In the AFC, some teams' seasons ended before they even began, some ended as soon as the first thing went wrong, and some teams just got punched in the face by bad luck. Regardless, the offseason is here, which means it’s time to stop dwelling on the wreckage and start asking how teams can realistically get better.
I could write a dissertation on every team and every single little thing that needs to change, but I'm focusing on the big stuff for right now. And yes, I know that there are still teams that need head coaches, but I'm not going to take the easy way out and say, "They need a coaching staff." I'm not a coward. We’re going to go team-by-team, everyone whose season is over. And we're going to do it in the only order that matters right now: the NFL Draft order.
Las Vegas Raiders
The only two people who are safe are Ashton Jeanty and Brock Bowers. Other than them, burn it all to the ground. Maybe literally, but definitely figuratively. It’d be smart if they could commit some kind of fraud and collect insurance on the stadium, but they definitely need to change everything about the team.
They paid Maxx Crosby last season to make him a building block for a soft rebuild, but they absolutely botched that and benched him at the end of the season for the tank: Trade Maxx Crosby, get a handful of premium picks. Then, use some of those picks to get some high-end talent on the offensive line and trade the other ones to get even more picks for help everywhere else.
New York Jets
Oregon’s quarterback, Dante Moore, said that he wasn’t going to declare for the draft. He was probably going to go second-overall to the Jets, and he very smartly decided that he didn’t want to do that. Now that he’s off the board, the Jets should trade that pick and get a haul.
They still have the Colts’ first-round pick, so they’re going to be able to make a premium pick, but they are a terrible team that needs all the help they can get. Draft a bunch of people, develop them into a serviceable team, then draft a quarterback next year.
Tennessee Titans
Offensively, the Titans have a quarterback… and that’s pretty much it. Chig Okonkwo was their leading pass catcher this season, and he’s a slightly above-average tight end. A tight end being the leading receiver for a rookie quarterback is rough, and it’s got to change in a big way for 2026.
In order to get Ward to turn into a good quarterback, they need to get him some talent. That means using free agency to get someone like George Pickens, and/or using a premium draft pick to get a wide receiver. Then they’ll have Calvin Ridley coming back from an injury and Elic Ayomanor to fill out the rest of the wide receiver room.
That’s a really good start towards building a functional offense around your first-overall draft pick.
Cleveland Browns
The best move is to trade Myles Garrett. The Browns gave him the bank last offseason, he set the single-season sack record, and he’s going to end up being the Defensive Player of the Year for the second time in his career… and the team had a 5-12 record.
They’re going to be able to get at least two first-round picks for the guy and load up on weapons across the board. That means getting all kinds of offensive weapons so that if they do get a high-caliber quarterback, they’ll be able to have a real offense.
But it’s the Browns, so… you know.
Kansas City Chiefs
The Chiefs are going to need pass catchers. Rashee Rice is potentially a terrible person who shouldn’t play football, Xavier Worthy’s not a dominant force, and Travis Kelce’s not the same cat he used to be (if he doesn’t retire).
When Patrick Mahomes comes back from his knee thing next season, he’s probably not going to be incredibly comfortable in the backfield and with moving in general. Getting him guys that can catch and move the ball is going to be important…
Not as important as their running game, though. One thing that’ll make a healing Mahomes feel better in the backfield is getting the run game going. 30-year-old Kareem Hunt was their leading rusher this year. That’s not a good thing, and they’ve got to find a way to fix that.
Cincinnati Bengals
The Bengals need to go back in time a couple of weeks, back to before they said they were going to keep their entire coaching staff and front office… Then they need to fire everyone.
You can’t fix stupid.
Miami Dolphins
The Dolphins have a whole mess of problems. They need a head coach, a new offensive coordinator, a new defensive coordinator, a quarterback, and a pass rush.
