Much to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell’s delight, the National Football League is a 24/7/365 news cycle.
The Super Bowl ended like six minutes ago, and we NFL nerds already have our eyes trained on next season’s storylines — that is, unless you’re a Seattle Seahawks truther still recovering from your victory celebration.
Yeah, the NFL combine, free agency, and the NFL Draft are still weeks and months away, but that won’t stop us from breaking down 11 storylines to watch in 2026.
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NFL 2026: 11 Storylines to Watch
1) Are QB Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs Cooked?
The future Hall of Famer will roll into 2026 on the tail-end of his rehab, and that puts the Chiefs’ 2026 in peril, especially since they don’t have a for-realsies QB1 on their roster. Additionally, another future Hall of Famer, TE Travis Kelce, has yet to decide whether or not to hang up his cleats, and it’s not like they looked super-good last season with both in the lineup.
AFC West champs Denver dominated the division, so if Broncos QB Bo Nix returns to the lineup in good health, the changing of the guard could be complete.
2) Will Commanders QB Jayden Daniels Rediscover His Rookie Mojo?
The 2024 Rookie of the Year missed the majority of his sophomore campaign with a gnarly elbow injury, and in his absence, Washington went from NFC champion runner-ups to NFC East near-cellar-dwellers. If he shows up to training camp fully good to go, the East should be on alert. Maybe.
3) Can New Bills Head Coach Joe Brady Get QB Josh Allen to the Super Bowl?
There was some consternation about the firing of Bills head coach Sean McDermott, but let’s get real, y’all: He had nine years to get prime Josh Allen to the Super Bowl, and he couldn’t, so he gotsa go. A near-offensive-mastermind,
Buffalo’s former OC Brady was the obvious guy to replace McDermott, but the obvious move isn’t always the right move.
4) Might the Jets Become a Real NFL Team?
The Jets don’t have a legitimate starting quarterback — sorry, Brady Cook and everybody else on the depth chart, but you know I’m right — and soon-to-be second-year head coach Aaron Glenn seems overmatched, and the defense is sorely lacking in star power, and, well, they’re the Jets.
As it sits right now, a second-consecutive three-win season isn’t out of the realm of possibility.
5) Can QB Jaxson Dart and RB Cam Skattebo Get the Giants an NFC East Title?
After Dart took over the starting QB gig in Week 6, and before rookie RB Skattebo went down in Week 9 with an ankle injury, the Jints — unlike their Big Apple brethren — were legit, upsetting division-mates the Eagles and Commanders.
The NFC East looked eminently beatable throughout 2025, so if the Giants’ second-year skill players can realize even 75% of their potential, look out.
6) Will Sophomore QBs Cam Ward and Shedeur Sanders Thrive in Tennessee and Cleveland?
I don’t have much faith in either of the abovementioned signal-callers — Ward finished the season with a record of 3-14 and a passer rating of 80.2, while Sanders finished 3-4 and 68.1 — but second-year leaps are possible. Or not.
7) Can Caleb Williams Go Next Level?
ESPN put the Bears’ electric field general into the 2026 MVP conversation, so no pressure there. That said, he and rookie TE Colston Loveland had moments of a Mahomes-Kelce connection, and in terms of off-season improvement, the former Heisman winner is a Kobe Bryant-level obsessive, and head coach Ben Johnson has a year of head coach playcalling under his belt, so Soldier Field might just be a fascinating place to be.
8) Who Might Take Home Some Individual Offensive Postseason Awards?
Could Ravens QB Lamar Jackson have a renaissance under new head coach Jesse Minter? Will soon-to-be-30-year-old Niners RB Christian McCaffrey be his traditionally (and absurdly) productive self? Is ESPN right about Caleb Williams? Can reigning Offensive Player of the Year Seahawks WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba repeat his magical 2025? Might we see out-of-nowhere explosive campaigns from, say, Bucs RB Bucky Irving, or Saints WR Chris Olave, or Jags QB Trevor Lawrence?
Stay tuned.
9) Who Will Start at QB for the Minnesota Vikings?
We know Vikes WR Justin Jefferson isn’t enamored with incumbent starting QB J.J. McCarthy. We know Vikes head coach Kevin O’Connell isn’t enamored with incumbent starting QB J.J. McCarthy. My one Vikings-loving friend isn’t enamored with incumbent starting J.J. McCarthy.
So with whom might all these folks be enamored? A trade candidate? A free agent? A first-round big swing? Kirk freakin’ Cousins? Or, gasp, McCarthy himself? It’s shaping up to be a confusing off-season for the purple and gold.
10) Which Team Will Shock the League?
The young Saints and Giants showed flashes. The wobbly Cardinals and Dolphins have high-flying new head coaches. The messy Raiders and Bengals might clean things up. Or the bad teams might remain bad and the good teams might remain good. The NFL is weird.
11) Will We Have the First Repeat Champion Since 2003?
Over the final half of the season, the Seattle Seahawks were the NFL’s scariest team, and end-of-season scary teams have been known to, y’know, win Super Bowls.
But post Lombardi seasons have been known to be scary in a bad way — witness the 2022 Rams, who failed to make the playoffs the year after winning a ring — so ‘Hawks QB Sam Darnold and his charges have their work cut out for them in 2026.
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