For 18 teams who didn't make the playoffs, the NFL offseason has begun. That includes some of the league's most high-profile franchises.
Here is an in-depth look at each team, from how their 2025 season went and what their salary cap and free agent situations look like to their draft capital and glaring needs.
AFC East:Bills |Dolphins| Patriots |JetsAFC North:Ravens|Bengals|Browns| SteelersAFC South:Texans |Colts| Jaguars |TitansAFC West:Broncos |Chiefs|Raiders| ChargersNFC East:Cowboys|Giants| Eagles |CommandersNFC North:Bears |Lions| Packers |VikingsNFC South:Falcons| Panthers |Saints|BuccaneersNFC West:Cardinals| Rams | 49ers | Seahawks
(Click the team name for the full preview.)
Miami Dolphins
The Dolphins will start completely fresh with a new regime as the teamfired head coach Mike McDaniel. At first, it seemed as if McDaniel might have done enough over the second half of the season to keep his job, thanks to an improved run game and the team never appearing to quit despite the rough start. Miami now has a chance to pivot from McDaniel's Tua-centric style of offense, but due to the significant investment in that approach, it might not be a quick or easy path out.
New York Jets
The Jets are hoping that this timeline will mirror the Detroit Lions, where Aaron Glenn came from as defensive coordinator. Detroit went 3-13-1 in Dan Campbell's first season before a 9-8 record in Year 2. Though unlike the Lions, the Jets will need to find a quarterback. Justin Fields was signed to potentially be that player, but he lasted until only Week 11 before he was replaced. With a ton of draft capital and salary cap space, 2025 could be seen as more of a Year 0 for the Jets and this regime.
Baltimore Ravens
Many of the bones that made the Ravens a Super Bowl contender are still in place, headlined by quarterback Lamar Jackson. But Baltimore now has another offseason of figuring out what went wrong. Only this time, it comes much earlier than anticipated with a few more questions that need to be answered — including, for the first time in 18 years, what comes next at head coach after theRavens fired John Harbaugh.
Cincinnati Bengals
After another disappointing, injury-ridden year, the Bengals will keep Zac Taylor as head coach and Duke Tobin as de facto general manager and try to figure out how to build out a defense and more offensive structure around their three best players, Joe Burrow, Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins.
Cleveland Browns
This Browns' season was never going to be about success in 2025. Cleveland seemingly hit on many of the non-quarterback 2025 draft picks — tight end Harold Fannin Jr. and linebacker Carson Schwesinger will be top contenders for Rookie of the Year on each side of the ball, if not outright winners — while the Browns picked up a ton of future draft capital, entering the 2026 draft with two first-round picks.Kevin Stefanski is outas head coach, but general manager Andrew Berry will stay on to oversee what the next era of the Browns might be.
Indianapolis Colts
It would have been nearly impossible to think the Colts' 2025 season would end up here after how it started. The Colts were first in point differential through the first 10 weeks of the season, and 28th from Week 12 on. With Daniel Jones injured and signed to only a one-year deal, plus having no first-round pick, the Colts find themselves in a much tougher offseason situation than anyone could have imagined midway through November.
Tennessee Titans
The Titans had hope after drafting QB Cam Ward with the first overall draft pick in 2025, but things never completely came together. Ward flashed, but a lack of talent, especially at receiver, kept Tennessee's offense from finding its stride. Head coach Brian Callahan was fired after Week 6 with a 1-5 record, 3-14 overall in two seasons with the Titans. Now, Tennessee will search for the next head coach in an attempt to get the most out of Ward and build up a roster that has a young offense while featuring one of the oldest defenses in the leagueby snap-weighted age.
Kansas City Chiefs
Under normal circumstances, this season might have been just a small step back for a perennial Super Bowl contender — a chance to regroup and go again. But givenTravis Kelce's ageand the late-season ACL tear for Patrick Mahomes, and nowgrave domestic violence allegations against Rashee Rice,this feels like a bigger moment — the end of an era of this version of the Chiefs. It might not be, but for the first time in the Mahomes era, the Chiefs don't feel inevitable. This offseason will be the first and an important step in trying to get that feeling back.
Las Vegas Raiders
By hiring Pete Carroll, the entire idea behind the 2025 Raiders centered on having a well-coached team that raised the floor of the talent on the roster. It was immediately apparent that would not be the case. Now theRaiders have the first overall pick of the 2026 NFL Draft and will be looking for a new head coachwith Carroll one-and-done, staring down a complete rebuild the franchise tried to avoid with last offseason's moves.
