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The NFL offseason is a time for teams to reset and reevaluate their rosters to be in better shape next season than the past one. Franchises start to fill roster holes early in the offseason through trades and free agency and continue into the draft. Some NFL teams draft for need, and some draft strictly with an eye on talent. Either way, most teams still have weaknesses on their rosters even after the draft.
At this point in the offseason, a roster hole does not necessarily mean it's a position with no clear starters. Most teams have filled all their holes but are left with certain units where the depth is sketchy.
Below, I took a look at the biggest remaining holes for all 32 NFL rosters now that the 2026 draft is done. (Many of the advanced stats referenced below — including DVOA — are explained here.) Let’s go by division, starting with the AFC East.
Jump to:
ARI | ATL | BAL | BUF | CAR | CHI | CIN
CLE | DAL | DEN | DET | GB | HOU | IND
JAX | KC | LAC | LAR | LV | MIA | MIN
NE | NO | NYG | NYJ | PHI | PIT | SF
SEA | TB | TEN | WSH
AFC East
Buffalo Bills
Left guard
After David Edwards left for the Saints in free agency, the Bills have a few options at the position but no clear starter. One possibility is veteran Austin Corbett, who dealt with injuries in 2023 and 2024 but started 11 games for Carolina last season. Another possibility is third-year lineman Alec Anderson, who played the role of extra tight end in six-lineman sets for the past two seasons.
The Bills also used a fourth-round pick on Jude Bowry, and some are projecting that he’ll switch from tackle to guard in the pros. If the Bills want to add one more veteran free agent who can play left guard, a great option would be Joel Bitonio, who spent his entire career in Cleveland and might be willing to sign for less money with an opportunity to pursue a Super Bowl title in Buffalo.
Miami Dolphins
Safety
The Dolphins have plenty of positions where there isn't really a hole, per se, just a collection of uninspiring veterans and middle-round picks. The one that stands out most is safety.
Currently penciled in to start at safety are veteran Lonnie Johnson Jr., who is 30 and has started only three games in the past four seasons, and Dante Trader Jr., who started just three games as a fifth-round rookie in 2025 but managed to make 55 tackles. Behind the starters, fourth-round pick Kyle Louis (a linebacker-safety hybrid) and fifth-round pick Michael Taaffe are next in line. The available safeties in free agency include Donovan Wilson (31 years old), Xavier Woods (31) and Taylor Rapp (29).
New England Patriots
Cornerback depth
No starting position is a problem for the defending AFC champions, but there are areas where depth could use bolstering. Cornerback stands out behind starters Christian Gonzalez, Carlton Davis III and Marcus Jones.
The top backup is Kindle Vildor, who is on his sixth roster since 2022. Vildor has played only 23% of defensive snaps in games where he was active over the past two seasons. Fifth-round rookie Karon Prunty was seen as a reach by consensus boards, and Scouts Inc. didn’t even rank him among their top 300 players for this year’s draft. Charles Woods, the backup nickel, played 117 snaps for the Patriots last season. Veterans such as Adoree’ Jackson and Rasul Douglas would be interesting choices for depth.
New York Jets
Wide receiver
The Jets have a star pass catcher in Garrett Wilson and brought in first-round pick Omar Cooper Jr., but right now, the third starting wideout is set to be Adonai Mitchell.
The Jets brought him over from the Colts in a trade last year, and while he has a ton of talent, he hasn’t developed in the NFL. Mitchell had just 33 catches for 453 yards and two touchdowns last season in eight games for the Colts and Jets. Behind the starters, the Jets have 2025 fourth-round pick Arian Smith, return specialist Isaiah Williams and a bunch of past UDFAs with little NFL experience.
AFC North
Baltimore Ravens
Center
The Ravens were unable to retain Tyler Linderbaum, and now have a major hole at the center position. Corey Bullock, a 2024 UDFA, has played a grand total of 13 offensive snaps during the regular season. Jovaughn Gwyn has played 11 snaps in three seasons with Atlanta.
