The NFL offseason, quite the oxymoronic term anymore, is officially over − the final round of the league’s mandatory minicamps (those that weren’t canceled in full or partially) coming to a close this week as a preponderance of players and coaches head to tee boxes and/or out of the country for much-deserved vacations.
Normally, the interlude following the draft is fairly uneventful. But not this year, when two major June trades, new legal considerations and injury updates for several key players could have significant ramifications for the teams impacted. It’s enough news to trigger a fresh round of power rankings ahead of next month’s training camps (post-draft slots in parentheses):
1. Los Angeles Rams (2): They were a handful of plays − two? three? − from reaching Super Bowl 60, where LA would have almost certainly dominated the Patriots, too. Yet the band isn’t exactly returning intact given the stunning arrival of a new lead guitarist on defense, reigning Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett, along with two topflight keyboardists (CBs Trent McDuffie and Jaylen Watson). And with the league’s best frontman in 2025, MVP Matthew Stafford, back for at least one more year, it’s difficult to expect anything less than the Rams rocketing to the top of the charts.
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2. Seattle Seahawks (1): You (meaning me) hate to disrespect the kings with anything less than a No. 1 ranking going into their title defense. And the Seahawks are a deeply connected team coming off a dominant season capped by a decisive Super Bowl triumph. Yet the roster took some free agency hits, they lost OC Klint Kubiak − replacement Brian Fleury has never called plays − and Seattle won’t sneak up on anyone this year. Factor in the Rams’ upgrades and, given the negligible gap between these teams last season, it simply feels like the Seahawks, cohesive and daunting as they are, might not be the team to beat.
3. San Francisco 49ers (4): How can the top three teams all be from the same division? Simple: the 2025 NFC West was the first in league history to house three teams that won at least 12 regular-season games. Will it happen again? Almost certainly not. But the Niners, who get DE Nick Bosa and LB Fred Warner (among others) back from last year’s season-ending injuries and might just have TE George Kittle (Achilles) in Week 1, are almost always positioned to make a deep run … provided they can keep enough of their stars in the lineup. Veteran WR Mike Evans and DL Osa Odighizuwa are among the newcomers in 2026 for a team very much in a Super Bowl window.
4. Denver Broncos (3): They probably reach the Super Bowl if QB Bo Nix doesn’t get injured in the playoffs. He should be a full go in 2026, when WR Jaylen Waddle and new play-caller Davis Webb should add dimensionality to the offense. It remains to be seen if OLB Jonathon Cooper’s recent legal problems wind up detracting from a defense that is foundational to Denver’s success in what appears to be a wide-open AFC.
5. Buffalo Bills (5): They probably reach the Super Bowl if QB Josh Allen doesn’t throw that (alleged) interception in overtime of the playoff loss at Denver − though the 2024 MVP did have three legitimate turnovers in that game, which led to the ouster of longtime coach Sean McDermott. OC Joe Brady supplanted McDermott, so Allen will be working with a new coordinator (Pete Carmichael Jr.) and WR (DJ Moore) among Buffalo’s other notable changes − including several new defensive starters and a new play-caller (Jim Leonhard) on that side of the ball, too. Will the modifications and excitement of opening a new stadium finally launch the Bills to their first Lombardi Trophy in what appears to be a wide-open AFC?
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6. New England Patriots (6): The defending conference champions, fresh off adding WR A.J. Brown to their arsenal, very much remain in the mix, too. Still, it remains to be seen if their Super Bowl 60 collapse, coach Mike Vrabel’s distraction-filled offseason and/or the fortuitous breaks the Pats had in 2025 carry over into 2026. A team well ahead of schedule last year could struggle to stay on schedule this time around.
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7. Chicago Bears (8): QB Caleb Williams and Co. pulled quite a few rabbits out of the collective hat last year on the way to Chicago’s first NFC North crown since 2018. A full year in Ben Johnson’s office should be a major plus − though Moore is gone, and fellow WR Rome Odunze is still feeling the aftereffects from last season’s foot injury. Throw in a first-place schedule and several personnel changes on defense − and, well, a team well ahead of schedule last year could struggle to stay on schedule this time around.
