2026 NFL Off-Season | 4 Big Questions & Storylines Entering Next Year
Written by: Varun Sharma
Last Update: Fri Feb 20, 2026, 8:28 pm ET
Read Time: 9 minutes
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We're less than two weeks post-Super Bowl and I'm ready to talk off-season. This year we've got a ton of questions going into the off-season and so many big storylines to talk about.
This year we've got 10 teams going into the off-season with a brand new Head Coach, with a few of these coaches looking to completely overhaul these locker rooms. Today we're going to talk about four questions and storylines going into the 2026 off-season and I'll give you my breakdown/outlook on the situation.
We've got just over 200 days left till the start of next year, plenty of time to talk off-season chatter and make predictions. Let's jump into it.
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New Coach, Who This?
Like I said above, 10 teams have elected to hire new Head Coaches and countless more have made significant changes to their coach staff. This is the highest number of new head coach hires in a single off-season in the modern era and it's going to provide countless storylines both in the off-season and regular season.
Without getting into all of he new coaching hires, let's take a second and highlight some of the biggest names and coach storylines for this off-season.
We've got a full breakdown of the coaching hires and our very own Danny Burke did a great job of ranking each one. Click here for his full breakdown.
New Home for Harbaugh
The New York Giants parted with Brian Daboll early in November and when that happened, I don't think anyone thought John Harbaugh would be the new Head Coach in New York. Harbaugh and the Baltimore Ravens were in the midst of a five game win streak and looking to turn their season around.
Baltimore would go on to miss the postseason, lose the division and that was that for Harbaugh's time in Baltimore. The Giants wasted little time when Harbaugh did hit the market and made it clear that he would be the top guy in charge here in the Big Apple.
Harbaugh spent 18 seasons as Head Coach of the Ravens, recording 180 regular season wins, 113 losses and he lifted 1 Lombardi Trophy. He's got the exact kind of pedigree you want from a potential Head Coach and a coach of his caliber just doesn't hit the market often.
New York's young core looks to benefit greatly from a coach that wins games, has coached some of the best in the NFL and has a proven track record of player development. I'm excited for what's to come out of New York and I think hiring Harbaugh was the best move for the franchise.
Stefanski in the 'A'
Another name that was at the top of most teams' lists, Kevin Stefanski. Stefanski's a two-time Coach of the Year and he's only been an NFL Head Coach for six seasons.
Stefanski's got a 45-56 career record as a Head Coach and he's made the postseason twice in six seasons. It's hard to hold his record against him when you take into account he coached the Cleveland Browns and he's got two 11-win seasons. Both of those 11-win seasons came with two different QBs, one being with Baker Mayfield and the other being a combination of Joe Flacco, Deshaun Watson and Dorian Thompson-Robinson.
Stefanski's proven he can develop talent and win games; he just needs a good enough roster to do it. The Atlanta Falcons are loaded with talent and Stefanski's been given the keys to do whatever it is he wants. I can't wait to see what he does with this Falcons team.
First Timers
This offseason we've seen a ton of teams go the route of hiring 'rookie' Head Coaches. The Arizona Cardinals just hired Mike LaFleur, former offensive co-ordinator for the Los Angeles Rams. The Buffalo Bills relieved Sean McDermott of his job and handed the team over to his former OC, Joe Brady.
In Sin City the Las Vegas Raiders bring in a Super Bowl Winner and former OC of the Seattle Seahawks; Klint Kubiak, son of Gary Kubiak. The Miami Dolphins brought over Jeff Hafley from the Green Bay Packers and we watched the Ravens go with Jesse Minter, formerly of the Los Angeles Chargers.
With so much new blood entering the NFL Head Coaching realm this year, I can't wait to see who belongs and who's tenure is to be short lived.
Will Jerry Ever Get It Right?
Let's just get this one out of the way. Will Jerry Jones ever do right by his free agents and big time players?
