Every 2026 NFL head coach opening ranked from best to worst

Black Monday is in the rear view mirror and it appears as though we have a final list of the six teams looking for new head coaches — barring a late meeting resulting in a team making a change, or a playoff team flaming out and firing their coach.

Not all jobs are created equal, especially in 2026. There are a number of factors which make a job appealing to a prospective head coach, and like we’ve seen in the past: Bad organizations are often left to pick through the dregs after everyone else gets their guy. There are a couple of teams who pass the sniff test and could lead to success, and for others, well, good luck whoever takes on their mess.

There are currently seven head coaching jobs opened across the NFL. Will we see another surprise opening if a playoff favorite loses early? It’s always possible, but teams are already getting in line for top candidates. Here’s how we’d rank the most attractive job openings in the NFL right now.

No. 1: Baltimore Ravens

This is the best job open in the NFL. The biggest issue Baltimore had in recent years was stagnation. It had simply become apparent that John Harbaugh had taken the team as far as they could go, and it was time for fresh blood to see what they could do with the roster.

The Ravens are loaded with talent. They have an MVP caliber quarterback, one of the best running backs in the NFL, a solid offensive line, and aren’t in cap hell. There might not be tens of millions of dollars to make big moves, but enough to shore up the worst elements (like needing more weapons on offense) and turning things around.

We have no idea what the Baltimore Ravens could be with some tactical modernization. The defense was a problem this past year, but we know it isn’t lack for talent — but rather a team reeling from the loss of Mike Macdonald, who immediately turned around the Seahawks. There’s just so much potential here that it won’t require a huge lift to get the Ravens back into the playoffs and challenging once more, especially in a division as weak as the AFC North. Read our list of five head coaching candidates the Ravens could go after.

No. 2: New York Giants

There are several reasons why the New York Giants’ coaching vacancy almost tops this list.

It starts with the quarterback position. With Jaxson Dart the new head coach at least has a young option at the QB position to build around. Yes, there are concerns with Dart – starting with his willingness to expose himself to hits in and around the pocket – but having a second-year quarterback on a rookie deal is a solid starting point.

Beyond Dart, the offense will get Cam Skattebo and Malik Nabers back from injury. Add in perhaps another first-round wide receiver with the fifth pick in the draft, and suddenly this is an offense that is looking more dangerous on paper.

Defensively, you have four former first-round picks up front (Brian Burns, Kayvon Thibodeaux, Abdul Carter, and Dexter Lawrence. 

But zooming out from the current roster, the Giants have the fifth-overall pick in the draft (along with the fifth pick in the second round) and New York is not in a brutal position cap-wise.

Add in the benefits of a fourth-place schedule, and this is a pretty solid landing spot.

No. 3: Las Vegas Raiders

The biggest thing the Raiders have going for them right now is that they’re essentially a blank canvas. The organization didn’t get too deep into a Pete Carroll rebuild that they expended a bulk of their resources, and there’s plenty of help on the way in the form of a massive amount of cap space and a No. 1 overall draft pick.

OverTheCap projects that the Raiders will have over $74M in effective cap space this summer after their ink their rookie class. Cut Geno Smith to save even more and the team will have a lot of flexibility to make waves in free agency, as well as presumably have Fernando Mendoza at quarterback.

It’s not just the money and draft capital the Raiders have going for them, but a lack of pressure. The bar to success is so low in Las Vegas that essentially a coach only needs to get this team close to .500 and it will be seen as a wildly successful year. The job doesn’t come with the same baggage as one with an organization expecting greatness to come quickly. Couple all that with the fact that there are some solid building blocks in Ashton Jeanty, and Brock Bowers — potentially Maxx Crosby too (if he can be convinced to stay) and overall you have a package which a lot of coaches would love to have upon taking a new job.

No. 4: Tennessee Titans

The Titans offer promise, which is a big selling point for a prospective head coach. Time will tell whether or not it was wise to pull the trigger on Cam Ward at QB in the 2025 NFL Draft, but he did show flashes towards the end of the season that indicate there’s something to work with. Over the final five games of the regular season he threw eight touchdowns and only one pick, while lifting his completion percentage over 60 percent, and winning two games — showing that there are glimmers of hope.

