The 2024 NFL Draft is over, and we now have a pretty clear picture of what all 32 NFL teams are going to look like for the upcoming season. Which teams improved the most, and which teams have too many lingering questions?
It's always fun to try and predict what's going to happen way too early, and that's exactly what we're going to do today. Although every NFL team should have some measure of optimism at this point, we're going to rank all 32 teams based on the way they attacked NFL free agency, the quality of picks they made (on paper) in the 2024 NFL Draft, and whether or not they're going to be able to build off of last season or get worse.
2024 NFL Power Rankings: Patriots the NFL's worst team in 2024?
32. New England Patriots
Somebody has to be the last team on the list, right? The New England Patriots are ushering in a brand-new era. Bill Belichick is gone, and Jerod Mayo is putting his stamp on this franchise. The Drake Maye era will begin with the Patriots having one of the worst collections of offensive talent in the NFL.
Are the Pats setting up Maye to fail? He might be in the toughest situation of all of this year's first-round quarterbacks.
31. Carolina Panthers
Can Bryce Young take a much-needed leap in his second NFL season under new head coach Dave Canales? Canales has worked some magic in recent years with Baker Mayfield and Geno Smith, perhaps his magic touch is exactly what Bryce Young needs.
The Panthers have made so many roster changes this offseason, but whether or not this team stays in the NFL basement is totally dependent on Young finding some measure of success.
30. Las Vegas Raiders
If the derby for quarterbacks in the NFL Draft was a high school dance, the Las Vegas Raiders ended up without a date. They took a huge risk hiring Antonio Pierce as their full-time head coach this offseason, passing on all other candidates, and now they have to roll with Gardner Minshew or Aidan O'Connell for a full season.
I suspect things could get hairy in a hurry for the Raiders this coming season unless one of those two quarterbacks absolutely lights it up. It's possible we've already seen the ceiling for both of those guys as NFL players already.
29. New York Giants
The New York Giants renewed their membership to the "Daniel Jones club" and that's not a club you want to be part of right now. The Giants drafted Malik Nabers with the 6th overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. They added pass rusher Brian Burns in a trade with the Carolina Panthers.
Almost everything this team is doing indicates that they should be good or much better in 2024, but it's hard to get past their quarterback situation. If the Giants fall flat on their face this season, how many more chances will Brian Daboll and Joe Schoen get? How many chances do they deserve?
Is it ownership that's so committed to Daniel Jones? One way or another, I don't see this Giants team being good with Jones at the helm.
28. New Orleans Saints
The New Orleans Saints could be a lot better than this in 2024, but with issues at both offensive tackle positions as well as the team seemingly not being overly committed to Derek Carr, you can't help but wonder.
The New Orleans defense likely raises the floor of this team a considerable amount, but there are other question marks with this roster that can't be ignored. The Saints could be replacing at least three starters on the offensive line in 2024.
27. Washington Commanders
When you talk about an offseason overhaul, the Washington Commanders are really Exhibit A. They have new ownership, a new GM, a new head coach, and a new franchise quarterback. Not to mention, a completely overhauled roster.
There are fair questions about whether or not Jayden Daniels and his physical running style as a playmaking quarterback will hold up at the NFL level, but he certainly adds a dynamic presence to this team. I expect the Commanders to be improved this season, but this rebuild by GM Adam Peters and head coach Dan Quinn is going to take some time.
26. Seattle Seahawks
The Seattle Seahawks are another team -- like the Patriots -- saying goodbye to a legendary coach in franchise history. Pete Carroll is being replaced by Mike Macdonald, who immediately inherits a team with a question at the quarterback position and a defensive front that really struggled last year.
The Seahawks obviously have a lot of talent, but they're one year of things going off the rails away from possibly blowing the roster up and starting over.
25. Minnesota Vikings
Are we going to be seeing the Sam Darnold-led Minnesota Vikings or the JJ McCarthy-led Minnesota Vikings this year? Are the Vikings going to make Justin Jefferson happy by giving him a record-setting contract before the season?
After losing Kirk Cousins and Danielle Hunter in the 2024 offseason, how could we not expect the Vikings to take a step back? This team has good coaching and had a strong 2024 NFL Draft class, but it's going to be tough for them to finish better than 4th place in the NFC North this year barring a CJ Stroud-type of emergence from JJ McCarthy, or a Baker Mayfield-like resurgence from Sam Darnold.
