NFL Teams Who Could Return To Playoff Picture In 2026.

Every year, NFL Teams Face The Unforgiving Drive to Improve Their Roster, Football Intelligence, and organizational functionality or fall to the wayside. No Room Exists For Organizations To Rest On Their Laurels. No team, not even the champion, has a perfect roster, and even high-end rosters face the threat of the injurious and uncontrolled randomness of Football Happening. The Major Transactional Period Of The NFL Offseason Has Mostly Concluded, and rosters have a lot More Reshaping To Undertake In The Coming Months. Still, the Two Major Paths (Free Agency, Draft) to Improving Rosters Have Passed. NFL teams Can Continue To Sign Players And Make Trades And That One Major Trade Remains Afloat In The Ether For The Most Part We An Image, A Form Of What NFL Teams Will Roll Into Sundays Next Season. Last season, the Bears and Jags changed their coaching staffs, added a few players, and made the Playoffs After Drafting in the Top 10. The Panthers, through sheer wizardry, completed a Remarkable Turnaround — Well, a Moderate Turnaround — and Won The NFC South. The Patriots, Thanks To An “Easy” schedule, made the playoffs and Returned To The Superbowl After Mike Vrablar took over the coaching staff. Which Teams Have in? 2026 Have The Opportunity To Follow The Paths Of Those NFL Teams That Rose From Picking Top Ten To Making The Postseason. Based On Projected Roster Improvements, I’ll Break Down Six Teams I Believe Can Make The Leap From The Bottom To The Top. Teams Like The Ravens, Lions, and Bucs don’t Fit The Bill That I’m Looking For In This Post, as Those Teams Had/have a playoff-level roster that failed in crucial moments, OR HAD A Few Quirks OF FOOTBALL DISMATLE THEIR Playoffs. HOPES I’m discussing Teams In The Bottom Third Of The League Who, If Everything Goes "right," Could Make A Surprise Playoff Run.

Cleveland Browns—

The Quarterback Situation In Cleveland Will Carrol Most Of The Narrative and Projections For The Browns In 2026. The Browns Have Struggled For Years To Pinpoint One Enticing Option At Quarterback To Lift Their Team This Year. The Browns Have Two Options In Deshaun Watson And Second-Year Player Shedeur Sanders, and Both Enter Next Season With Issues. Whenever one set of challenges surrounding Watson fades, a new roll of credits starts rolling, and Watson comes off a double Achilles injury. He never looks effective in Kevin Stefanski’s Offense. Watson Will Return To The Browns In The Final Year Of His Much Maligned Contract In A New Offense In His Age 31 Season. Still, His Contract has Four Void Years And An 80-Plus-Million-Dollar Dead Cap Hit After Next Season, So The Browns Will Have To Utilize Some Spread Mechanism To Endure Those Cap Charges.

Why reason For Optimism, Cleveland Addressed And Improved Two Of The Major Faults In Their Roster At Pass Catcher and Along The Offensive Line Through The Draft With Their First Three Picks. The Browns upgraded their offensive line by signing Guard Zion Johnson and center Elgton Jenkins, re-signing right guard Teven Jenkins, and trading for right tackle Tytus Howard. Drafting Spencer Fano. Cleveland Added Two Receivers In KC Concepcion and Denzel Boston. As An Analyst Projecting Rookie Impact, I Have To Tread Softly When Making Claims. Still, If The Browns Get The Impact They Desire and Expect From These Three Players, Cleveland Should Experience A High Level Of Offensive Improvement Compared To Last Season. The Browns' defense should remain elite even after former Browns defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz Moved On, following the Cleveland organization's passing on him for the head coach opening. The Four Teams Of The AFC North Will All Approach This Season Competitively, But They All Have Question Marks. The Steelers Have Questions At Quarterback, the Bengals have questions on defense, and the Ravens' offense suffered some crucial losses in Free Agency. The Success Of The Browns' season hinges on some Critically Unreliable Metrics Like Rookie Play and quarterback production. Still, if One Or Two Of Those Hit, Cleveland Could Return To The Postseason Under Todd Monken.

