The New Year is almost here, which means, for many NFL teams, their season is about to end. They will play one more game this weekend before hanging up their cleats and preparing for the offseason.

For many of these teams, there’s a lot to fix. Whether that’s on the coaching staff or roster, it doesn’t matter. Change is needed for almost every one of these teams, so today, I’ve gone through every non-playoff team and identified what their new year’s resolution should be.

Here’s one thing every non-playoff team should vow to fix heading into 2026.

Dallas Cowboys: Secondary

The Dallas Cowboys have one glaring issue on their roster, and it’s their secondary. They are the worst pass defense in the league, which has caused them to miss the playoffs despite having a playoff roster. They’ve already improved against the run with the addition of Quinnen Williams, but they need to completely reload on the backend if they want to make it to the postseason in 2026 (especially after Trevon Diggs’ dismissal). A change at defensive coordinator could be their second New Year’s resolution as well, but I’d say improving their secondary is a bigger issue.

Kansas City Chiefs: Run Game

The Kansas City Chiefs missed the playoffs for the first time in a decade this season. They had quite a few issues, but their most glaring was their lack of a consistent run game. Isaiah Pacheco and Kareem Hunt are fine, but they need a game-changer. And right now, they’re in position to land one in the draft. Jeremiyah Love is one of the best running back prospects in years, and he could fall right into KC’s lap if they end up picking in the top-10. They could also target some backs in free agency, most notably Breece Hall.

Detroit Lions: Depth

The Detroit Lions were killed by injuries this year. They didn’t really strike their key playmakers like Jared Goff, Amon-Ra St. Brown, and Jahmyr Gibbs, but they had multiple injuries along their offensive line and their secondary, which killed them. Finding some more depth this offseason should be of utmost importance for Detroit, especially in those two areas. They need to draft well and find some cheap players in free agency who can come in and make a difference if they’re hit by the injury bug again in 2026.

New York Giants: Defense

The New York Giants should be one of the most attractive jobs available. They have a good, young quarterback, some talented playmakers, and a defensive line that is loaded with talent. They just really need to fix their defense. There’s no reason a defense with Brian Burns, Kayvon Thibodeaux, Abdul Carter, and Dexter Lawrence up front should be this bad. That pass rush should be feasting, and it should make everyone else’s job easier. But it isn’t. They need to improve some of their personnel, but they need to make a change at defensive coordinator, and luckily, the new head coach probably will. With a solid defense next year, this team could make some noise.

New York Jets: Pretty Much Everything

The New York Jets need a full reset. Aaron Glenn tried to make this team competitive, but he failed in year one. Now, it’s time to blow it up. Let Breece Hall walk, spend big in free agency, and hope you hit on as many draft picks as you can. Maybe even try to bring in someone like Kyler Murray or Jacoby Brissett at quarterback to see if they can’t provide some kind of a spark. Just tear it down and restart from scratch, because you’re not close to competing next year. I will say, I do like their two offensive tackles, so that’s a huge plus for a rebuild.

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Cincinnati Bengals: Offensive Line

The Cincinnati Bengals have had an offensive line problem for a long time, and they’ve refused to try and fix it. They did draft Amarius Mims a couple of years back, but he hasn’t been all that fantastic, and there are still plenty of holes on this offensive line, which ranked 26th in PFF pass blocking grade. Joe Burrow’s injury this year showed why the Bengals need to patch up that offensive line. When Burrow started, the Bengals were 5-2 this year. When he didn’t, they were 1-8. Simple math tells you the best way to win is to ensure he’s healthy. And that begins with fixing some problems up front.

Indianapolis Colts: Quarterback

Daniel Jones did tremendous things in Indianapolis this season before he got hurt, but are we sure the Colts should shell out a big, long-term contract to keep him around? I’m not. And we saw this year what happens to this team with subpar quarterback play. Sure, Jones can win you some regular-season games. But do they truly think he can win them a Super Bowl? If I’m the Colts, I know I’m an attractive option to all these free agents. Maybe they try to take a swing at Kyler Murray, or if they’re really feeling frisky, offer a boatload of picks for Joe Burrow. I don’t know the exact answer, but they need to fix their quarterback situation, even if that means signing Jones to a short-term deal. I just don’t think giving him 40 million a year coming off an Achilles tear is the answer.

