With the Commanders anticipating a bounce-back year, the Cowboys improving their defense, and the Giants landing John Harbaugh as their new head coach, the NFC East could end up being a division without any losing records in the 2026 NFL season.
The Philadelphia Eagles felt like they sort of limped to a division title this past season, with trouble in paradise and a major regression offensively, leading to an early playoff exit as they attempted to defend their Super Bowl status.
Our latest NFL Power Rankings will take a look at where each NFC East team stands now that the 2026 NFL Draft has concluded. Which teams are closing the gap on the Eagles? Who has improved the most (on paper) this offseason? Which team has the most question marks remaining?
Cowboys close the gap on Eagles in the NFC East in new post-Draft NFL Power Rankings
4. New York Giants (overall ranking: 26th)
The New York Giants simultaneously have a lot going for them and a lot of really major question marks. Even their own players were questioning the strategy during the 2026 NFL Draft, but there's plenty of time to see the vision play out.
The Giants are so young on the offensive side of the ball, but we know John Harbaugh is going to come in and want to emphasize running the ball along with ball security. The return of Malik Nabers will give this team such a massive boost, especially for the development of Jaxson Dart, but his health is obviously a question mark until it's not.
The Giants might have the best defensive front in the division by a country mile. Even after the departure of Dexter Lawrence in the trade with the Bengals, this team will be fearsome in the pass rush department. The question will be how quickly Dart can take the next step, and how quickly Harbaugh's culture transformation will take.
3. Washington Commanders (overall ranking: 23rd)
There are two reasons to believe in a bounce-back year for the Commanders in 2026:
1. Better luck in the health department
2. Upgraded uniforms
The Commanders will look a million times better on the field, and we'll see how quickly they can get back to the level we saw back in 2024. Jayden Daniels will obviously be the catalyst for that, but the Commanders have totally revamped their defensive front seven.
They brought in Odafe Oweh and K'Lavon Chaisson in free agency, they added Sonny Styles to the middle of the defense, and just overall got a lot faster and more athletic on that side of the ball. There will be a lot of new pieces for this team in 2026, but there's no question that the Commanders can bounce back quickly.
2. Dallas Cowboys (overall ranking: 18)
If not for an all-time bad defense, the Cowboys might have been playing deep into the playoffs last year. You could tell that Dak Prescott was pretty dialed in this past season, and the first year of CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens playing together was absolutely awesome to watch. The addition of Javonte Williams at the running back position gave the Cowboys much-needed balance on that side of the ball, but the Micah Parsons trade really sank this team quickly.
The Cowboys got one of the biggest steals of the 1st round with Caleb Downs as the 11th overall pick, and he'll make an immediate impact for new defensive coordinator Christian Parker. Malachi Lawrence is going to be asked to hit the ground sprinting as a rookie opposite Rashan Gary, and the pick of Jaishawn Barham in the 3rd round is a really fun one.
This Cowboys team has taken drastic measures to improve defensively, and I think they've done enough to close the gap significantly with the Eagles.
1. Philadelphia Eagles (overall ranking: 13)
The Philadelphia Eagles have already had a really interesting offseason with more potentially on the way. While the AJ Brown situation looms large, Philadelphia put a major emphasis on reloading at the receiver position with the pre-draft trade for Dontayvion Wicks and the move up the board to go get Makai Lemon.
The Eagles finally have some solid depth at the receiver position, and a lot of options for Jalen Hurts to spread the ball to. He's going to have to bounce back in a big way this season as the Eagles were one of the worst offenses in the NFL last season struggling with 3-and-outs.
The defense got a boost off the edge with the trade during the draft to acquire Jonathan Greenard from the Vikings, a very underrated EDGE player who will bring a much-needed jolt for Vic Fangio's unit.
It's easy to see how the Eagles have improved on paper, but how quickly will they be able to get the new receivers up to speed so they aren't leaning too much on DeVonta Smith?
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