There is a lot of work that needs to be done to the roster on the offensive side, where the Titans don’s have anything close to a No. 1 receiver or solid offensive line, but they have over $83M in effective cap space to make some deals, and a No. 4 overall pick which can be used to either get a top offensive lineman, or a receiver to make Ward’s life a lot easier.

The team has a solid GM in Mike Borgonzi who joined the organization with years of experience inside the Chiefs organization, and a new stadium on the way to renew excitement among the fanbase. They just need someone to come in and be better than Brian Callahan, which is easy to achieve.

No. 5: Arizona Cardinals

Arizona absolutely feels like the middle-of-the-road option here.

On the plus side, the Cardinals have the third-overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, along with the second pick in the second around, so talent is on the way.

Arizona also has $9 million in effective cap space for next season, so things could be worse there. This is also a roster that dealt with significant injuries on both sides of the football, most notably running back James Conner’s season-ending foot injury. But his was not the only injury Arizona needed to navigate in 2025, not by a long shot. When the Cardinals took the field for their Week 16 game against the Atlanta Falcons, only four Week 1 starters on the offensive side of the ball were available.

By that point in the season the Cardinals had used a league-high 80 players.

But the biggest question is the quarterback one: Where does Arizona go from here with Kyler Murray? There is every expectation that Murray has played his last down for the Cardinals, but how feasible is it for the organization to move their former starting quarterback? And who can Arizona replace him with? Is this going to be Jacoby Brissett’s team for 2026, as they look to the 2027 NFL Draft?

Of note is the fact that if Arizona simply releases Murray prior to June 1, they would incur a dead cap hit of $57.8 million, according to Spotrac.

That issue drops Arizona down a bit in these rankings.

No. 6: Cleveland Browns

Originally, I wanted to rank the Browns last.

But full credit to both James Dator and Jared Mueller for some effective lobbying.

Yes, figuring out quarterback is a priority. But circumstances – where Cleveland sits in the first round coupled with the fact this might be a 2QB class – might mean Year Two of the Shedeur Sanders show, and kicking that decision down the road a bit.

And yes, the Browns have to sort out the financial house. At the moment Cleveland is $12 million over the cap for 2026, but it could be worse.

However, putting that to the side for a moment, the new head coach in Cleveland inherits a talented defense with Myles Garrett, the likely Defensive Player of the Year. It is a unit that was among the league’s best in both Expected Points Allowed against the Run, and EPA/Pass. 

And you will also inherit a team with ten picks in the 2026 NFL Draft, including a pair of first-round selections.

That is not a bad way to turn things around, even with the quarterback question.

No. 7: Atlanta Falcons

Last and least we have the Falcons. Oh, the Falcons — where do we begin? The good thing is that you’re inheriting an 8-9 team with a decent amount of veteran talent. The problem is literally everything else.

Atlanta don’t have their first round pick, which is owed to the Rams in the James Pearce Jr. trade at the 2025 NFL Draft. The quarterback situation is a mess with Michael Penix Jr. being too inconsistent to have faith in, and Kirk Cousins needing a prayer to be a decent passer at this point. With a ludicrous amount of money already sunk into the QB position there’s no room to make a deal for a caretaker, and the team is $14M OVER their effective cap figure with only 43 players under contract.

It’s going to take tough decisions to release some of the only established talent on the roster to get under the cap, and no reasonable ways to improve in year one. That’s before we dive into the reality that Matt Ryan is poised to have a large role in the front office either as team president or GM, and his focus will be split between the Falcons and his broadcasting job at CBS — also he has no experience as a front office guy.

The future is dark for the Falcons. It’s going to take years to get out from under the mess they created while chasing the spurious belief they were “a QB away from the Super Bowl.” Whoever takes this job will need to accept it will take a miracle for them to still keep the job in three years time.