Chiefs, Jets among a number of squads with multiple firsts that must ace 2026 NFL Draft

There are now just nine days remaining until the 2026 NFL Draft kicks off on April 23.

At this point in the draft cycle, the league's 32 teams are working tirelessly to solidify their respective draft boards while rumors about various prospects and other squads' interests in prospects fly around at will. The draft is also the culmination of an entire year's work by every NFL team's scouting department. How well teams do in the draft can make or break a franchise, as well as the employment status of numerous employees, from interns all the way up to general managers.

This year's draft is also more consequential for some teams than others based on how much draft capital they have, how far along they are in their contention windows, where they're picking in the draft and how a respective team's coaching staff has done at developing the players their teams are drafting.

That's why we'll zoom in on some of the teams around the NFL that are at crucial junctures entering the 2026 draft and why maximizing their picks is just a few rungs below life or death on the scale of intensity life provides. Here is a look at the five AFC teams that have the most at stake in the 2026 NFL Draft. My colleague Jared Dubin produced his rankings for the NFC on Monday.

5. Miami Dolphins

The rebuild is on in Miami. The Dolphins brought in a new regime from the Green Bay Packers by hiring vice president of player personnel Jon-Eric Sullivan to be their new general manager and defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley to be their new head coach. They released quarterback Tua Tagovailoa despite that transaction causing them to eat an NFL record $99 million in dead money across 2026 and 2027. Wide receiver Jaylen Waddle was also sent packing to the AFC runner-up Denver Broncos in exchange for the 30th overall pick, 94th overall pick and 130th overall pick in this year's draft.

That has the Dolphins armed with 11 total draft picks in 2026, including their two first-round selections. Making the most of the first-round choices and more will be critical for Miami as it figures out what it has in new quarterback Malik Willis, whom it signed to a three-year, $67.5 million deal with $45 million guaranteed at signing. No one is expecting the Dolphins to light the world on fire in the first year of a new regime while turning over the roster, but acquiring enough pieces to where Willis, who has six career starts in four NFL seasons, can be fairly evaluated will be of the utmost importance. Especially ahead of a much deeper quarterback draft class in 2027.

4. Cleveland Browns

The Cleveland Browns and their fans had some hope early in the 2020s after playoff appearances in 2020 and 2023, including a playoff victory against the hated Pittsburgh Steelers in the 2020 wild-card round. However, the franchise has reverted back to being the same old Browns since after a 5-12 record in 2025 sealed consecutive years with 12 or more losses for the first time since the 2015 to 2017 seasons.

Cleveland now turns the page to another new era under head coach Todd Monken, the team's 11th head coach since they returned to the NFL in 1999 -- the second-most in the league in that span behind only the Raiders' 13. The Browns saw edge rusher Myles Garrett set an NFL single-season record with 23.0 sacks in 2025 to earn his second NFL Defensive Player of the Year award, but his efforts were in vain with just five wins to show for it. Retooling the NFL's 31st-ranked scoring offense (16.4 points per game) will be a major priority in this draft with the Browns looking for cornerstone players along the offensive line and at wide receiver.

The 2026 draft isn't the greatest to have a need at quarterback, so Cleveland will have to settle for building the best possible ecosystem around either Shedeur Sanders or Deshaun Watson in order to figure out if either is worth being a part of the new, long-term picture.

3. Las Vegas Raiders

Las Vegas Raiders' minority owner Tom Brady just witnessed his longtime football home, the New England Patriots, parlay an NFL record $364 million spent in free agency, plus picking in the top five of the draft last offseason, into a Super Bowl appearance. His Raiders suffered a franchise-worst 14 losses in 2025 and fired head coach Pete Carroll after just one season following a performance in which Las Vegas ranked dead last in the NFL in both scoring offense (14.2 points per game) and total offense (245.2 total yards per game).

However, the Raiders have a somewhat similar path to rebound toward playoff contention like the Patriots this year. Las Vegas spent the second-most money in free agency in 2026, $292.73 million, and they're picking first in the upcoming draft. It's all but official that new head coach Klint Kubiak will have a new franchise quarterback to develop in Fernando Mendoza, the 2025 Heisman Trophy winner and national champion with the Indiana Hoosiers, after selecting him first overall. After picking Mendoza, is when the pressure turns on. If the Raiders can hit on both of their Day 2 picks, they could be in position to build a strong, young team around their new face of the franchise right away.

The franchise needs this rebuild to come to fruition ASAP in order to cash in on their investment in Allegiant Stadium after relocating out of their long-time home in Oakland. Yours truly went to a Raiders' home game on "Monday Night Football" against the Dallas Cowboys, and there were way too many empty seats for a primetime game against one of the NFL's most popular teams.

2. Kansas City Chiefs

The Kansas City Chiefs collapsed in 2025 following three consecutive Super Bowl trips. They went 6-11 and missed the postseason entirely in 2025 after three-time Super Bowl MVP quarterback Patrick Mahomes tore his ACL and his LCL in a Week 15 loss against the Los Angeles Chargers on Dec. 14. Mahomes getting sacked a career-high 2.4 times per game certainly played a role.

However, the 2026 NFL Draft offers them the potential to get right back to contending for Super Bowls once again if they hit on their two first-round picks. As Kansas City did with All-Pro wide receiver Tyreek Hill back in 2022, they decided to trade away another All-Pro in cornerback Trent McDuffie instead of re-signing him to a long-term, top-of-the-market extension. As a result, the Chiefs are equipped with the Los Angeles Rams' 29th overall pick, 169th overall pick and 210th overall pick in this draft.

Yes, Kansas City isn't a traditional rebuilding team, but the urgency for them to hit on their selections at the top of this draft is just as high or higher than almost every team in the entire NFL. The Chiefs are projected to rank in the bottom 10 of the league in salary cap space in 2026, 2027 and 2028 according to OverTheCap.com, and this draft presents them a rare opportunity to pick inside the top 10 with Mahomes on the roster. Mahomes' 95 regular-season wins and 17 playoff wins are both the most in NFL history by a quarterback age-30 or younger: the Chiefs have cruised to, at a minimum, the AFC Championship game every season with him as their starting quarterback.

Hitting on these picks could give Mahomes and the Chiefs' dynasty years new life. Whiffing on these picks, given their salary cap situation, could create a Super Bowl dry spell.

1.  New York Jets

No team in the National Football League, let alone the AFC, needs to ace the 2026 NFL Draft more than the New York Jets. The 2025 NFL season marked their 15th in a row to miss the playoffs, the longest active drought across the NFL, the NBA, the MLB and the NHL.  Their 2025 squad was also the first since the 1987 Atlanta Falcons to rank dead last in the NFL in points per game differential (-11.9), total yards per game differential (-92.0) and turnover differential (-19) all in the same season, per CBS Sports Research. The Jets also set the record for the most consecutive losses by more than 21 points in NFL history by doing so in each of their last five games of 2025, and New York's 2025 team also became the first team in NFL history to record zero interceptions on defense.

That's why the Jets are once again in rebuild mode, but they do have the resources to actually turn things around this time. Deals at the trade deadline that sent All-Pro defensive tackle Quinnen Williams to the Dallas Cowboys and All-Pro cornerback Sauce Gardner to the Indianapolis Colts netted them two first-round picks and two second-round picks in the 2026 draft. If the Jets can acquire two cornerstone players in the opening round while netting, at minimum, two more serviceable starters in the second round, there could be a reason for hope for Gang Green. If this draft and the subsequent 2026 NFL season go poorly, head coach Aaron Glenn could be searching for a new job next offseason.