Minnesota Vikings: Justin Jefferson

This isn’t a knock on Justin Jefferson himself. He’s still arguably the best receiver in the league. This is more of a knock on Minnesota not finding ways to get him the ball. In 16 games this year, Jefferson has been targeted 130 times. In every other season, outside of his rookie year, that he’s played 16+ games, he’s seen at least 154 targets, and that number has been as high as 184. They just did not get him the ball this year, and it really limited their offensive production. J.J. McCarthy really needs to find ways to get his best receiver the ball more often next season.

Miami Dolphins: Inconsistency

The Miami Dolphins have been one of the most inconsistent teams in the NFL this season, and that’s due to multiple reasons. Tua Tagovailoa is the main one, but pretty much everyone on their team outside of De’Von Achane took some games off. Their defense would struggle, and then randomly show up in the next game. Jaylen Waddle would have a big game, then disappear off the face of the earth the next (though that could be attributed to Tua). They just weren’t consistent, which sucks, because when they played well, they were very competitive. Making a change at quarterback will certainly help, but their defense needs some work if they want to challenge for the playoffs next year.

New Orleans Saints: Playmakers

The New Orleans Saints have been one of the hottest teams at the end of the year, largely due to the play of their rookie quarterback, Tyler Shough. What’s made his play so impressive is, he’s doing it without a whole lot of weapons. Yes, Chris Olave is great, but outside of him, Shough hasn’t had much to work with. If they really want to see what Shough can do and possibly even challenge for the NFC South title next year, they need to give him another receiver and a young running back.

Las Vegas Raiders: Everything

The Las Vegas Raiders need to fix everything in 2026. They need a new coach, coordinators, quarterback, receivers, offensive line, defensive line, cornerbacks and plenty of other things as well. The only thing they don’t need to worry about is running back and tight end, which are arguably two of the least important positions on the field. It’s time to tear it down and start over from scratch.

Cleveland Browns: Quarterback

The Cleveland Browns have a quarterback problem. Shedeur Sanders and Dillon Gabriel are both obviously not the future of this franchise, and I really hope we never see Deshaun Watson suit up for them (or anyone else) again. They need to find their franchise guy, and with two first-rounders this year, this might be their chance. Fernando Mendoza is almost certainly going to Vegas, so the Browns could eye someone like Dante Moore in the draft, or maybe even Kyler Murray in free agency. It will be interesting to see how they attack the quarterback position next year.

Atlanta Falcons: Offense

The Atlanta Falcons have all the tools they need to have a great offense. Bijan Robinson is one of the best running backs in football, Drake London is emerging as an elite receiver when healthy, and love him or hate him, Kyle Pitts pieced together a really solid season. And yet, this offense was not very good. The quarterback play was subpar (both Michael Penix and Kirk Cousins), but they were also one of the worst teams in the league on third down and in the red zone. They have the tools; they just need to execute better. A change in coordinator wouldn’t be a bad option.

Washington Commanders: Age

They say age is just a number, but not to the Washington Commanders. They are the oldest team in the league by a pretty decent margin. The average age of players on their roster was 28.1 coming into the season. I saw what Dan Quinn tried to do. They were great last year, so he tried to get some veterans on fairly cheap deals to help push them over the edge, but instead, they’ve gone backwards. The Commanders desperately need to get younger, and that starts in the draft. They need to maximize their picks because they have a ton of holes to fill.

Arizona Cardinals: Head Coach

I wouldn’t be surprised if this New Year’s resolution isn’t resolved by Tuesday. Jonathan Gannon is a dead man walking. He was brought in to be this defensive guru, but all his defenses have done in Arizona is fall flat on their face. They have a pretty decent offense, but can’t get any stops defensively, and at some point, Gannon needs to be held responsible. I think he’ll be fired shortly after Arizona’s final game, and then they can go about starting over.

Tennessee Titans: Playmakers

Much like the Saints, the Tennessee Titans desperately need some playmakers. Cam Ward has shown a lot of flashes this year, and if he just had a couple of really good receivers and a stronger run game, this offense could be one of the best in the league. There are a lot of holes to fill on defense, but getting a true WR1 and an above-average running back would make them a very dangerous team.