The alternative might be to move over a guard such as Andrew Vorhees. Available veterans on the free agent market include Ryan Kelly, Ethan Pocic and Liam Eichenberg.
Cincinnati Bengals
Wide receiver depth
Obviously, the Bengals are in serious trouble if Ja’Marr Chase or Tee Higgins goes down, but frankly they aren’t really in a great position if they lose slot receiver Andrei Iosivas either.
Right now, the top outside backup is fourth-round rookie Colbie Young. The top slot backup is Charlie Jones, who has caught just one regular-season pass over the past two years. There are a number of veteran receivers still on the market; Deebo Samuel might be a little costly for a fourth receiver, but the unrelated Curtis Samuel might be a good choice.
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Cleveland Browns
Quarterback
The Browns have three quarterbacks who will battle for the starting job in 2025, but it's hard to pretend that any of them have been good. Last season, as rookies, Dillon Gabriel had a QBR of 31.4 and Shedeur Sanders was at 18.9. The season before, veteran Deshaun Watson had a 21.0 QBR before tearing an Achilles. Cleveland might have to wait for the 2027 draft to select its future franchise quarterback.
Pittsburgh Steelers
Wide receiver depth
If we assume that Aaron Rodgers is returning to play quarterback, then Pittsburgh’s two-deep depth chart is pretty solid. There are plenty of average players, but it’s hard to find places where the Steelers need to go from bad to average.
The biggest question might be what the Steelers will do if a receiver suffers an injury or if rookie Germie Bernard struggles. Roman Wilson barely played in his rookie season and had just 12 catches in 2025, his second season. Ben Skowronek can be a useful jack-of-all-trades but has only nine receptions over his two seasons in Pittsburgh. Fourth-round pick Kaden Wetjen is primarily a return specialist.
AFC South
Houston Texans
Edge rusher depth
The Texans' starting edge rushers are outstanding, with Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter combining for 27 sacks last season. However, edge rushers don’t play every snap on defense. Last year, Anderson played 67% of defensive snaps, while Hunter played 70%. And the depth chart behind Anderson and Hunter is weak now that Derek Barnett and Denico Autry are gone.
Dominique Robinson, who signed in free agency, had just 1.5 sacks in 12 games last season with the Bears. Dylan Horton has only a half sack over three seasons in Houston. The Texans are the perfect landing spot for a veteran pass rusher who can play a rotational role, whether that’s Haason Reddick, Joey Bosa or Leonard Floyd. Barnett and Autry are also still unsigned.
Indianapolis Colts
Wide receiver
The Colts handed Alec Pierce a huge new contract but forgot to get a good receiver to play across from him. The second outside receiver penciled in is Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, who had just 11 receptions for 89 yards last season in Miami. His career numbers are juiced by nine touchdowns in 2024, but Westbrook-Ikhine has never topped 500 yards in a season. Behind him are veteran Ashton Dulin, who has seven catches over the past two seasons, and third-year receiver Anthony Gould, who has three career catches.
Seventh-rounder Deion Burks could play a role. Obviously, tight end Tyler Warren plays a huge part in the Colts’ passing game, and Josh Downs is strong in the slot, but it’s still a good idea to upgrade at wide receiver.
Jacksonville Jaguars
Edge rusher depth
Jacksonville needs a veteran rotational edge rusher behind starters Travon Walker and Josh Hines-Allen. The third edge rusher is B.J. Green II, a 2025 UDFA, who had two sacks as a rookie. The other rotational edge rusher will be 2026 fourth-rounder Wesley Williams.
Yes, Arik Armstead could sometimes kick out to the edge, but the Jaguars need to consider the same veteran free agent edge rushers who are listed above for their rivals in Houston.