New Orleans Saints—

If Any Division In Football Looks Conquerable, The NFC South Looks Poise To Crown A New Champion, and Who Better Than ‘who Dat’ Nation. The Saints will Enter Their Second Year Under First-Time Head Coach Kellen Moore After A Mulligan in 2025. The Moore Era of Saints Football Begins In 2026. Moore and Mickey Loomis can start To Shape The Roster To Moore's specification—To The Best Of The Saints' salary cap situation allows— Starting With Building Around Quarter Tyler Shough. The 25-Year-Old Rookie Shough Lost The Camp Battle To Spencer Rattler, But Shough Took Off During The Second Half Of The Season, Starting Every Game From Week and Beyond. Shough Demonstrated Poise, Anticipation, and Accuracy In The Pocket, Qualities All Fans And Coaches Want To Witness In A “Young-Ish” Type Of Player, Producing A 67.6 Completion Percentage, 73.1 PFF passing Grade. The Saints Added A Few New Toys For Shough To Expand His Game With In Jordyn Tyson In The Draft, Running Back Travis Etiene Jr. (ProNounced Ay-chan), Who Provides The Saints with The Skills Of A Young Alvin Kamara. The Saints' Offensive Line Added David Edwards at guard, but the rest of The Unit Will Need To Step Up To Protect Shough, Who Took 31 Sacks Last Season. New Orleans' offense will need to clean up its turnover rate, which ranked fourth (8.87%). The Saints' defense flew under the radar in 2025, But Finished 10th in EPA Per Play allowed, Eighth If we Exclude The Impact Of turnovers, Number One Between Weeks 10-18 in EPA Per Play, and Fourth In Rushing EPA allowed, Fourth In Passing Yards Per Game Allowed(179.2). The Saints’ Defense Will Have To Replace The Ten Sack Production Of Veteran and long-time Saint Cam Jordan. A draft-day trade for former Raiders top-ten pick Tyree Wilson, a physically gifted but unrefined project, could add some punch, but New Orleans Can’t Bank On The Promise of Wilson. The South Looks Wide Open With Tampa Switching Out a lot Of Players, the Falcons Have Questions At Quarterback, and the Panthers Snuck Over Everyone Else Last Season, but Still Look Like The Weakest Team In The Division. The Saints Look Poised To Usurp Any One Of The Teams In The Division.

New York Giants—

Mind you, I don’t Like The Giants, the team lacks “Believability”, some pinpoint convincing attributes that make you “If That Works, NFL beware”. Maybe The Pass Rush In New York Could Emerge As That Factor. Who Said You Cant Have Too Much Of A Good Thing? Probably Saw A Glimpse Of The 2026 New York Giants. Micah Parsons’ effect Has Taken Hold of New York, as in back-to-back drafts, the Giants Have Selected The Player (And Archetype) That Best Compares To Parsons. I Thought The Addition Of Abdul Carter Would Give The Giants A Vaunted Pass Rush. Instead, New York finished 17th in Pressure Rate and 15th in Total pressures, higher than playoff teams Houston, Chargers, and New England, but not impactful enough to win games, as the Giants finished 17th in pass Defense (-0.4 EPA Per Pass). Maybe This Year The Giants “Put It Together”, Players Like Kayvon Thibodeaux Take Their Game To Another Level In A Contract Year, And Giants Defense Under A New Coaching Staff Figure Out When and Where To Play Fifth Overall Pick Linebacker, Arvell Reese. The Giants Have Potential For A Top Ten defense Even After Moving On From Dexter Lawrence. This Offense Has More Questions Than The Defense. Even As Star Wide Receiver Malik Nabers Returns From Injury, The Giants Remain Thin At Receiver.

Darius Slayton functions as the team’s Designated Deep Threat, Darnell Mooney Has Talent, who Famously Torched Prime Jalen Ramsey. Still, Mooney seems high-maintenance. If He Doesn’t get touches, he’ll Fade Into Obscurity Like Last Season With The Falcons, and he dealt with a Fair Amount Of Injuries Last Season. I like the Isaiah Likely Signing At Tight End and A Elite Receiving Threat Who Could Open Up The Potential For More 13 Personnel For The Giants Offense—finally, Jaxson Dart. After not starting the season, Dart came on strong to close the year and, despite missing multiple games, finished fourth in the Offensive Rookie Of The Year Voting. The Giants' offense has a few bright spots, and while I Love-Hate The Francis Mauigoa Pick(A Great Prospect Who Will Change Position In The Pros). Still, He Provides Insurance Incase Of Injury To Left Tackle Andrew Thomas, but Mauioga will start The Season Listed At Right Guard. The Giants Tempt Me With Their Upside Here In 2026.

