriots: 10-7
New England should end up regressing a little bit, as the schedule does get a lot harder, and while the Patriots were able to take advantage of their weaker schedule in 2025, it's not nothing that their slate is tougher. It's absolutely a vaild talking point. This is still a good football team that did get better on offense this offseason, but schedules matter.
The Patriots also did seem to be overwhelmed at times in the playoffs when tougher opponents were faced, so we could see this team fall more into the 'good not great' category in 2026.
New York Jets: 4-13
Trading for Geno Smith was a thing that happened, and somehow, Smith could end up being an upgrade over the quarterbacks the New York Jets ha in 2025, but I still struggle to see how Smith does anything worthwhile with the team.
I also do have questions about Aaron Glenn as the head coach, as he looked in way over his head last year. If nothing else, General Manager Darren Mougey did seem to improve the roster big-time, and especially on offense, the Jets suddenly have a ton of quality, young talent that could pave the way for a major quarterback addition in next year's NFL Draft.
Miami Dolphins: 2-15
The Miami Dolphins are a mess, but it's clear that the team knows it and wants to actually undergo a proper rebuild, which is the right thing to do. The Dolphins have a bottom-5 roster, brand-new coaching staff, and new front office, so there may not be much of a path to more than a few wins this year.
Add us as a preferred source on Google