Tennessee Titans
Right guard
The Titans have plenty of bodies to throw at this problem, but none of them are established starters. Former Bengals starter Cordell Volson missed all of last season with a shoulder injury, but before that, he ranked 61st out of 64 qualifying guards in pass block win rate in 2024. Jackson Slater, a 2025 fifth-round pick, didn’t start a game as a rookie, and the Titans didn’t select an offensive lineman in this year’s draft until Fernando Carmona in the fifth round.
AFC West
Denver Broncos
Right defensive end
First-team All-Pro Zach Allen holds down the left end spot in Denver’s 3-4 base defense, but who will be on the right side? Eyioma Uwazurike is in his fifth season with the Broncos and has started only one game. He played 36% of Denver’s defensive snaps last season. Last year’s third-round pick, Sai’vion Jones, played only 2.9% of snaps. And this year’s third-rounder, Tyler Onyedim, might not be ready to play significant snaps for a serious playoff contender.
Kansas City Chiefs
Wide receiver
The performance of the Chiefs' wide receivers, according to ESPN’s receiver scores last season, were significantly bad. Rashee Rice is generally believed to be one of the league’s top slot receivers, but he scored just a 49 out of 100 in an off season. Tyquan Thornton had a 36 and Xaiver Worthy just a 25.
The top player behind these three receivers is 2025 fourth-round pick Jalen Royals, who had just two catches in his rookie season for 4 yards. The Chiefs also have return specialist Nikko Remigio and fifth-round rookie Cyrus Allen. They really must add a veteran free agent here.
Las Vegas Raiders
Outside wide receiver
The Raiders have wide receivers, but no one is established as a No. 1 option. (Yes, their No. 1 receiver is tight end Brock Bowers, but it is still good to have somebody drawing attention outside.) Tre Tucker is going into his fourth season and had 57 catches for 696 yards and five touchdowns last season, but he also had a score of just 29 out of 100 in the ESPN receiver scores. Jack Bech (20 catches for 224 yards) and Dont’e Thornton Jr. (10 catches for 135 yards) underwhelmed in their rookie seasons. Dareke Young had just four receptions in four seasons with Seattle before signing with Las Vegas this offseason, and rookie Malik Benson is a sixth-round pick.
Los Angeles Chargers
Right guard
The Chargers probably don't believe this is a hole because they signed Cole Strange from the Dolphins and have Trevor Penning around as an all-purpose backup lineman. However, Strange underwhelmed as a 2022 first-round pick in New England, and even in his best season last year, he ranked only 40th among guards in pass block win rate and 48th in run block win rate. Penning washed out in New Orleans and would also make a below-average starter.
NFC East
Dallas Cowboys
Edge rusher
The Cowboys have a surprisingly solid two-deep across their depth chart. Edge rusher is a position that isn't a hole, per se, but definitely has questions.
Rashan Gary, acquired from Green Bay, didn’t have a sack in the final 10 games of last season. Donovan Ezeiruaku is coming off hip surgery and has been limited in the offseason. Sam Williams had just one sack in 2025. James Houston had 5.5 sacks but couldn’t play against the run. Marist Liufau is moving to the edge but hasn’t played the position before. And first-rounder Malachi Lawrence is a promising rookie, but he’s still a rookie.
New York Giants
Center
Now that the Giants have signed Shelby Harris and DJ Reader to fill holes along the defensive front, they don’t have any glaring holes in the starting lineup. However, they do have weaknesses, and one of them is John Michael Schmitz Jr., who has never quite lived up to his second-round draft potential in the center of the offensive line.
Last year, Schmitz ranked 23rd among starting centers with a 94.1% pass block win rate and 27th with a 65.1% run block win rate. The Giants brought in veteran Lucas Patrick to back up Schmitz, but Patrick played in only six games for the Bengals last season, partly due to a calf injury, and will be 33 years old this season.