24. Tennessee Titans
At this point, I don't really know what to think of Will Levis leading this Titans team. I was really impressed with what we saw late last season and how he played against a team like the Miami Dolphins, but the volatility of his play gives me pause.
I so badly want to call the Titans a true threat to the Texans in the AFC South. So many of the other pieces are there. After snagging JC Latham in the 1st round of the 2024 NFL Draft, the Titans have re-fortified their offensive line. I love the weapons they brought in this offseason. I hope they make this ranking look bad, because this Titans roster is fun on both sides of the ball.
23. Arizona Cardinals
Maybe I'm overrating the Arizona Cardinals a little bit here, but you all saw the way this team played for Jonathan Gannon last year, right? The Cardinals started last season with Josh Dobbs, having virtually no time at all to learn the offense, and they gave teams fits all year. When Kyler Murray came back into the fold, they continued to give teams fits.
Murray has now had the offseason (or will have it) to heal up and get back to full strength. The Cardinals absolutely loaded up in the 2024 NFL Draft and brought in Marvin Harrison Jr., the best non-quarterback prospect in the class. I think this team is going to surprise folks in 2024.
22. Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears started to play really well as a team down the stretch last season, specifically on the defensive side of the ball. The addition of Montez Sweat ended up being huge for Chicago, and they obviously are hoping that can carry over -- and even improve -- in the 2024 campaign. Obviously, Matt Eberflus' expertise defensively is what initially got him the gig in Chicago anyway.
Now, the Bears have added #1 overall pick Caleb Williams, #9 overall pick Rome Odunze, they traded for Keenan Allen, and they solidified Jaylon Johnson's contract situation. The Bears were a problem late last season for the two best teams in the division -- Green Bay and Detroit. Perhaps that will continue this coming season if Caleb Williams can make a smooth transition to the NFL.
21. Los Angeles Chargers
Jim Harbaugh is one of the best football coaches you could possibly get, so the Chargers should be better simply as a result of him being around. The upgrade from Brandon Staley to Jim Harbaugh simply cannot be overstated.
But this Chargers roster was somewhat gutted in 2024. They got rid of both Mike Williams and Keenan Allen, and there's nobody on that roster that's going to be able to give the Chargers the same type of production they got from those guys. This team is going to need to rely on physicality in the running game, and you see an emphasis on that with the way they're building that roster.
20. Pittsburgh Steelers
After what we saw from Russell Wilson with the Denver Broncos, what are we supposed to make of the Pittsburgh Steelers? They traded away Diontae Johnson this offseason and while Pittsburgh still has a good defense, it's tough to see this team winning more than 8 or 9 games at a maximum with Wilson/Justin Fields at the helm.
The Steelers are obviously banking on the unstoppable force winning out against the immovable object. Father time has been coming for Wilson, but Mike Tomlin having a .500 or above record is an inevitability. Is Wilson going to work well with Arthur Smith? Will the Steelers be able to have a dominant enough ground game to support him?
19. New York Jets
Everything with the New York Jets depends on the health of quarterback Aaron Rodgers. This team obviously has one of the best defenses in the league, and they were in playoff contention for so much of last season because of that unit.
If Rodgers can stay healthy, you expect the Jets to be legitimate contenders in the AFC East but what are they really going to get for him? This is a 40-year old quarterback coming off of an Achilles injury, one of the worst possible injuries you can have at an older age.
18. Jacksonville Jaguars
I'm going to give the Jacksonville Jaguars the benefit of the doubt after last season. What a monumental collapse. This team was well-positioned to win the AFC South, but a horrendous collapse prevented them from making the postseason.
Not only that, but everything that went down with Trevor Lawrence last year sort of raised questions about whether or not he's truly an upper-tier QB in the league right now. That might be a hot take or overreaction, but Lawrence was not himself last season, and certainly not the guy we saw in 2022. Jacksonville is going to need him to take that step forward again to truly hang with Houston right now in the AFC South.
17. Denver Broncos
It's easy to forget based on the way this team is talked about, but the Denver Broncos won 8 games last season and they were inches away from winning potentially three more. Sean Payton put his stamp on this roster rather quickly, getting rid of Russell Wilson in the 2024 offseason and taking the biggest dead cap hit for any individual player in league history. By a wide margin.
