NFL
NFL Draft and Offseason 2026: the complete story
The 2026 NFL Draft is just around the corner, kicking off this week in Pittsburgh. After the chaos of free agency, this is the moment for teams to further shape their future, and for the players themselves, the moment that changes their lives. But how does the NFL Draft actually work, what happened in the run-up to it, and what was left to debate once the dust settled?
What Is the NFL Draft and How Does It Work?
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Players pickedacross seven rounds
All 32 teams pick once per round.
The NFL Draft is the annual event in which all 32 teams select players from college football. A draft pick is essentially a selection turn: teams pick in a fixed order, usually based on how well or poorly they performed the previous season. There are 7 rounds in total, with more than 250 players selected.
While NBA Draft players sometimes come from the EuroLeague or elsewhere in the world, NFL players almost exclusively come from the American college system, where many have already played at a high level for crowds that would be unthinkable in the Netherlands: the 2013 Michigan-Notre Dame game drew over 115,000 spectators, compared to the roughly 60,000 capacity of Amsterdam's Johan Cruijff Arena.
Teams gather data through the NFL Combine (speed, strength, explosiveness) and interviews, looking for both talent and mentality. Trades also play a major role: teams swap picks to move up for a specific player, or to collect more selections. Players on rookie contracts are relatively cheap, which makes the Draft the primary way teams build their core. A good draft can bring years of success; a bad one can set a franchise back for years.
The Biggest Surprises, Winners and Losers
What do Rueben Bain Jr., Arvell Reese, Ty Simpson, Jermod McCoy and Garrett Nussmeier have in common? Five players who were ultimately selected at spots almost nobody predicted. Really only one thing was certain going in: Fernando Mendoza would be the first quarterback off the board, to the Los Angeles Rams.
Arvell Reese (Ohio State) fell from an expected pick 2 all the way to pick 5, where the New York Giants snapped him up. The Giants kept building from there with offensive lineman Francis Mauigoa, cornerback Colton Hood, and wide receiver Malachi Fields, making theirs one of the strongest drafts of the weekend. Rueben Bain Jr. (Miami), viewed by some as a top-3 talent, had to wait until pick 15, where the Tampa Bay Buccaneers welcomed him with open arms.
Quarterback Ty Simpson (Alabama) surprisingly went at pick 13 to the Los Angeles Rams, while Garrett Nussmeier (LSU), seen pre-draft as a comparable prospect, didn't come off the board until pick 249. C.J. Allen, Emmanuel McNeil-Warren and Jermod McCoy also waited longer than expected.
On the winning side: the Cleveland Browns made excellent moves with Spencer Fano and KC Concepcion among others, the Dallas Cowboys landed Caleb Downs and Malachi Lawrence, and the Kansas City Chiefs built what might be the strongest draft of the class with Mansoor Delane, Peter Woods and R.
Mason Thomas. The Arizona Cardinals, Minnesota Vikings, Jacksonville Jaguars and Denver Broncos fared worse, partly due to limited draft capital, partly due to picks that seemed questionable at first glance.
Recap Part 2: Where the Remaining Teams Stand
Beyond the headline names, there was plenty to find across the rest of the league. The Carolina Panthers went for pure size and power with Monroe Freeling, Lee Hunter and Chris Brazzell II: not a finesse draft, but a statement that this roster intends to physically dominate from the line of scrimmage.
The Cincinnati Bengals built on their earlier trade for Dexter Lawrence II by adding speed and length to the defense with Cashius Howell and Tacario Davis. The Chicago Bears landed a real steal in safety Dillon Thieneman at pick 25, a player many expected to go much higher.
The Houston Texans stayed true to their physical identity with Keylan Rutledge, Kayden McDonald and Marlin Klein. Rutledge summed it up perfectly after being drafted: "finish the guy in the dirt." With 13 picks, the Miami Dolphins added depth everywhere, with wide receiver Chris Bell at pick 94 standing out as the quiet value pick to watch.
The New Orleans Saints looked for more offensive balance with Jordyn Tyson and Oscar Delp, though the roster still doesn't feel fully balanced.
More questionable were the picks from the Pittsburgh Steelers (project quarterback Drew Allar at pick 76), the San Francisco 49ers (De'Zhaun Stribling at a spot that sparked value debates), and the Philadelphia Eagles (upside pick Makai Lemon, with plenty of uncertainty about immediate impact).
Strategy, Talent, and Capital: The Two Sides of the Offseason
The NFL offseason is arguably the busiest period of the year. Teams aren't competing on the field; they're maneuvering on paper and in boardrooms. At this stage, two strategies consistently emerge side by side: teams going all-in to acquire superstars, and teams accumulating draft picks to develop young talent instead. Draft picks function as the league's real currency, each selection can be used to take new talent or traded for proven players.
One of the most notable storylines heading into the draft was the saga around Maxx Crosby. The Baltimore Ravens had agreed to a trade in exchange for two first-round picks, but the deal fell through after a failed medical exam. As an alternative, the Ravens signed Trey Hendrickson instead, without giving up any picks. The Las Vegas Raiders also strengthened their roster, while the Tennessee Titans and New York Jets spent heavily during this stretch.
The Offseason So Far: Free Agency and the First Major Trade
The confetti had barely been swept up after Super Bowl LX, in which the Seattle Seahawks defeated the New England Patriots, before the NFL moved straight on to the offseason. Free agency brought immediate movement: the Buffalo Bills bolstered their offense with wide receiver DJ Moore, the Kansas City Chiefs added running back and Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker III, and the Las Vegas Raiders signed center Tyler Linderbaum, a perfect addition to better protect a new first-year quarterback.
Jaelan Phillips signed a massive contract with the Carolina Panthers, and Trey Hendrickson ultimately landed with the Baltimore Ravens rather than Maxx Crosby, as had been speculated earlier. But the biggest news came out of Cincinnati: the Bengals acquired defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence II from the New York Giants in exchange for their first-round pick in the 2026 Draft, immediately extending his contract through 2028.
According to insiders, this was tied to the fact that this year's draft offered few players outside the top 5 to 7 who could make an immediate impact. The Bengals want to win now, not wait a few more years.
Minicamps Have Started, But the Conversation Is Still About Two Trades
The NFL's mandatory minicamps have now started too, normally quiet weeks of first installations and repetitions. But this year feels different. The conversation around the league is still dominated by two blockbuster trades that reshuffled the NFL: A.J. Brown to the New England Patriots and Myles Garrett to the Los Angeles Rams. Moves that don't just change rosters, but also the balance of power in both the AFC and NFC.
The season starts on the field. But the story of this offseason, as always, was already written in the boardrooms of the NFL.