They have no choice about getting new coaches, so we can rule that out. The starting-caliber quarterback pool isn’t great right now, so allocating money or draft capital to that world isn’t super smart. So that leaves us with the pass rush.
That defense has a whole lot of issues that one offseason probably won’t fix, so building in the trenches first is probably the right move. Right now, all they have is Chop Robinson and Bradley Chubb (who will be 30 next season) as edge rushers. They’re going to need a whole lot more than that to help out the secondary.
Baltimore Ravens
For the first time in what seems like forever, the Ravens had a bad defense. They were fine against the run, but they were pretty bad against the pass. They were particularly bad at getting pressures and sacks.
Their pass rush is going to get healthier in the offseason, but they have both Dre’Mont Jones and Kyle Van Noy going into free agency. They can’t just re-sign those guys; they need to make some kind of upgrade.
Indianapolis Colts
Woof. The Colts are another one of those teams that would like to go back in time. If they could go back and not send two first-round picks to the Jets for Sauce Gardner, they’d probably love it.
However, they should want to go back to right after the end of the season and take back the whole, ‘Shane Steichen and Chris Ballard are on thin ice’ comment.
If your coach and/or general manager are on thin ice, then you should just fire them. If they know they are coaching/managing for their jobs, they go into survival mode. Nothing good ever comes from that.
Back to reality: they need help on the interior of the defensive line. Everything went downhill when DeForest Buckner started missing time in Week 10. Six years ago, he was one of the best in the world at his job.
It’s 2026, and he’s 31 years old. I’m sure he’s a leader on that defense, but he’s not the kind of mega-talented player who should collapse a defense if he misses time (like Micah Parsons with the Packers).
Pittsburgh Steelers
The Steelers just lost their head coach of the past 19 years. They’re changing everything, and it’s impossible to know what this team is going to look like, given how steadily mediocre they’ve been for the past decade.
Everything about this team is going to change once they hire a new head coach, so there’s really no way of knowing what they’re going to prioritize… Especially given what we’re used to prioritizing.
By default, my answer is the quarterback. They’ve botched the position since Ben Roethlisberger retired, and they’re still paying for it. You have to imagine that it’ll be a top priority for whoever they bring in… but again, everything is going to feel weird around that team.
Los Angeles Chargers
There are three things you hear about Justin Herbert: he can’t win playoff games, he’s got a rocket arm, and he’s tough.
The problem with being called tough is that you have to earn it. The problem with earning it is that you have to get severely beaten up consistently. For a quarterback to get beaten up consistently, it means his offensive line is wet toilet paper. That’s where the Chargers are right now.
It’s not totally their fault though. They signed Rashawn Slater to a big deal last offseason, and he wrecked his knee less than two weeks later. In 2024, they drafted Joe Alt, who was really good. In 2025, he only played in five games because of a bad ankle injury. Also, in 2025, they signed Mekhi Becton after his awesome 2024 with the Eagles… he ended up not vibing at all with what they were asking him to do in Los Angeles.
They’ve got to change things up with that offensive line. They already fired their offensive line coach (which is a good start), but they’ve got to get a new right guard and more depth.
It’s either that or get Herbert his own personal surgeons and an ICU wing in the locker room.
Jacksonville Jaguars
Sometimes the better football team doesn’t win the game. Sometimes a quarterback ascends to a different level of existence, and there’s nothing a defense can do to stop them. That’s exactly what happened when the Jaguars lost to Josh Allen and the Bills in the Wild Card round.
The biggest thing that the Jags need to change this offseason is their plan for Travis Hunter. They traded their 2026 first-round pick to the Browns in order to draft him last season, so they have a massive amount of resources poured into this one player, who can play two positions.
Choose one position, and choose cornerback.
Jacksonville is set at receiver now… Hell, they might even have too much going on at receiver. At cornerback? They need help. Make him make that decision once he gets healthy, and quit farting around with the two-way player thing. That’s a bad idea, and it won’t work in the modern NFL.