Minnesota Vikings—

The Good News For Minnesota Coming out of 2025, “We Learned What Didn’t Work”, unfortunately For The Vikings, much Of Hype Up Aspects, JJ McCarthy, revamp the offensive line and Defense, the team built their 2025 Season Promise On Managed To Fail. The Vikings Spent Over $ 300 Million in Free Agency, and yes, the defense finished top five in most major categories: third in EPA per play allowed and second in EPA per dropback. Most of The New Additions Fled After One Season, and General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah Got Fired Due To Multiple Failed Player Transactions and a Failed Draft. The Defensive Line Lost Three Starters This Offseason, and The Vikings Traded Away Top Edge Rusher Jonathan Greenard after The Team Expected To Keep Him Aboard For 2026. The Vikings Offensive Line Struggled With Consistency, and Injuries Thwarted Any Hope The Team Had Of “Stabilizing” The Unit Of Blockers, A Problem Stemming Back to The Kirk Cousins Era and One That Devastated The Sam Darnold era, and The Vikings Hope The Issues Dont Follow Into The Kyler Murray Era. Yes, Kyler Murray's Acquisition and his presence feel small (Pun…Unintended) in This Offseason of constant upheaval for the Vikings, But Small Hinges Swing Big Doors(Intended). Murray Will Step In As The Starter On depth Chart and While He’s More Of A Predictive Commodity, More Of A Proven Track Record Than One JJ McCarthy But Let’s Remember He’s never Lived Up To His Talent Level and The Questions aBout The Limitations of His Play-style And Murray’s Commitment To The Game(Not Call Of Duty) Wont Vanish Because Of Minnesota’s Endorsement Of Professionalism. Kyler Has Played At A high level in seasons past, and The Best Of Murray, something most fans and observers believe we “Re-Emerge” Under Head Coach Kevin O’Connell Could Lead The Viking Back To The Playoffs. The Vikings Added A lot Of Beef Up Front through The Draft and A Third Receiver In Jauan Jennings, a 1000-yard receiver late in free agency, adding firepower alongside star Justin Jefferson and Promising but Troubled Receiver Jordan Addison. The NFC North Has A lot Of Talented Teams, Two Playoff Teams, A Lions Team One Season Removed From The Best Record In The NFC, But Both Green Bay and Detroit Have Suffered Significant Roster Reconstructions This Offseason, and Chicago Looks Like The Clear Front Runners. The Bears Have Questions.

Dallas Cowboys—

The Cowboys' offense keeps their team competitive, but not even an MVP-level performance could save ‘Allas(No D) From Closing The Season losers of 4 of 5 games to close the season and missing the Playoffs For The Third Straight Year. The Cowboys Finished Dead or near Dead Last in Most Relevant Defensive Metrics, and while Some Defenses Struggled Against the Run but Played Competitively Against the Pass, like the Bills, the Cowboys Struggled Against Both. With limited cap space, the Cowboys managed to pick up some bargain signings and trades. Still, the transformation on defense, Big D needed to turn their attention to the draft to boost, at the very least, the talent level of their defense, and that started with heralded safety prospect Caleb Downs out of Ohio State. Down Projects To Impose Instant Impact On The Cowboys Defense, But He’s Still A Rookie Whose Transformative Potential Requires Tempering Expectations. The Cowboys Sign Multiple Defensive Backs In Free Agency, No Bigs But The Intention To Overhaul Their Secondary Safeties Jalen Thompson and P.J. Locke, cornerbacks, Join Two Former Rams, Cobie Durant, Who Generated -21.3 Coverage EPA for Los Angeles Last season, and Derion Kendrick, Who Generated a -12.2 Coverage EPA In Teams Spent Between The Rams and Super Bowl champ Seattle. The Cowboys Also Picked Up former Packers Edge Rusher Rashan Gary, Green Bay’s Top Pass Rusher at One Point Who Could Fill That Role In Dallas and Become This Season’s George Pickens (A Talented Player Casted Away From His Team Incumbent Team) For The Cowboys Along Side First Round Pick Malachi Lawrence.

Gary didn’t notch A Sack In His Final 10 Games of Last Season, but Most Fans Know He’s Productive When Turned On. This Group, the Cowboys Assembled Under New defensive coordinator Christian Parker, can lift the benchmark from last year's team, Which Shouldn’t be too hard after finishing last. If the defense elevates, then the question beckons: Can Dak and the offense elevate or at least replicate last year’s Success? Dak Answered The 60 Million Dollar Question Last Season. He Passed For 4500 Plus Passing Yards, 30 Touchdowns, +0.12 EPA Per Pass, and He’s reached such heights before in his career. Still, due to Injury, Prescott has never managed a Successive Season of Elite Production. What Would A Dak Encore Look Like In His Age-33 Season? His Physical Skills (Arm Strength, Mobility) Won't Diminish Just Yet. Another MVP-Level Season Should Have The Cowboys Back In Contention In The NFC East. Dallas focuses much of the offseason on bolstering the defense and maintaining the offense as currently assembled, including the re-signing of running back Javonte Williams. Still, The Big Deal On Offense Starts With The Lack Of A Big Deal For George Pickens. After Coming Over From The Steelers, Pickens Took Over The Top Receiver Role In Dallas from Ceedee Lamb last season, after playing in all seventeen games, finishing second in the league with +82.7 Receiving EPA. The Trouble The Cowboys Haven’t Secured A Long Term Deal With Pickens, instead The Franchise Tag and Pickens Hasn’t Signed The Non-Exclusive Tag With Around $27.5 Million( Seems Low For A Top Tier Receiver) As He Hopes To Sign A Long Term deal. Only One Team In Football Has A Quarterback and Two Receivers Signed At Top Dollar, The Bengals, in Joe Burrow, Jamar Chase, and Tee Higgins, Who Accounted For 36% Of The Bengals’ Cap Space, with the Bengals inking Tee Higgins and Jamar to an extension last before the cap bumped up ( This Off Season Drop That Number Drop To Around 30%). Star Players Take A Massive Toll On Team Expenditures, But I Don’t Think The Cowboys Can Actually Afford Not To Lock Up Pickens Long Term, Despite The Damage Incurred To Future Financing. The Cowboys Probably Should Have Taking A Receiver With Their Second pick Of The First Round To Future Proof Their Receiver Position. If All Goes Well—In Football That Rarely Happens But I Can’t Envision A World Where The Cowboys Don’t Make A Playoff Push.