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Philadelphia Eagles
Strong safety
Andrew Mukuba had an excellent rookie season at one safety position, but the Eagles have questions at the other with Reed Blankenship gone. The starter penciled in is Marcus Epps, who started four games last season after returning to the Eagles following two seasons with Las Vegas. If Epps were hurt, the Eagles might have to use a converted cornerback such as Michael Carter II or Jonathan Jones, or perhaps J.T. Gray. Gray is a former All-Pro special teams gunner, but he didn’t play a defensive snap in the 2025 regular season.
Washington Commanders
Wide receiver
There is a collection of players behind Terry McLaurin waiting for someone to break out. Is Treylon Burks ready to be a starter after three seasons of struggling in Tennessee followed by a few notable catches in 2025 for Washington? Can Luke McCaffrey expand past the 11 catches for 203 yards and three touchdowns that he had in his second season? Or is rookie third-rounder Antonio Williams ready for the big time? The Commanders also have Jaylin Lane, who had 16 receptions for 225 yards as a rookie last season, and veteran Dyami Brown, who had 227 yards in Jacksonville in 2025.
NFC North
Chicago Bears
Slot receiver
The Bears use a lot of two tight-end sets. However, they still were in 11 personnel 52% of the time last season, so they need to have a third starting receiver to go with Rome Odunze and Luther Burden III. Right now, that’s veteran Kalif Raymond, but Raymond is 31 and has had less than 300 yards in each of the past two seasons. The other alternative is third-round rookie Zavion Thomas. Deebo Samuel would be a really interesting free agent signing here.
Detroit Lions
Right guard
This isn't a hole the Lions are going to try to plug because they're counting on improvement from 2025 second-round pick Tate Ratledge. However, he was a real weakness last season. Ratledge’s pass block win rate of 87.4% ranked 63rd out of 65 qualifying guards, and his run block win rate of 69.9% was below average.
Green Bay Packers
Edge rusher
Wide receiver depth is also an issue for the Packers, but at least their three starting receivers are all supposed to start the season healthy. What happens to the Packers' defense if Micah Parsons, who suffered a torn ACL in December, is not ready for Week 1?
The other starting edge rusher is slated to be Lukas Van Ness, who had just 1.5 sacks in nine games last season. The top backups are fourth-round rookie Dani Dennis-Sutton and Barryn Sorrell, who had 1.5 sacks while playing 16% of the Packers’ defensive snaps as a rookie last season. This is a team that really needs to explore the remaining free agents in the veteran edge rusher market.
Minnesota Vikings
Wide receiver
Justin Jefferson? One of the best. Jordan Addison? The Vikings happily picked up his fifth-year option. But what about a third starting wide receiver? Tai Felton, who had three catches as a rookie in 2025 is the option for now. There’s no depth here, either, as the Vikings don’t have another wide receiver who was either drafted or has ever caught a regular season pass in the NFL. Would Stefon Diggs like to return to where his career started? How about some interest in Jauan Jennings or Deebo Samuel? The Vikings need a veteran receiver addition.
NFC South
Atlanta Falcons
Outside wide receiver
Sure, the Falcons could depend upon Jahan Dotson, who signed from the Eagles this offseason. But last year, Dotson had a 24 out of 100 score in ESPN’s receiver tracking metrics, nearly at the bottom of the league. Dotson had less than 300 receiving yards in each of the past two seasons. Atlanta’s other free agent signing, Olamide Zaccheaus, is more of a slot receiver, while third-round pick Zachariah Branch is strictly a slot receiver. Behind Dotson on the depth chart are Casey Washington and Deven Thompkins, who combined to catch just nine passes for the Falcons last season.
Carolina Panthers
Running back
The Panthers let Rico Dowdle leave in free agency and are planning to start Chuba Hubbard, who was excellent in 2024 but last year had the lowest avoided tackle rate among backs with at least 100 carries, according to FTN charting. The top back behind Hubbard is Jonathon Brooks, who tore an ACL in 2023 and 2024 and has just nine carries over his first two NFL seasons. Trevor Etienne had 94 yards on 20 carries in 2025, while veteran AJ Dillon barely saw the field for the Eagles. Carolina ranked ninth in run offense DVOA for the first half of the season, but only 22nd from Week 10 onward.