But the Broncos weren't exactly being dragged to eight wins last year by Russell Wilson. This team has slowly but surely improved over the course of the offseason and will be interesting with Bo Nix at the helm.
16. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Year one of the Baker Mayfield era was such a resounding success in Tampa Bay that the Buccaneers gave him a $100 million contract. Mayfield, the former #1 overall pick in the draft, was outstanding for much of the season for the Bucs, proving that with a full offseason in an offense, he's capable of leading a team not just into the postseason but to a postseason victory.
How much better can the Bucs be this coming season? That remains to be seen, but obviously this Bucs roster is loaded with home-grown talent. The biggest question right now might be whether or not Mayfield can work as well with new offensive coordinator Liam Coen as he did with Dave Canales, who's now in Carolina.
15. Dallas Cowboys
The Dallas Cowboys are apparently "all in" this offseason, but on what exactly? They've lost so many key players and coaches, it's hard to see them getting much better. You can't help but feel like Dallas missed its most competitive window over the last three years, squandering it with disappointing playoff performances.
I don't see how this team is going to be better offensively or defensively with the losses they've had, and I think Philadelphia is poised to rebound in the NFC East. The Cowboys are still probably a 10-win team, but they're going to take a step bak in 2024.
14. Indianapolis Colts
I'm projecting a bit with the Colts, but I'm really high on the overall combination they've got offensively and defensively. Anthony Richardson needs to stay healthy, because nobody needs to see what this team would look like with extensive Joe Flacco reps at quarterback.
This Colts team is fast, they're athletic, and they're much tougher defensively than people really give them credit for. Shane Steichen did a tremendous job getting the ship right in 2023.
13. Atlanta Falcons
What an offseason for the Atlanta Falcons. General manager Terry Fontenot has been with the franchise since 2021, and up to this year, he hadn't really made any bold moves at the quarterback position at all. That might have cost Arthur Smith his job, but the decisions made by Fontenot in 2024 might cost him his job, oddly enough.
Fontenot signed Kirk Cousins to a massive contract in free agency, seemingly going all in on the former Vikings signal caller. Then he used the 8th pick in the 2024 NFL Draft on Michael Penix Jr.
What? Why? The Falcons are talented and a player like Cousins -- if healthy -- could really take this team to the nex level. It just feels like things are now going to be very weird in Raheem Morris's first year on the job there in Atlanta.
12. Buffalo Bills
I can't fully get on board with the way the Buffalo Bills have approached this offseason. It feels very "defeated" in many ways. The Bills let Gabe Davis walk in free agency (Jaguars) and then they sent Stefon Diggs to another AFC Contender (Houston). Then they went and helped out the Kansas City Chiefs, trading them the pick used on 1st-round receiver Xavier Worthy.
I mean, what's going on there in Buffalo? The roster there is going to look vastly different, so the time for Josh Allen to really step up and lead this team is now. The Bills might take another step back in 2024 after we saw glimpses of that in 2023 before they got hot late.
11. Cleveland Browns
I hesitate to place the Cleveland Browns this high in any NFL power rankings because their quarterback -- Deshaun Watson -- has appeared in just 12 games over the last three calendar years. The Browns played well last season despite Watson's lack of availability, but how quickly will that catch up to them?
The floor offensively will hopefully be raised with Jameis Winston on the team, and the Browns are elite defensively. They will be tough for anyone to play against this season regardless of their QB situation.
10. Miami Dolphins
The loss of Vic Fangio for the Miami Dolphins this offseason really stings. Not only that, but the Dolphins used a first-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft on Penn State pass rusher Chop Robinson despite already having a big-money player off the edge in Bradley Chubb and 2021 first-round pick Jaelan Phillips. The problem is, both Phillips and Chubb are coming off of season-ending injuries.
This Dolphins team is going to be relying on its offense to carry the heaviest burden in 2024, and they should be up to the task. They simply need to figure out ways they can take their summer track team and become a great cold-weather team. This team was a shell of itself late last season.
9. Los Angeles Rams
I'm buying anything Sean McVay and Les Snead are selling at this point. The Rams had a bunch of injuries in 2022 and were one of the worst teams in the league, but they reloaded this roster and were so much fun to watch throughout the 2023 season.
With so many young players developing and becoming key contributors quickly, I think the Rams are poised to have a massive come-up in the NFC West again in 2024.
