It takes a lot to be one of the last teams standing in the NFL. You have to have the best combination of star power, depth, talent, and good luck in the health department.
Those are the reasons why teams have been working tirelessly over the last seven months to try and assemble the best 90-man rosters possible, so they can eventually put together the best 53-man rosters (and 16-player practice squads) possible.
The AFC was unexpectedly topsy-turvy in a number of ways last season. The juggernauts of 2024 took a back seat to some of the league's best breakout teams, and the field is absolutely loaded heading into the 2026 season as a result.
But which teams in the AFC have the best overall rosters? We looked at each roster from a positional standpoint, overall talent level, depth, incoming talent, and projection for the upcoming season, and ranked the four best overall rosters in the conference.
NFL Power Rankings: Top 4 rosters in the AFC for the 2026 season
4. New England Patriots
Biggest roster strengths: QB, WR, DBs
Biggest roster weaknesses: OL, EDGE
The New England Patriots were one of the worst teams in the NFL during the 2023 season. Keep in mind that this team earned the right to pick Drake Maye 3rd overall during the 2024 NFL Draft. They hired Mike Vrabel (and Josh McDaniels), and suddenly, the operation just took off.
The Patriots won the AFC this past season, although their offensive performance in the playoffs left a lot to be desired. Drake Maye struggled behind a porous offensive line, which the Patriots invested in (again) this offseason.
New England added both AJ Brown and Romeo Doubs to their receiver room this offseason after saying goodbye to Stefon Diggs, and that feels like a major upgrade, as good as Diggs was for them last season.
This Patriots team has an elite secondary and some top-tier players on the defensive line, but their biggest weaknesses are on the offensive line and off the edge -- still -- after having the worst sack differential in the NFL last season (sacks allowed offensively, sacks defensively).
3. Buffalo Bills
Biggest roster strengths: QB, OL, RB, DBs
Biggest roster weaknesses: Defensive front 4
The Buffalo Bills have one of the best rosters in the entire NFL. We all know that Josh Allen is the tide raising all other boats in the harbor for this team, but the Bills' brass was confident enough in the roster to fire veteran head coach Sean McDermott and roll with a couple of rookies in Joe Brady (HC) and Jim Leonhard (DC).
You can make a bold move like that in a Super Bowl window when you are barely even league-average at any individual position groups. The biggest gripe with the Bills last season was their defensive front, which ranked 28th against the run overall and 30th in yards per carry allowed.
That unit got some reinforcements this offseason with Bradley Chubb coming in, but he's another injury risk. They also spent a 2nd-round pick on TJ Parker, an edge player whose impact will need to be more of what we saw from him in 2024 than 2025.
Buffalo's overall roster is outstanding and the addition of DJ Moore gives them the much-needed playmaker at receiver they've been missing since moving on from Stefon Diggs.
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