New Orleans Saints
Elusive slot receiver
What the Saints are missing is more about an archetype rather than a position. Their top receivers are all tall players who specialize in playing on the outside. Chris Olave is the shortest of the top four Saints receivers at 6-foot, but he’s certainly not an elusive slot guy. Rookies Jordyn Tyson and Bryce Lance are 6-foot-2 and 6-foot-3, respectively. Devaughn Vele is a big slot at 6-foot-5.
For a smaller, elusive slot receiver, the Saints have third-year player Mason Tipton, but Tipton had just 11 catches for 76 yards in 14 games last season. They also have sixth-round rookie, Barion Brown, but this is a place where the Saints could use another veteran.
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Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Outside cornerback depth
The Buccaneers have plenty of options in the slot. Tykee Smith was a nickel a couple of seasons ago, Jacob Parrish was a nickel in 2025 and fourth-round rookie Keionte Scott is a great nickel/safety hybrid addition.
But what happens if there's an injury to one of the starting outside cornerbacks, either Zyon McCollum or Benjamin Morrison? The third outside corner is Josh Hayes, who didn’t play a single defensive snap last season. The fourth outside corner is Damarion Williams, who hasn’t played any regular season snaps since 2023. Veterans such as Trevon Diggs and L’Jarius Sneed make sense here if they can be signed.
NFC WEST
Arizona Cardinals
Wide receiver
My first suggestion was going to be center, but while Hjalte Froholdt was poor in pass block win rate (93.9%) last season, he was excellent in run block win rate (74.1%). Instead, let’s look at the wide receiver depth chart.
Marvin Harrison Jr. and Michael Wilson are the top two here, but it will be interesting to see how much Kendrick Bourne can bring as a third option. He managed to make 37 catches for 551 yards last season in San Francisco, but he is 30. Then depth behind these three is an issue. Devin Duvernay is primarily a return specialist, Xavier Weaver only had seven catches in 2025, and players such as Andre Baccellia and Simi Fehoko have been bouncing between the practice squad and the roster for years. The Cardinals also have fifth-round rookie Reggie Virgil.
Los Angeles Rams
Wide receiver depth
There are a number of players behind Davante Adams and Puka Nacua, but none of them particularly stand out. The Rams didn’t invest in a receiver via the draft until CJ Daniels in the sixth round. Deep threat Xavier Smith had 18 catches for 303 yards last season, while Jordan Whittington — well-regarded for his run blocking — had 18 catches for 171 yards. Konata Mumpfield had 10 catches for 92 yards with a touchdown as a rookie. The Rams can get value out of these players.
San Francisco 49ers
Left guard
There are four players ready to compete for the position. The probable starter is Connor Colby, who started six games last season as a seventh-round rookie. The 49ers also signed Robert Jones, who started a full season for Miami in 2024 and then signed with Dallas but lost the entire 2025 season to a broken bone in his neck.
The other two options are possible tackle-to-guard conversions from this year's draft: fourth-rounder Carver Willis and fifth-rounder Enrique Cruz Jr. Both players were drafted higher than Scouts Inc. had them ranked for ESPN. (Willis was ranked 206th and went 127th, while Cruz was ranked 258th and went 179th.)
Seattle Seahawks
Edge rusher depth
The Seahawks like to rotate their edge rushers, as their top four last season all played between 36% and 56% of defensive snaps. However, Boye Mafe left in free agency and was never replaced. DeMarcus Lawrence is 34, and Uchenna Nwosu will be 30 in December. Behind those two players and Derick Hall are Patrick O’Connell (one sack in three seasons) and Jared Ivey (only played in two games last season).
This would be a good spot for a veteran who wants a shot at a ring, such as Joey Bosa, Haason Reddick or Leonard Floyd — or the Seahawks could go younger with AJ Epenesa or Mike Danna.
