Ranking eight NFL head coaching vacancies: Which jobs look most appealing in 2026?

The 2025 NFL regular season is in the books, and change is already in the air. The offseason is a time of immense turnover, as players switch teams via free agency or trade, teams change their rosters by acquiring them through one of those avenues or in the draft, and plenty of clubs swap out their coaches as they look to improve from one year to the next.

We’re here today to talk about the latter group of teams. So far nine NFL teams have fired their coaches and one, Mike Tomlin, has stepped down. The Tennessee Titans and New York Giants fired Brian Callahan and Brian Daboll during the regular season. The Atlanta Falcons fired Raheem Morris right after their season ended. And on Black Monday, the Cleveland Browns fired Kevin Stefanski, the Las Vegas Raiders fired Pete Carroll and the Arizona Cardinals fired Jonathan Gannon. The Baltimore Ravens fired John Harbaugh after 18 seasons. Then the Miami Dolphins fired Mike McDaniel. Tomlin stepped down from his post as the Pittsburgh Steelers head coach after 19 seasons last week. Following a playoff loss to the Broncos in the divisional round, the Buffalo Bills entered the coaching hunt after firing Sean McDermott. 

In the wake of all of those changes, let’s rank the coaching vacancies in order of their desirability.

Follow live updates on NFL coaching and GM changes, firings and rumors.

1. Bills

The Buffalo Bills have arguably the best player in the league at the most important position in the sport in Josh Allen. That alone makes this the most coveted job of this cycle, after the Bills fired Sean McDermott after their latest playoff loss to the Denver Broncos. Pairing yourself next to Allen has championship potential, so every head coach who hasn’t already accepted a job will almost certainly stop what they’re doing and see if they can align themselves with Allen. 

Outside of the elite QB, Buffalo does have other things going for it. James Cook is coming off a 2025 regular season where he led the NFL in rushing, the defense allowed a league-low 156.9 passing yards per game, and they are just about to move into a brand new stadium. That said, whoever is hired will need to help improve a horrid run defense and get the most out of a lacking pass-catching group to truly help Allen get over the hump in the postseason. 

2. Ravens

The Baltimore Ravens are the only team this coaching cycle that can offer prospective candidates the opportunity to coach a multi-time NFL MVP quarterback in Lamar Jackson. 

Plus, running back Derrick Henry showed no signs of slowing down in his age-31 season in 2025, rushing for 1,585 yards — the second-most in the entire NFL. There are also a couple All-Pro building blocks on defense with linebacker Roquan Smith and safety Kyle Hamilton. Baltimore should make a playoff return in 2026 no matter who their head coach is provided they reinforce Jackson’s offensive line as well as their defensive line. The Ravens do have some cap space to play with at the moment with $12.4 million in effective cap space, according to OverTheCap.com. Moving off of defensive tackle Nnamdi Madubuike’s contract down the road following his neck injury could free up significant cap space in the coming years. 

3. Titans

Tennessee restructured its front office over the weekend such that Mike Borgonzi will oversee the 53-man roster and lead the coaching search while Chad Brinker will handle the other football operations responsibilities. The Titans had one of the worst rosters and coaching situations in the NFL this season, but they might be set up to make a jump next year.

Cam Ward’s overall numbers don’t look great, but there were so many flashes of high-level talent when you turn on the film. He was let down by a decrepit supporting cast and has a chance to be much better next year if the Titans improve the talent around him. And they’ll have every chance to do so because Tennessee is set to enter the offseason with over $105 million in cap space and the No. 4 pick in the draft. 

They’re not necessarily a candidate to go worst-to-first like the Bears and Patriots did this year, but they definitely have a chance to be a lot better next season if they hit on the right coach and use their budget and draft capital wisely, like those teams did. 

4. Raiders

The Raiders are here for four reasons: Brock Bowers, Ashton Jeanty, the No. 1 pick in the draft and $100 million in cap room. (You could say five reasons and include Maxx Crosby, but there are already rumors swirling that the Raiders are finally willing to listen to trade offers for the star edge rusher, so he may not be long for Las Vegas.) There is just not much talent on this team outside of those players. 

There is a loooong way to go before the Raiders can be remotely competitive, and it doesn’t help that they play in the AFC West, which is one of the most competitive divisions in football. Like the Titans, though, they can take a jump next season if they hit on their coach and whichever quarterback they presumably draft with the No. 1 pick, and spend their free-agent money to upgrade the talent level on the roster.