We've seen Jerry do this with both Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb, eventually paying more for both players. Not to say both weren't immensely deserving of their respective pay days; but the delay resulted in bigger contracts and less flexibility.
Jerry had the opportunity to extend Lamb in 2023, instead delaying it to 2024 and paying $14 million more. In the case of their franchise QB, it was more of the same; making him the highest paid QB in the NFL back in 2024.
It's this same mentality that lead to souring of his relationship with All-Pro DE, Micah Parsons. Parsons is now in Green Bay and you can only hope he's not doing it again.
Pickens is a free agent and he's coming off his best year yet. This is quite literally the best case scenario for Pickens, worst case for the Cowboys. Pickens played all 17 regular season games, lead the Cowboys in receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns. He's in line for a big payday and Jerry once again seems hesitant.
If the Cowboys decide to franchise tag the young wideout, he'd add an additional year to his contract for around $28 million. Reports have said that both sides are working towards a long term deal and if a franchise tag was to be applied, it would be closer to the March deadline.
Sunk-Cost Fallacy
Big Contract, Who Cares?
With so many new Head Coaches being hired around the league, change is coming.
First name that comes to mind is Tua Tagovailoa. Tua is currently going into year two of his 4-year Rookie Extension, looking to make $53 million this season alone. Tua is the 6th highest paid player in the NFL (per annum) and he's coming off his worst year yet.
Tagovailoa averaged just 190 pass yards per game this year, threw 20 touchdowns and turned the ball over 16 times. He's consistently regressed over the last two seasons and he's played more than 14 games just once in six seasons. Reports are now coming out that the Dolphins are actively looking for potential trade partners, but his contract remains the biggest issue.
If the Dolphins were to cut Tua, they'd take a $99.2 million cap hit spread over two seasons; $55.4 million in 2026 and $43.8 million in 2027. Miami would have the option to take the full cap hit this year, freeing up space for 2027 and creating more flexibility for the future.
With a new Head Coach and fully revamped staff, I'm interested to see what the Dolphins do with Tua.
Change Coming in the Desert
Last year we saw this Cardinals offense come alive and saw first hand what they're capable of when they've got even mediocre QB play.
Big names like Trey McBride and Marvin Harrison Jr. alongside breakout candidates like Michael Wilson fill out a formidable aerial attack; all they need is the QB to do it. Kyler Murray's contract is big and he's locked in till 2028. The Cardinals could cut Kyler, take the $52.6 million cap hit and move on, but they don't have to yet. Arizona's got time to decide and in the mean time they'll continue to search for a trade partner.
Malik Willis has been connected to a few of the open QB spots this off-season and both of these teams are among his potential suitors. I'm looking forward to see how both the Cardinals and Dolphins build out these rosters, both teams now under new leadership.
Free Agency
One of the most exciting parts of any off-season is free agency. This year we've got a loaded free agent pool. This isn't a comprehensive list of all the free agents this year, just a few big time names I'll be monitoring.
We've got a ton of skill players available, guys that can run the ball and guys that can stretch the field. Trey Hendrickson of the Bengals is one of the biggest names to watch this off-season. He's a game disrupting DE and should fetch a big contract wherever he ends up.
Malik Willis and Daniel Jones headline the available QBs in this free agent class. Both guys are still fairly young, coming off good years and looking to establish themselves as a full time starting QB. The Colts have expressed interest in bringing back Jones but nothing's been made official. Willis is as good as gone, now we're just wondering where exactly that he's going.
Gun Slingers
- Malik Willis
- Daniel Jones
- Aaron Rodgers
Track Stars
- Breece Hall
- Kenneth Walker III
- Travis Etienne Jr.
- Rico Dowdle
See Ball, Catch Ball
- George Pickens
- Romeo Doubs
- Alec Pierce
- Kyle Pitts Sr.
- Isaiah Likely
Defense
- Trey Hendrickson
- Devin Lloyd
- Odafe Oweh
- Jamel Dean
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