The AFC East did see a bit of an unexpected result during the 2025 NFL Season, as the New England Patriots took their easy schedule and ran with it, taking it all the way to the Super Bowl. Their 14-3 regular season was enough to win the division, leaving the juggernaut Buffalo Bills to go on a shockingly tough road in the playoffs.
However, the AFC East is clearly going to be between the Patriots and Bills in 2026, as the other two teams might truly be three years away from competing of all goes well. With the main chunk of free agency over, the division has come into view a bit.
Let's dive into some AFC East power rankings here.
Updated AFC East power rankings proves it's a two-horse race
4. Miami Dolphins
The Miami Dolphins are clearly not trying to win football games this year, having just traded Jaylen Waddle to the Denver Broncos. Other players like Tua Tagovailoa, Tyreek Hill, Bradley Chubb, Jaelan Phillips, James Daniels, and others have also moved on.
This could end up being one of the worst teams we've seen in the NFL's 17-game era thus far, and that isn't an exaggeration. However, the Dolphins do have seven 2026 NFL Draft picks in the first 100 selections and are going to have a ton of resources to build for the future, which is the goal.
For now, though, this team is going to struggle to scrape together three wins in 2026.
3. New York Jets
The New York Jets have brought in a lot of new players, including quarterback Geno Smith in a trade. I am struggling to see the vision this year, but they do have two first-round picks in this year's draft to further supplement the roster. Like the Dolphins, the Jets are going to struggle to scrape together wins, and we could see head coach Aaron Glenn be one of the first coaches on the hot seat in 2026.
He was clearly in way over his head in 2025 and might end up being a lame duck in 2026.
2. New England Patriots
The Patriots benefited from one of the easiest schedules we've seen in quite some time. They did bolster the roster in free agency, but hitting that 14-win mark might be nearly impossible in 2026. One of their major moves was cutting Stefon Diggs and signing Romeo Doubs.
You get the sense that AJ Brown could be a player they circle back to during the summer, perhaps after June 1st. New England will still be a playoff team, but the schedule does get a lot tougher, so their one-year reign atop the AFC East might be just that, one year.
1. Buffalo Bills
Acquiring DJ Moore via trade earlier in the offseason, the Bills did finally get a good wide receiver in the building for Josh Allen, who was throwing to the likes of Brandin Cooks and Mecole Hardman in the playoffs.
Allen and the Bills did recently take ownership of the AFC East for years, so this experience and a potential regression from the Patriots should have them right back atop the division. No one is going to be surprised if Buffalo does win the AFC East and earns a top playoff seed.
However, we've seen this for years now. Will they ever be able to get over the hump?