One drawback here is the ownership situation, where Mark Davis seems to flail wildly from one plan to the next in quick succession. The Vegas job is not exactly stable, and doesn’t come with a lot of job security, as evidenced by all the changes the Raiders have made over the last several years. 

5. Steelers

The Pittsburgh Steelers have a patient ownership group under the Rooney family: they’ve only had three head coaches since the 1970 AFL/NFL merger. Their defense remains stout led by All-Pro edge rusher T.J. Watt with the Steelers generating three takeaways — an interception and two fumbles recoveries — off of Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud in an eventual defeat thanks to their crumbling offense around Aaron Rodgers. 

This is an organization headed for a rebuild after five consecutive seasons with 9 or 10 wins with four of those years ending with wild card round defeats. 

Pittsburgh does have $23.6 million in effective cap space according to OverTheCap.com, but this offseason doesn’t have a great free agency quarterback class, notable considering the Steelers haven’t had a long-term quarterback since Ben Roethlisberger’s retirement after the 2021 season. The best options are Daniel Jones coming off of a torn Achiles, Rodgers entering his age-43 season or Green Bay Packers backup quarterback Malik Willis who shined in relief of Jordan Love the last two seasons. On the trade market, Kyler Murray is likely the best choice. Whoever takes this job will be tasked with helping the Steelers build around that elusive franchise quarterback, rebuild a stale offense and manage what’s becoming a quickly aging defense.  

6. Browns

The Browns have a good defense built around Myles Garrett, who is just an inhuman monster coming around the edge. They drafted a pair of star rookies in tight end Harold Fannin Jr. and linebacker Carson Schwesinger. They have multiple first-round picks in this year’s draft thanks to last year’s Travis Hunter trade. 

What the Browns don’t have is much other talent on offense (Quinshon Judkins will be coming off a dislocated ankle and fractured fibula), an answer at quarterback or any cap space to solve their various issues. Cleveland is set to begin the offseason more than $12 million over the cap, according to Over the Cap, and it still has the albatross of Deshaun Watson’s contract weighing down its books in both 2026 and 2027, at least.

The Browns also have an ownership and management situation that is, shall we say, not all that desirable. The Haslam family has run one of the most unstable organizations in the league, and Andrew Berry hasn’t exactly put together a great roster. (The combination of the Haslams and Berry was responsible for the disastrous Watson trade.)

7. Cardinals

Arizona lost 14 of its final 15 games this season and looked incredibly listless in doing so. The Cardinals have an uncertain quarterback situation with Kyler Murray seemingly not long for the team, and they really have no viable path to solving that situation this offseason unless it becomes a three-quarterback draft or the Jets decide to pass on someone like Dante Moore (if he enters) or Fernando Mendoza at No. 2 overall. 

Arizona is set to have only around $21 million in cap room (and only $9.8 million in effective cap space), per Over the Cap, so it’s not like there are a lot of resources here to solve the various roster issues. 

They do have players like Trey McBride, Michael Wilson, Paris Johnson Jr., Josh Sweat, Budda Baker, Garrett Williams, Walter Nolen and Will Johnson, but there are still a lot of holes here and not that much to build around.

8. Dolphins

Miami is an interesting spot. Mike McDaniel was able to have his team playing better down the stretch (5-3 after a 2-7 start), but that wasn’t enough to save his job, and, in turn, it has them on the outside looking in on the top 10 of the 2026 NFL Draft (picking No. 11 overall). That doesn’t give them a clear lane for a top quarterback prospect, as they are likely to move on from Tua Tagovailoa in some capacity this offseason. That could lead to the Dolphins exploring free agency or the trade market to fill their need under center. Because that position is currently clouded at the moment, it may make some coaching candidates wary. 

The franchise is also looking at a tricky salary cap situation as they are currently projected to be $23.2 million over the cap. Per Over the Cap, even if Miami found a trade partner for Tagovailoa, they’d be looking at a $45.,2 million dead cap charge and about $11.2 million in savings (pre-June 1). That’s a long way in saying that it could be a lean first year as the new general manager gets the books in order. 

As for the talent on the roster, there are some nice pieces on offense in Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle, and De’Von Achane, but they are still missing some key building blocks.