Oakland Las Vegas Raiders—

Am I The Only one Who Still refers To The Franchise As “Oakland”? The Raiders Have To Crawl Their Way Out Of Football’s Basement At Some Point, and Why Not Next Season? With the Chiefs Headed Towards A Down Turn (maybe) or at Least Looking Less Threatening, I wouldn’t Say The AFC West Has A Power Vacuum, Especially Not With The Broncos Around, But Room Has Opened Up. We Know The Raiders Selected Indiana Quarterback and Heisman Trophy Winner Fernando Mendoza With The Number One Selection in the 2026 draft, along with the number one pick, and He’s Poised To sit behind Kirk Cousins for at least A Few Games and Maybe A Full Season Depending On How The Season Unfolds Over The First Few Weeks. Mendoza Still Has A lot To Prove and to acclimate to now entering the pro game — he’s no Joe Burrow — But The Raiders Have A lot to prove around him, including at receiver and on the Offensive Line. Along the line, every position outside of left tackle and center has questions, and even left tackle Kolton Miller dealt with injuries last year. The Receiver Outlook Delivers an Even Bleaker Perspective As The Raiders' tight end Brock Bowers serves as the team's top pass-catching option. Young Receivers Like Jack Beck and Dont’e Thornton Jr., along with Jalen Nailor, A Career Third Receiver With The Vikings, brought over in free agency, could have some untapped potential waiting for a “Competent”(No Offense, Aidan O’Connell), high-level quarterback to unlock their full productive capacity. Of course, the Raiders don’t have a question at running back, but maybe you prefer questions at running back rather than the offensive line and Receiver. The Raiders Defense Should Start The Season With Maxx Crosby In Tow, No Trade Rumors Have Risen Since The Ravens’ Dubiously Handled Trade Fell Apart, and His Presence Could Lift Last Year’s Mediocre Defense Into A Respectable One. The Raiders signed multiple starting-level defenders, like linebackers Quay Walker and Nakobe Dean, Two Former College Teammates In Georgia, and guys who played on playoff squads to start their careers. These Guys Could Have Their Skillets Stretch Beyond The Intended Limits With The Raiders Or Rise To Fill The Role With Responsibility Hoisted On Their shoulders. Former Packer and Former Georgia Bulldog Cornerback Eric Stokes has emerged as a top coverage guy in the league, ranking 17th in Defensive Grade according to PFF. If One Of The Raiders' rookies or an under-the-radar signing steps up and Maxx Crosby returns to his pre-injury form, Las Vegas could emerge With A Respectable Defense. The Raiders Finished Between 11th-17th In Most Major Defensive Statistics, 11th In Yards Per Play, 14th In Yards Per Game, 17th in ESPN FPI Efficiency Metrics, and 14th in DVOA, except for PFF, which ranked the Raiders Dead Last. The Raiders Have Seven Teams Who Made The Playoffs Last Including The Super Bowl Champion Seahawks, on the schedule, along with the Rams, Niners, Patriots, Bills, and the Chargers and Broncos In Their Own Division. Otherwise, The Schedule Has Playoff Viability. The Chargers, Bills, and Patriots also serve as look-alike playoff teams who can get picked off by the Seahawks, with Klint Kubiak Coaching from The Other-Side Of The Sideline. Klint Kubiak’s First Season As A Rookie Coach Could Go One Of Two Way; He Takes A Mulligan, Completely Tanking this season As He Reshapes The Raiders’s Roster and Continue To Separate Himself From A Previous Regime Like Dan Campbell In Detroit and Or Dave Canales In Carolina Or He Can Take The League By Storm Right Out Of The Gate In His First Season Like Kevin Stefanski In Cleveland(2020), Liam Coen In Tampa(2025), Or Ben Johnson In Chicago(2025) Leading Their Teams To The Playoffs Immediately Upon Takeover.