The AFC North enters 2026 with every franchise facing a reset of some kind. Baltimore, Cleveland and Pittsburgh have new head coaches, Cincinnati is counting on an upgraded defense to lift the pressure on Zac Taylor, and quarterback health could again shape the division race.
AFC North 2026: New coaches, quarterback stakes and defensive overhauls
Baltimore still expects to compete for championships despite replacing John Harbaugh with first-time head coach Jesse Minter. Cincinnati has built a far more expensive and accomplished defensive front around Joe Burrow. Cleveland is beginning Todd Monken’s first season as a head coach amid major uncertainty at quarterback and without Myles Garrett. Pittsburgh has paired Mike McCarthy with Aaron Rodgers following Mike Tomlin’s move into television.
Baltimore Ravens
Minter takes over a franchise with high expectations
- John Harbaugh’s exit puts Jesse Minter in charge of a Ravens team seeking a rebound from its disappointing 2025 finish.
- Minter, a product of the Harbaugh coaching tree, must show that a new voice can produce more than a cosmetic change in Baltimore.
- The Ravens are unusual among teams making a coaching change: they are still expected to challenge for the AFC North and make a Super Bowl push.
Minter’s biggest early challenge will be establishing his own program while maintaining a roster built to win immediately. The question is whether his connection to the previous regime provides continuity or prevents the organizational change Baltimore believes it needs.
Lamar Jackson gets a new coordinator
Lamar Jackson will work with 30-year-old offensive coordinator Declan Doyle, who is less than a year younger than the quarterback. Doyle spent 2025 as offensive coordinator in Chicago under Ben Johnson, but he did not call plays there. Baltimore will now give him that responsibility.
Jackson has embraced the new offense, and his relationship with Doyle will be central to how quickly the unit finds its footing. Derrick Henry, Mark Andrews, Zay Flowers and Rashod Bateman return, giving the coordinator an established group of playmakers. The Ravens must replace tight end Isaiah Likely, who departed in the offseason.
Defense aims to regain its identity
Baltimore’s defense struggled badly early last season after defensive lineman Nnamdi Madubuike suffered a significant neck injury. The lack of depth up front left Kyle Hamilton too often carrying the burden of making game-saving plays.
- Trey Hendrickson was signed to strengthen the pass rush.
- Madubuike could return during the 2026 season.
- Calais Campbell is back with Baltimore, adding veteran depth along the defensive front.
For Minter, the defense may determine Baltimore’s ceiling more than any offensive adjustment. A restored front could put the Ravens back among the conference’s serious contenders.
Cincinnati Bengals
Defensive investment must translate into wins
The Bengals have spent heavily to address the side of the ball that repeatedly undermined them. After the drama surrounding Trey Hendrickson’s previous holdout, Cincinnati added defensive tackle Jonathan Allen, edge rusher Boye Mafe, safeties Bryan Cook and Kyle Dugger in free agency. The club then made an even bigger move by trading for defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence.
The rebuilt unit looks substantially better on paper, but Cincinnati needs production rather than offseason praise. Defensive failures were a major reason for a third consecutive year outside the playoffs, and they contributed to Burrow publicly questioning his long-term football future last December.
Burrow’s availability remains vital
- A toe injury last season required surgery and sidelined Burrow for nine games.
- Cincinnati responded by trading for Joe Flacco while Burrow was out.
- When Burrow returned, the Bengals needed an almost flawless finish to revive their playoff chances, but the team fell short.
- In 2023, a season-ending wrist injury cost Burrow the final seven games.
The Bengals’ postseason hopes continue to rest on having Burrow on the field. If he stays healthy and the defensive additions perform as expected, Cincinnati has the talent to return to January football.
Zac Taylor faces a defining season
Taylor survived a 2025 season that could have justified a coaching change, making him the AFC North’s lone returning head coach entering 2026. The circumstances around him have changed: the defense has been upgraded, and a healthy Burrow has the supporting cast to operate at an elite level.
If Cincinnati again misses expectations, Taylor will have little protection from criticism. The Bengals have built a roster intended to contend now.
Cleveland Browns
Todd Monken begins his first head-coaching job
Cleveland dismissed Kevin Stefanski after six seasons, despite his two NFL Coach of the Year awards and the franchise’s only playoff victory since returning as an expansion team in 1999. Owner Jimmy Haslam retained general manager Andrew Berry, pointing to the club’s 2025 draft class and the improvement of kicker Andre Szmyt.
Berry followed with another draft class he hopes can advance the rebuild, although the franchise remains weighed down by the Deshaun Watson trade. Cleveland sent three first-round selections away for Watson and gave him a fully guaranteed $230 million contract.