8. Philadelphia Eagles
Despite being horrendous down the stretch last season, I'm still all-in on the Philadelphia Eagles. This roster is simply too good, and the addition of Vic Fangio as defensive coordinator could push that unit back into "elite" status rather quickly.
There were few teams who nailed the first two rounds of the NFL Draft as well as Philadelphia. Getting Quinyon Mitchell in the first round and Cooper DeJean in the second round reloaded a secondary which desperately needed help. The offense for Philadelphia should be just fine, and if that defense can make strides out of the gutter, this team is going to be great once again.
7. Green Bay Packers
There were some pretty crazy questions going around regarding Packers GM Brian Gutekunst and head coach Matt LaFleur at this time a year ago. People (myself included) were questioning their team-building strategy and even whether or not they were truly worthy of being in their respective spots as GM and head coach.
Jordan Love's emergence last season proved that Gutekunst and LaFleur know ball better than me, to be certain, and this Packers roster is set up to contend for quite some time. Green Bay has just been nailing the NFL Draft in recent years, and with Love's emergence as a franchise QB, Green Bay could contend with Detroit for that NFC North crown in 2024.
6. Houston Texans
I'm falling for the Houston Texans hype. CJ Stroud is the most impressive rookie quarterback I've witnessed in my years doing this, and the Texans are absolutely loaded on both sides of the ball right now.
Specifically, the area that sets this team apart right now is on the defensive line. The additions of players like Danielle Hunter, Denico Autry, Foley Fatukasi, and a variety of others have vaulted that defensive front into another stratosphere. Houston is going to be tough in all phases this coming season, and if CJ Stroud is the same or better than last year? This team might reach the AFC Championship game.
5. Cincinnati Bengals
I'm putting the Bengals up high because of the respect I have for Joe Burrow. I don't know that this is truly one of the five best rosters right now in the NFL, and the Bengals are dealing with losses all over the place. An underrated loss for this team is offensive coordinator Brian Callahan leaving for the Titans head coaching job.
But with a healthy Joe Burrow, it's hard to bet against the Bengals being good. And the roster is still strong, don't get me wrong. But like any good team, the Bengals are dealing with difficult decisions year after year. If Burrow is good to go, the Bengals are going to be up there with the Chiefs and Ravens in the AFC.
4. Baltimore Ravens
Make fun of the Ravens all you want for the way things went down in the playoffs last year, but this is a great team on paper as always. General manager Eric DeCosta is an absolute wizard, and he's surrounded Lamar Jackson with one of the best in the league at running back -- Derrick Henry.
I loved the Ravens' top two picks in this year's draft of cornerback Nate Wiggins and offensive tackle Roger Rosengarten, and when you look over this roster, where's the major weakness? No NFL roster is perfect, but the Ravens are built for longevity and dominating time of possession.
3. Detroit Lions
From biting kneecaps to NFC contenders. Dan Campbell and GM Brad Holmes have really elevated this Detroit Lions team substantially. One of the greatest points made during the 2024 NFL Draft was how many different Lions' players are selling jerseys to the fan base these days. Over the last four years, this team has done such a tremendous job of drafting and adding talent, and they are rightfully being considered one of the best teams in the NFC.
The way they attacked the secondary atop the 2024 NFL Draft, taking Terrion Arnold and Ennis Rakestraw with back to back picks? It was flawless execution by the Lions' brain trust.
2. San Francisco 49ers
The San Francisco 49ers lost a lot of guys this offseason, but they reload just as well as anyone. The success of the 49ers year over year means every other NFL team is going to try and get a piece, and they absolutely do. But the 49ers are just so good when it comes to player development, unearthing gems in free agency, and knowing the right time to let certain players go.
This team will be borderline unstoppable once again this year.
1. Kansas City Chiefs
The back-to-back Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs just seem to be unstoppable at this point. They trade away Tyreek Hill and have one of the best offenses in the NFL en route to a Super Bowl win. The offense "sputters" in 2023 and the defense is dominant.
The Chiefs are just so well-run from a draft-and-develop standpoint. You don't build contenders like this year over year just because you have Patrick Mahomes. Okay, maybe he's the greatest cheat code in NFL history, but Kansas City has cranked out so much talent at every turn of the NFL Draft, and it would be silly not to give them credit for that.
Andy Reid, Brett Veach, and Patrick Mahomes have made this team into a dynasty.