The first Sunday without football was terrible.
It’s horrible to realize that this is our reality for the foreseeable future, but fortunately the NFL has established an offseason that feels like a season in many ways. Soon it will be time for the NFL Combine; In reality, free agency is less than a month away…it’s all a matter of perspective.
As we begin to look ahead to 2026 for all 32 teams, with the Super Bowl already behind us, we can do so through the unique lens that only Michael Peterson and RJ Ochoa can provide.
Which NFL teams should be really optimistic heading into the 2026 season?
If I’m ranking the teams that didn’t win the Super Bowl and must feel amazing, then I feel like the Chicago Bears are probably at the top of that list.
Almost everything Chicago did during the 2025 calendar year (and a little beyond) worked. There has to be a lot of validation in their decision making and good luck for them to have won the Ben Johnson sweepstakes.
Beyond having Johnson, it amplified someone they previously believed in: Caleb Williams. Chicago’s rookie draft class also impressed and helped establish the core for a core to compete with for the foreseeable future.
Things are coming, bears!
I also agree that the Bears should feel very optimistic because they are next to win the Super Bowl next year after the Eagles and Seahawks each won 20 years after losing a Super Bowl.
In 2006, the Colts beat the Bears. If this wild coincidence continues for another season, the Bears will be destined to win the Lombardi Trophy a year from now.
Now, for one individual who should be feeling tremendously optimistic, that would be Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert. The signing of Mike McDaniel gives the offense something it hasn’t had since Kellen Moore was the team’s OC for a single season: hope and potential.
Herbert has suffered quite a bit with players like Joe Lombardi (who was also fired by the Broncos this offseason) and Greg Roman, two guys who were the antithesis of what Herbert needs as a quarterback. Then, as luck would have it, Staley’s defense was so bad in 2023 that it cost Herbert the best OC he’s ever had.
Now is the time to finally turn the narrative around. Herbert will be moving it around the garden again in no time.
What team has no hope at a time when hope is all over the league?
I think as long as you’re a Raiders fan, you’re not one to invite hope into your life unless proven emphatically otherwise. No matter who the coach, GM or quarterback is, history tells us they will be at the bottom of the AFC West more often than not.
John Spytek and Tom Brady have a lot of work on their hands and they really have to hope that Kubiak is the right person for the job. The Raiders were one of the last teams to hire their new head coach, meaning they probably didn’t get any of their first choices. Now, landing the offensive coordinator for this year’s Super Bowl champions is a good start, but that’s just the first step in a very, very long journey.
The entire world is ahead of every NFL team right now, but even with that being the case, in my opinion, there is one team I would easily rule out for 2026. Maybe 2027, too.
What to keep in mind about the Arizona Cardinals? Seriously asking here. If your favorite team could trade for anything to do with their team (including their front office, coaching staff, heck even their stadium), what would you want? Trey McBride is probably the consensus answer.
The Cardinals are a truly directionless franchise right now and somehow got (with all due respect) the last pick when it comes to head coaching candidates. I’m sure they’re excited about Mike LaFleur, but wouldn’t they have been more excited than anyone else?
Are the Dolphins doing the right thing by purging?
I honestly don’t know how anyone can disagree with this Miami approach. They tried to create a window for themselves and it didn’t work. There is no shame in that.
The worst thing an NFL team can do is stay afloat. The Miami move of Tyreek Hill and Bradley Chubb is proof that they are ready to take their medicine on this particular front and commit to a new wave of future stars. Being afraid to find those stars is how many teams compromise and that’s why I have no problem with this approach.
If I have any criticism it is that Miami has not recognized all of this sooner. A strong argument can be made that they simply wasted the last year by retaining Mike McDaniel and that they arguably should have traded away these particular assets instead of holding on to lost hope.
I think it’s your only option, in all honesty. They started getting rid of good players before the regular season ended and are now leaning toward a reset now that they have a new general manager and head coach.
Letting Tyreek Hill go is a smart decision given his age and the possibility that he will miss the start of the regular season after a serious leg injury ended his 2025. Bradley Chubb has been good, but he is replaceable with the right moves at a lower cost. Guard James Daniels is the same case.
A new regime would rather have their guys in the building as soon as possible rather than waste a year with a group they didn’t put together.
How would we feel if Mike McCarthy and Aaron Rodgers got back together?
I always find it strange when a coach comes to a new team and simply recreates what happened at his previous stop. We typically see this from a coaching perspective; Sean Payton certainly brought some Saints to Denver as just one example, but Pittsburgh is on the verge of a unique example of this.
I can’t imagine what it would be like for a Steelers fan to see the head coach and quarterback who beat you in the last Super Bowl you were in… be your friends. Isn’t it strange? Am I alone here?
All that said… it would be fascinating on a human interest level to see McCarthy and Rodgers work together after a (almost) decade apart. Maybe each of them are in a place where they can work for the good of everyone involved and on some level that would be really interesting.
It would be a big problem for those who want to feel a nostalgic tingle in their body, but that’s all I have. They’ve both been through quite a few ups and downs since being together in Green Bay, and I’m sure there’s a level of familiarity with a potential reunion that’s tantalizing.
I also agree with your point that it would be strange for Steelers fans to have to root for the same head coach and quarterback combination that beat their team in its last Super Bowl appearance, but that’s how things go in the NFL sometimes. And hey, if McCarthy and Rodgers can put together a hugely successful season in their first year together with the Steelers, then it would be an easy way to make fans forget about the past.
