With 30 teams' quest to hold the Lombardi already thwarted, many fanbases are ready to flip the page to the 2026 campaign. With free agency already less than six weeks away and the draft rapidly approaching, why not peek ahead a bit early?
Super Bowl 60 is a matchup between a pair of franchises that used the last spring to propel their squads into championship contention. The next few months will help reshuffle the upper echelon of the league, and organizations will lay the groundwork to eventually enter that mix. But which front offices have that extra desperation to improve their current standing and take a step forward in prominence? Let’s explore three teams eager to ace the 2026 offseason.
3 teams heading into the 2026 offseason with extra urgency
1. New York Jets
Alleged defensive stalwart Aaron Glenn, leading the NFL’s first roster that was unable to force an interception, should be the ultimate indictment of his lone season in the Big Apple. Even with this incompetence, the Jets brass decided to give their former star player another chance, opting to gut the rest of the coaching staff.
Much of the talk will be about finding a new signal-caller, but what about simply being competitive? New York hasn’t eclipsed the seven-win mark in a decade, and the lack of even slight improvement is inexcusable.
With two first-rounders and $83M in cap space, there are numerous avenues to inject this group with much-needed talent. There are too many holes to hyperfocus on—if Glenn is the guy, providing him minor upgrades across the board should be enough to spark an uptick in quality.
2. Tennessee Titans
Now let’s shift focus to the guy the Jets let go—Robert Saleh, who, after a great year in San Francisco, lands another head job in Nashville. This might come as a stunner, but Saleh didn’t appear to get a fair shake in New York. His side of the ball always played better than the sum of its parts, and the offense was in disarray thanks to the unwielding power of a less-than-stellar Aaron Rodgers.
With the Titans, Saleh gets to align with Cam Ward, who showed flashes of brilliance throughout a challenging rookie campaign. Tennessee has the most cap space in the NFL, without any key members of the club in line for a contract extension. There are no excuses that a serious leap shouldn't be on the table.
3. Buffalo Bills
The Bills decided to “run it back” in 2025, and even in an AFC lacking a familiar dominant force, they still couldn’t get over the hump and punch their ticket to Santa Clara. The approach this year already appears different—severing ties with Sean McDermott in favor of promoting offensive coordinator Joe Brady.
Buffalo’s book is currently in the negative, but there needs to be urgency from GM Brandon Beane to create some flexibility and bring in fresh faces to Orchard Park. Just giving Josh Allen some better weapons on the outside and getting a serviceable pass rusher could be the difference between another year of disappointment and finally shattering this self-imposed glass ceiling.