8. Houston Texans (7): Last year’s top-ranked defense basically returns en masse. But this team’s fortunes will probably hinge on a reimagined offense and whether or not QB C.J. Stroud can finally get this franchise to its first AFC championship game, it not further.
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9. Cincinnati Bengals (11): “We have everything we need,” QB Joe Burrow said this week while comparing these Stripes to his dominant 2019 LSU national champions. If that means an unstoppable offense − and one that protects Burrow adequately − plus a defense that can simply limit the opposition to 25 points a week, then Burrow might be onto something with his comp.
10. Detroit Lions (13): As he apparently does personally amid the NFL grind, coach Dan Campbell had to watch the No. 1 playoff seed of 2024 “burn to ashes” a year ago … insomuch as a 9-8 finish qualifies. However a last-place schedule, healthy TE Sam LaPorta and some promising rookies could help the Lions rise like a phoenix − though that presumes the injured safety tandem of Kerby Joseph and Brian Branch returns to form.
11. Baltimore Ravens (14): A recently hired staff, defensive reinforcements and newly bulwarked interior offensive line are reasons for optimism − particularly given QB Lamar Jackson’s enthusiasm while working with “mind-blowing” (Jackson’s descriptor) new offensive architect Declan Doyle. The net effect? Super Bowl expectations don’t seem significantly altered here a year after Baltimore cratered to a sub-.500 finish.
12. Philadelphia Eagles (10): The Brown drama over, expect focus to shift to Jalen Hurts and a new offense … and how well the quarterback and his revamped receiving corps acclimate to it.
13. Los Angeles Chargers (9): Did a team with one playoff win in the past 12 seasons − and still awaiting its first under Jim Harbaugh − do enough this offseason to achieve a breakthrough? New OC Mike McDaniel is very likely the Bolts’ biggest acquisition … though it’s worth wondering if he plans to deploy three tight ends given the investment at that position.
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14. Kansas City Chiefs (12): They can’t possibly miss the playoffs again. Right? Should be worth noting how heavily K.C. leans on recently signed Super Bowl 60 MVP Kenneth Walker while Super Bowl 54/57/58 MVP Patrick Mahomes gets his (recovering) sea legs underneath him.
15. Dallas Cowboys (16): Now led by highly-touted rookie coordinator Christian Parker, is any unit in the league under a bigger microscope than the Dallas D?
16. Minnesota Vikings (17): A supposed quarterback battle is their biggest storyline heading into summer, but − let’s keep it a buck − the main question will be how well Kyler Murray executes this offense in what could be a make-or-break season for his career.
17. Jacksonville Jaguars (18): Can QB Trevor Lawrence replicate his 2025 breakout after finishing fifth in MVP voting? Can CB/WR Travis Hunter make a significant contribution − on either side of the ball − after a disappointing, injury-curtailed rookie year? Did GM James Gladstone do enough to backfill the losses of RB Travis Etienne and LB Devin Lloyd, major components of last season’s success? Quite a few looming questions for a squad trying to stay atop its unexpected AFC South perch.
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18. Green Bay Packers (15): OLB Micah Parsons (knee) expects to miss the first month of the season, and who knows how effective he’ll be less than a year after suffering a torn ACL? RB Josh Jacobs was arrested following a domestic violence complaint, leaving his availability in some question. TE Tucker Kraft is further along in his ACL recovery than Parsons but will only be 10 months removed from his injury when the season starts. Throw in a new defensive scheme and modified passing attack, and expecting a fourth straight seventh seed from the Pack may be asking too much − especially out of the loaded NFC North.
19. Pittsburgh Steelers (22): They officially have QB Aaron Rodgers and the most expensive trio of outside linebackers in the league after Nick Herbig became the latest to cash in on an expensive, aging defense that didn’t do nearly enough to support the four-time league MVP in 2025. The Steelers managed to win the AFC North in a down year for the division, but 10-7 likely won’t get the job done this time around.
