NFL BABY!!!! Mondays have meaning again. The only reason I will ever be up at 3 or 4am is for the sweet sounds of Al Michaels, Scott Hansen, Troy Aikman, Jim Nantz, Mike Tirico or dare I say Tony Romo? We are on the cusp of another huge NFL season with fans across the world ready to get that hopium plugged straight into their viens.
It’s the most wonderful time of the year where EVERY TEAM has a chance at immortality (except the Saints) (and the Giants) (and the Panthers).
So lets take out the crystal ball and predict the unpredictable and pray to the football (and punting) gods that we can be at least 50% right and that the Chiefs don’t make the Super Bowl.
Here are my NFL Futures for 2025
Divisional Winners
AFC North
One of the TOUGHEST divisions in the league year in year out, and to make it even tougher, every team has had some sort of offseason drama.
Do the Browns know who their QB is? Can the Bengals defend anything? Can Aaron Rodgers turn back the clock? The answer to all those questions is likely NO.
I do like Joe Burrow to make a claim for MVP this year but Cincinnati’s defense is still a dumpster fire so Joey B is going to be throwing all day.
The Bengals will be better this year, but the Ravens have the edge in Division.
If they can make the playoffs, they have the talent to go deep but the shootout life is a harrowing one and that’s the only way they can play.
They won’t win the Division, but I do like the overs at +9.5.
Browns are same old Browns and until I see Sheduer’s 12 jersey under center I could not care less about their rudderless organisation.
The WR room is awful, tell me who is a difference maker here?? Njoku? Ok mate.
Here’s a fun game to play and a potential market for us to explore.
What game will Flacco be benched in?
Week 5-8 seems like the sweet spot for Sanders or Gabriel to get their first start.
Other than that soap opera there is nothing to like about this team.
Then there’s the Steelers who, to their credit, have somehow kept the Aaron Rodgers circus closed since he finally arrived in town.
It’s kind of been quiet, but maybe a little too quiet.
Rodgers didn’t move well post Achilles injury last year and from what we’ve seen out of camp he looks like the definition of stone-age pony.
It is worth backing the Steelers to keep their winning season streak though because that defense still has juice.
With all that said though, the Ravens should cruise and likely be #1 seed.
They focused on defense in the off-season signing Jaire Alexander and drafted Malaki Starks to help cover the Bengals in division and slow down the playoff boogey-man (Patrick Mahomes).
Ravens take out the division and Bengals lock in a Wildcard
AFC North Winner 2025/26: Baltimore Ravens $1.60
Cincinnati Bengals To Make The Playoffs $1.65
AFC South
At first glance this division could be up in the air.
The Jaguars and the Hunter/Thomas Jr/Lawrence connection could be good, but Lawrence is heavily in bust territory.
If they can mount a run into the playoffs then Liam Coen will take Coach of the Year by a few lengths.
Coen is a QB whisperer, but I feel like an undefeated College football champion in year 3 shouldn’t need a whisperer?
I am kind of high on the Jags to make a splash this year, but that defense has not been fixed and that will be the difference.
The Danny Dimes Colts?
I’d likely put the Colts at the top of my coaches hotseat rankings.
The Richardson pick turning into the Daniel Jones era in two seasons is wild and if/when this ends with an inevitable Jones pick-six from his own 5-yard line, I expect to see a position vacant sign out the front of Lucas Oil stadium.
The only exciting thing here is to watch first round pick Tyler Warren rack up some numbers.
Now how do we feel about the Titans and Cam Ward?
In house they think a Commanders-esque season is on the cards thanks to their “Top 5 WR room”.
That is a legit quote from Cam Ward!
Tennessee doesn’t have the surrounding talent to make much happen this year and they will likely show some fun moments when playing in division but that’s because of how meh this division is.
Although their defense was sneaky decent last year, so maybe they can prove me wrong?
That leaves the Texans whose offense still has questions and a QB who looked like he was a bit confused last year.
I don’t love that they sent Metchie to the Eagles since WR injuries really cooked their season last year and losing depth seems unwise.
But their defense will do some heavy lifting, and they should have enough juice to win the division even without Mixon for a period.
The South will likely be decided in the final two weeks of the regular season.
When Texans v Colts and Jags v Titans. I’d say Texans go back-to-back.
AFC South Winner 2025/26: Houston Texans $1.92
AFC East
Always the bridesmaid, never the bride. This could be another tough January for Bills but at least the state of the East means they should still be there to try and break the hoodoo once again.
The Patriots have had some post draft hype that now seems to have dipped outside of some fantasy heads loving Drake Maye.
But even if they improve to double last year’s results it only gives them eight wins.
