In any given year in the NFL, maybe 20 percent of the league is really going for it. There are five to six franchises clearly motivated to exhaust every avenue and win at all costs. Maybe in an outlier year, you could suggest eight of the 32 teams seem to be truly pushing. But the overarching reality of the NFL is that parity is really economic socialism for billionaires, and the cap and the fiscal strata give them ample cover to collect massive revenue streams with scant minimums that must be checked along the way.
Add in the soaring values of franchises (Seahawks nearly hit that $10 billion threshold), and consider all the money they squeeze out of municipalities on stadium deals and lease negotiations and renegotiations along the way. Frankly, not nearly enough of these owners are held to task.
But a handful of franchises still operate differently. They spend aggressively, push their chips to the middle and make decisions with one goal in mind: winning a Super Bowl. These are the six teams that stand out from the rest heading into the 2026 season.
Honorable Mentions
- New England Patriots
- Green Bay Packers
- Chicago Bears
- San Francisco 49ers
I thought it made sense to cover a few honorable mentions that came oh-so-close. The Ravens and Bills check a lot of boxes, but both have very young rookie head coaches, and no one with that profile has ever won a Lombardi Trophy. The Colts in Super Bowl V (Don McCafferty with Don Shula’s powerhouse roster after a decade as a top assistant in Baltimore) and George Siefert in 1989 (with Bill Walsh’s 49ers dynasty). But I don’t see Jesse Minter or Joe Brady breaking through now.
The Patriots will regress significantly, and the Super Bowl loser is always doomed, anyway. I came closest to putting the Bears or Packers in this mix, but it’s a little too soon for Chicago and Green Bay’s playoff sample recently has left me wanting more. The 49ers’ window is closing. And the Chargers also came really close here, but their legacy of playoff failures, including more recent one, left them just short though they will be much improved.
Seattle Seahawks
It’s super hard to repeat, I get it. But they kept a core intact, and this is a young team just becoming something, not an over-the-hill gang. I love their road prowess and how fortified they are winning in the hyper-competitive NFC West. Plus, they have dominant homefield advantage. The Seahawks have NFL execs believing in a repeat.
Los Angeles Rams
The betting favorites probably had the best offseason of any team in terms of win-right-now stuff — the biggest question is simply about a back-up QB. They have a Super Bowl champion coach and QB and maybe the best interior defender of the past 25 years coming back from retirement to join a generational edge rusher. Yeah, you can go ahead and count Aaron Donald into the equation. After a lengthy recent chat with future Hall of Fame head coach Sean McVay, I am.
Philadelphia Eagles
It seems like every other year, the Eagles use all of that turmoil and drama as motivation and go very deep into the playoffs. I don’t love the fact that this might be Jalen Hurts’ last stand, but I know this front office will also do anything and everything it can to add to this roster along the way. They check the been there, done that boxes just like the Rams. “Nobody wants it more than Howie,” another NFL GM told me a few years back, and it always stuck with me.
Kansas City Chiefs
This is an actual dynasty that ain’t over by a longshot. Bill Belichick and Tom Brady always had a way to find more motivation as the Patriots rewrote the record books; Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes now have that chip on their shoulder, too, after missing the playoffs last year. Mahomes’ season-ending surgery has fueled their fire, as the tee-shot heard round the football world signified. Some are sleeping on them or questioning them. Not I. I have some tickets for them to win it all.
Cincinnati Bengals
Joe Burrow has sleighed the dragon. He went to Arrowhead and beat peak Ried/Mahomes and then, honestly, should have done it again. Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen, Drake Maye and anyone else you want to throw out there don’t have it on their resume. The defense could be a big problem sure, but I believe the Bengals will be much improved. Owner Mike Brown being willing to make the Dexter Lawrence trade makes me think they could still perhaps add more if they are close.
Denver Broncos
Sean Payton is an offensive mastermind and him stepping away from playcalling duties will be a win-win for this team. This is probably the best defense in the NFL, with a true home-field dominance and altitude in its favor, too. Denver almost went to the Super Bowl last year with Jarrett Stidham at QB. I believe Bo Nix is going to have his best season yet.
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