Monken replaces Stefanski after serving as an offensive coordinator and inherits a young roster that is not widely viewed as ready for immediate contention. His arrival has energized the team, but the Browns’ results will reveal whether that energy can become meaningful progress. Haslam’s patience could be tested if the turnaround takes time.
Quarterback uncertainty clouds the new offense
Monken will install a revamped offense with first-time coordinator Travis Switzer. The scheme is intended to move Cleveland away from an attack that had grown stale under Stefanski, but it cannot resolve the quarterback problem on its own.
The Browns appear to be positioning Watson for a chance to reclaim the starting role, while 2025 fifth-round selection Shedeur Sanders waits behind him. Watson, now 30, would need to rediscover the level he showed in Houston to secure the job for long. If that does not happen, Cleveland could be headed for another difficult season at quarterback and potentially toward the quarterback-rich 2027 draft.
Life after Garrett and Jim Schwartz
- Garrett set the NFL single-season sack record in 2025, his last year with the Browns.
- Cleveland traded him to the Los Angeles Rams for edge rusher Jared Verse and a package that includes the Rams’ 2027 first-round pick.
- The Browns lose Garrett’s 23 sacks from last season, along with the attention he demanded from every opposing protection plan.
- Defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz also departed, creating another major change on the club’s strongest unit of the past two years.
The Browns still have important defensive building blocks in Defensive Rookie of the Year Carson Schwesinger, five-time Pro Bowl cornerback Denzel Ward, Verse and second-year defensive tackle Mason Graham. They will need that talent to prove it can withstand the loss of Garrett and a new voice on the sideline.
Pittsburgh Steelers
McCarthy and Rodgers shape the post-Tomlin era
Mike McCarthy has returned to the NFL to coach his hometown Steelers, replacing Tomlin after the longtime Pittsburgh coach left for a television job. Rather than hiring a rising young coach, Pittsburgh chose a Super Bowl-winning veteran.
The hiring was viewed as a potential way to entice Aaron Rodgers into playing a 22nd NFL season, and Rodgers did return. The pairing brings obvious Green Bay connections, but its success is far from assured.
McCarthy’s history of leading high-scoring offenses offers Pittsburgh hope after years of low-ceiling attacks. The addition of veteran wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr. also gives Rodgers another target. Still, the quarterback depth chart is thin behind Rodgers, with Mason Rudolph, 2025 sixth-round pick Will Howard and 2026 third-rounder Drew Allar available.
An injury or decline at quarterback would sharply damage Pittsburgh’s hopes of ending a playoff-win drought that dates to the 2016 season. The Steelers can no longer rely on the annual expectation of a .500-or-better finish that became routine under Tomlin.
Run game needs answers behind a bigger front
Pittsburgh leaned heavily on tight end-based formations in 2025, using Darnell Washington, Pat Freiermuth, Jonnu Smith and Connor Heyward to add power at the line of scrimmage. Smith and Heyward are no longer on the roster, but the first-round selection of Arizona State offensive tackle Max Iheanachor should help the blocking unit.
- Jaylen Warren enters as the lead running back.
- Free-agent addition Rico Dowdle brings big-play potential after posting 389 rushing yards across Weeks 5 and 6 for Carolina last season.
- Kaleb Johnson remains unproven after averaging 2.5 yards on 28 carries as a rookie.
The Steelers appear equipped to create rushing lanes, but McCarthy must find the right balance. That is especially important with the less mobile Rodgers expected to lead the offense.
Patrick Graham inherits an underperforming defense
McCarthy hired Patrick Graham as defensive coordinator after Tomlin’s departure brought change to Pittsburgh’s staff. The Steelers finished 26th in total defense under former coordinator Teryl Austin in 2025, a poor result for a unit carrying major payroll expectations.
Graham’s record has been uneven. His defenses with the Dolphins, Giants and Raiders generally sat around the middle of the league. New York finished 12th in total defense in 2020, while Miami ranked 30th in 2019. With Las Vegas, Graham guided two 15th-ranked total defenses in 2023 and 2024, then improved to 14th in 2025, though the Raiders were 25th in scoring defense.
Pittsburgh offers Graham a stronger collection of talent than he had in Las Vegas. If he can turn that personnel into a dependable unit while McCarthy improves the offense, the Steelers could become a legitimate factor in the division.
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AFC North 2026 Preview: Ravens, Bengals, Browns and Steelers
SEO Description
Sunday-desk preview of the AFC North in 2026, covering new coaches, quarterback questions, major roster moves and defensive changes.