Let’s be a Pats fan for a second, here we go! Drake
Maye is awesome; he’s a dual threat QB who’s about to break out, Stefon Diggs is going to be healthy all year in a near freezing climate and for the first time in NFL history every single offensive line pick is going to live up to their potential.
Give me a break.
At best, the Pats will have a mathematical chance to make the playoffs in the final two weeks but more likely they’re fighting to come a second, a cold country mile behind the Bills
The Jets could be a surprise packet but are we that confident in Fields so far?
Aaron Glenn has played Justin Fields a lot in the preseason, and it hasn’t looked great.
They hoped the college chemistry with Wilson would shine through and it still might.
But at the moment there is not much to love about what’s happening in NY.
Welcome to Miami! Sunshine, Beaches, leather skinned retirees and a coach “who’s just one of the fellas.”
I admit I have a soft spot for the Dolphins purely because of Ace Venture Pet Detective, but they are easily top three most frustrating franchises when it comes to wasted potential.
Of course, having a QB who gets concussed from a speed bump at Maccas doesn’t help but surely a side that has Tyreek Hill, Jalen Waddle, Devon Achane should be able to put up some numbers.
Prioritising a backup is essential when you have such great weapons.
Thank God they signed Zach Wilson… what?
So now you have a QB who will miss time and a back-up who’s going to be distracted by the real housewives of Miami? (Google Zach Wilson if you’re not picking up what I’m putting down here).
Miami are a mess and Mike McDaniel is another coach high on my upcoming hot seat rankings.
The Big Boy Bills are taking this Division with ease.
MVP Josh Allen leads another great regular season, let’s just hope the tables can be broken late in the playoffs.
AFC East Winner 2025/26: Buffalo Bills $1.92
AFC West
It’ll be closer this year, the pack is starting to catch up to this aging side.
Surely, SURELY this year the Chiefs will be in trouble.
Nope. They’ll win. AGAIN.
It is highly unlikely that Mahomes will have a season statistically as bad as last year.
The two refs who helped them win those tight games (some within division) last year won’t be there to bail them out after the NFL sacked them.
But they still have the advantage over their rivals and ultimate 12th (wo)man, Taylor Swift. Tay Tay’s announcement of a new album has me almost certain that the Chiefs will break the Superbowl losers curse and go back to the big dance.
But could a brave team in the West stop this madness?
Can the Raiders maybe take one of the head to head games?
Ashton Jenty can run all day. Geno and Pete Carroll could be cooking up something nice, Brock Bowers was tremendous last season with below average QB play and Max Crosby is a DPOY candidate who will benefit from the coaching upgrade.
The Chargers are on to something, there is a vibe about this team and something’s there.
Ladd McConkey is great and Herbert having a reliable weapon must be nice, but let me be a little controversial. Is Herbert an elite QB?
Every talking head seems desperate to try to slot him in that top five QB list, but is he?
They had a great season last year but the logjam in this division will be an issue for them again because even though they look great.
In my opinion they’re the third best team in the AFC west behind…
The Broncos, I am HIGH on the Broncos as many are in the state of Colorado.
I love the defense, I’m impressed by the growth on offense and I’m optimistic that Nix will avoid the second year slump.
Maybe I’m high on the Colorado supply? Maybe the thin air up in these mountains is messing with my head?
Bo Nix spent some of the off season with Drew Brees… hmm.
The same Drew Brees that his coach turned the Ain’ts into the Superbowl winning SAINTS.
They were a top 3 defense last year and they will likely do that again.
The Chiefs have questions and all of them are simply answered with “Patrick Mahomes”.
They will need Xavier Worthy to become a formidable force, but Hollywood Brown will eventually be healthy, and Rashee Rice will eventually come back from suspension.
When that happens, they will be cruising.
The Chiefs will win the division.
BUT I like the Broncos as a dark horse and could see the final two games of the season being a factor in this race.
Broncos v Chiefs on Christmas (Boxing Day here) could be the defining moment.
Oh and Travis proposed to Taylor so I guess Chiefs win the whole thing. Great.
AFC West Winner 2025/26: Kansas City Chiefs $1.87
HEDGE: AFC West Winner 2025/26: Denver Broncos $3.90
NFC North
The North was unbelievably competitive last season sending three teams to the playoffs, but history shows us that is unlikely to happen again.
The Lions are clearly the king of the jungle with advantages across the board.
Dan Campbell knows how to fire up this side and with Aidan Hutchinson returning from injury they should be a beast.
BUT what will the departure of both Coordinators mean for this side?
The last time a team lost both OC and DC in an off season was the Eagles after Super Bowl LVII and that didn’t work out great for them.