Dallas Cowboys
As good as Dak Prescott and the offense were, the Cowboys were one of the league's worst defenses the entire season and ultimately fired coordinator Matt Eberflus. Due to the struggles, Dallas traded for Quinnen Williams at the deadline. Williams is a fantastic player and immediately made an impact for the Cowboys, but it cost a 2026 second-round draft pick, leaving Dallas with no Day 2 picks this year, and a single 2027 first-round pick. The offense wasn't enough to make up for the defensive deficiencies and the Cowboys missed the playoffs in a season when playoff spots felt more wide open than ever.
New York Giants
For the third straight season, the Giants are looking at a top-six pick in the draft. While some of the young talent was tantalizing, the Giants didn't have close to a full competitive roster. After going 2-8 this past season,Brian Daboll was fired as head coach.The Giants now need a new head coach, and have decided general manager Joe Schoen will stick around.
Washington Commanders
After a season when everything broke right for the Commanders, just about everything went wrong in 2025. Last season, Washington went 7-2 in games decided by seven points or fewer. The Commanders were 0-5 in those games this past season. Washington finished the season in the bottom five of defensive DVOA.Now defensive coordinator Joe Whitt and offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury are not coming back next season.While the Commanders still have the bones of the impressive 2024 team — and a likely healthy Jayden Daniels set to return — this is a franchise that will have to step back and retool a bit earlier than expected.
Detroit Lions
A 9-8 record is disappointing given where the Lions had been, but this is still a team that finished third in DVOA — it was not a total disaster. Detroit finished third in yards per play on offense, though there were times when the limits of Jared Goff as a quarterback were more exposed than in years past. A shaky offense forced Campbell to take over play-calling in the middle of the season and theLions will look for a new offensive coordinatorin the offseason. The Lions still had the eighth-best point differential in the league, better than NFC playoff teams such as the 49ers, Eagles, Packers, Bears and Panthers. It's hardly a consolation prize, but this team is still on the right track.
Minnesota Vikings
Expectations were high for the Vikings coming off a 14-win season in 2024. However, the main goal of 2025 was to get as much information as possible on quarterback J.J. McCarthy. Minnesota disappointed and also did not get a clear evaluation of McCarthy as a quarterback. Despite that, the Vikings still finished above their win total and over .500. That was mostly thanks to a Brian Flores defense that ranked third in DVOA.Flores is a free agent, who could be hired elsewhereas a head coach or defensive coordinator. If most of the pieces stay in place, the Vikings remain a well-structured team that is just average quarterback play away from contending.
Atlanta Falcons
The Falcons won the final game of the regular season to reach a three-way tie in record at the top of the NFC South. But Atlanta's win sent Carolina to the playoffs, while the Falcons officially finished third in the division andfired head coach Raheem Morris and general manager Terry Fontenot.The issue with Atlanta over the past two seasons was a clear misevaluation of where the team was and how to build the roster around it. A four-game win streak wasn't enough to salvage the season. Neither were the individual bright spots, like Drake London and Bijan Robinson. Even the defense impressed in stretches, but it was never enough to make the Falcons feel like a franchise with a coherent plan and path forward.
New Orleans Saints
Framing the 2025 season as a success for the Saints would be a stretch, but there's a lot more to like than would meet the eye. First-year head coach Kellen Moore laid a solid foundation for his offense, and the Saints' defense reached the top half of the league in DVOA under coordinator Brandon Staley. Tyler Shough was 22nd among quarterbacks in EPA per play but was in the top 10 over the final five weeks of the regular season, when the Saints went 4-1.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Bucs were 6-2 at their Week 9 bye and wound up missing the playoffs. There was a lot of attention given to Baker Mayfield's dropoff after the bye, but the Bucs went from 13th in EPA per play to only 18th. However, Tampa Bay dropped from sixth in EPA per play on defense before the bye — aided by a strong run defense — to 28th post-bye. The Bucs can hope that better health leads to more success in 2026, but there should be some reflection on what went wrong and what needs to be fixed to keep the franchise moving forward. The Bucs have decided toretain head coach Todd Bowles,though theyfired offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard,QB coach Thad Lewis and special teams coordinator Thomas McGaughey.
Arizona Cardinals
Offensively, things never clicked. Kyler Murray was in and out of the lineup with injuries, whichultimately ended his season early.Now there are big questions about his future with the franchise. There were bright spots on defense, like rookie cornerback Denzel Burke and free-agent signing Josh Sweat, but injuries hamstrung this team all over.Jonathan Gannon was let goas head coach after three seasons, none of them over .500, and a 15-36 record.
For 18 teams who didn't make the playoffs, the NFL offseason has begun. That includes some of the league's most h...