20. New Orleans Saints (20): They plucked Etienne from the Jags, amid several other underrated offseason acquisitions, and could be poised for a playoff return in a weak division, one in which the Saints have the easiest schedule (based on opponents’ 2025 winning percentage) − which also projects as the NFC’s most forgiving.
21. Carolina Panthers (19): They plucked Lloyd from the Jags, amid several other underrated offseason acquisitions, as they try to extend their reign over the middling NFC South. But expect ongoing questions around QB Bryce Young − and the blocking in front of him − as a team that finished 8-10 in 2025 and lost its final three games (playoffs included) attempts to dispel the notion it was a fluke.
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22. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (21): Hovering around .500 is usually enough to win the NFC South − and that applied last year, too − but the Bucs’ shocking regression to 8-9 (after a 6-2 start) wasn’t sufficient for a playoff return. Minus mainstays Evans and retired LB Lavonte David, they are more or less trying to run it back … assuming the contracts of QB Baker Mayfield and NT Vita Vea don’t become festering issues.
23. Washington Commanders (23): Hard team to get a read on after QB Jayden Daniels’ durability issues resurfaced in 2025 following his magical rookie run. GM Adam Peters made some curious personnel additions this offseason, 49ers WR Brandon Aiyuk apparently the next given his anticipated reunion with Daniels, a teammate at Arizona State. Still, this group already has a lot of new pieces to assimilate and quite a lot to prove in order to return to its 2024 form, when Daniels fueled a surprising run to the NFC title game.
24. New York Giants (24): Seems everyone’s on the same page − in terms of decorum anyway − after a politically charged couple of weeks. Whether a rebooting team is on the same page between the lines with several key players still nursing 2025 injuries while adjusting to life under new coach John Harbaugh remains to be seen.
25. Atlanta Falcons (28): Given their long-term uncertainty at quarterback, combined with a bevy of young talent elsewhere, it’s worth wondering if this is the kind of team that could be compelled to take a shot on former Texas Tech QB Brendan Sorsby in the supplemental draft.
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26. Indianapolis Colts (26): A Jekyll-and-Hyde outfit a year ago, one has to wonder − if Indy remains on the Hyde track, newly extended QB Daniel Jones and WR Alec Pierce are unlikely to be 100% entering the season − if RB Jonathan Taylor becomes the prize of this year’s trade deadline.
27. Tennessee Titans (27): Second-year QB Cam Ward has had a tough time completing passes this spring after failing to connect on even 60% as a rookie. Hmmm.
28. Cleveland Browns (25): They got a solid return for Garrett, though GM Andrew Berry might be heaping too many expectations on perceived replacement Jared Verse. The real “win” could be that a club stripped of its best player might now be better positioned to fail into a high 2027 draft spot (read: QB territory).
29. Las Vegas Raiders (29): Will they be able to resist the temptation to play No. 1 pick Fernando Mendoza before the Week 13 bye?
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30. New York Jets (30): Could they take the flier on Sorsby? With three first-round picks next year, no team is better positioned to try and diversify a portfolio of prospective QB1s.
31. Arizona Cardinals (32): Could they take the flier on Sorsby? Might make sense to increase their options with third-rounder Carson Beck already in hand … though, as the fourth member of the NFC West, the Cards shouldn’t have much trouble replicating last year’s 3-14 finish, regardless of what LB Mack Wilson thinks.
32. Miami Dolphins (31): Could they take the flier on Sorsby? New QB1 Malik Willis hasn’t exactly had an encouraging spring, yet certainly deserves more time to settle in and lead a group currently devoid of talent, especially in the passing game. But after eating a salary cap hit of nearly nine figures to dump Tua Tagovailoa, the Fins don’t carry nearly the same financial risk with Willis in the event they decide he’s not the guy.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NFL power rankings: Myles Garrett trade lifts Rams as 2026 offseason ends