There’s also a Packers side with some continuity looking to make the next Lambeau Leap (nice).
They believe they have the QB in Jordan Love, they’ve added another WR to fill a pretty full room.
They could have some dramas on defense but when you have a division that was this tight last year, it seems the team that finished third in that race could be the biggest improver in 2025.
The Vikings will now see their Rookie QB from last season take the reins for the first time.
I find it hard to get a read on the McCarthy experience, you have coaches saying it’s going well but then you have your top WR alluding to some struggles with chemistry.
Justin Jefferson is going to get open even with WR2 Addison out for the first few weeks, but can McCarthy find him?
Could be a slow start for Minnesota but we will see if it was a Darnold rebirth or just incredible coaching that took them to the playoffs.
Personally, I think they miss.
The Bears and former Lions OC Ben Johnson are going to be must watch TV as the whole league tries to decide if Caleb Williams is as advertised.
There were sparks and there were flops but it is hard to be a great QB when you’re getting sacked 68 times.
But in fairness to the O-line, Caleb holds the ball too damn long.
The Bears are all in though, they’ve upgraded the big men upfront, they’ve brought in another WR too.
Can we give Williams any excuse when this is what he has; DJ Moore, Rome Odunze, Luther Burdon III, Cole Kmet and D’Andre Swift.
It’s time to start throwing more yards than your punter kicks.
This is another tight race to win the division but maybe with less wins than last year.
NFC North Winner 2025/26: Detroit Lions $2.35
NFC South
Baker owns the South!
I’m all in on another great year from Mayfield with the division still a bit of a mess however the Falcons could be the side to keep things interesting.
Penix Jr is top of the Falcons QB depth chart, Bijan is good to go, London is that dude and woah! Hang on. Could they have a decent pass rush coming?
They spent a bunch of draft capital on boosting that defense up and with Bijan now looking comfortable in the NFL, the Falcons could be a team that looks fast in the spread and could shock a few teams.
But weak divisions make for phony big dogs and the Falcons could be one.
The Panthers are still in a rebuild and have not done enough to help the hardest done by QB in the league, Bryce Young.
The Tet Mcmillan pick was great, and I truly believe people will be singing praises of Young this year but then again, they are also strangely in sell mode (See Adam Thielen Trade and JC Horn cut rumours).
That defense is still trash and they will be picking in the top next year to hopefully help build this team some more.
I’d love for them to be frisky and surprise a couple teams (just not my Cowboys in Week 6 please).
The Ain’ts are back and will likely be in the wilderness for some time.
Rattler? Shough? I am going to relish in the Saints sucking this year.
They’re hoping that Arch Manning declares for the draft next year because they should be picking top of the board at season’s end.
If they were a serious franchise, then they would have picked Sheduer Sanders.
I do feel for Kellen Moore who took this poisoned challis and looms as a likely “one and done” coaching hire.
Come back to Dallas mate, we need you.
Meanwhile the Bucs have upgraded on defense, and will have a healthy WR room to go with their two punch RB room and a QB that’s got the dog in him!
Baker has been given another weapon in Emeka Egbuka and this will likely open up Mike Evans even more.
Not that Mr. 1000 needs it, his remarkable streak of 1000 yard season will continue, and this Bucs side will run away with this division and I’ll even say that they will win their first playoff game.
Bucs to win the division
NFC South Winner 2025/26: Tampa Bay Buccaneers
NFC East
The Super Bowl Champs live in the NFC East.
A division notorious for the back-and-forth winners. Up until recently the East was a merry go round but that doesn’t seem to be the case anymore.
Let’s start with the champs, the Eagles are a beast, there’s no way around it and that’s coming from a Cowboys fan.
Top to bottom Eagles are a well run organisation and thanks to the Tush Push they remain ahead of the curb when in short down territory.
The way Hurts has gone about this off season honestly scares me.
The meeting with Michael Jordan, not wearing the Super Bowl ring because “that was last year”.
It’s all there for another title and the only thing against isn’t a team in the East, it’s history.
Going back to back is hard, the Chiefs became the first team to do it in 20 years after the early-Brady Pats, as they chase a spot amongst some pretty impressive company.
Howie Roseman has been trading like a mad man trying to improve his team for season 2025 as well.
Those Eagles are up to something and they have the tools to go back to back but if there was a division that could have an insane thing happen it’s probably this one.
One of the potential upsets is the Commanders.
The biggest noise has now been silenced this week when they finally signed Terry Mclaurin and now have an offense that should be pretty scary.
The only real knock people can have on this Commanders team is the dreaded second year slump.
It is rare for a rookie QB to emulate an incredible first year and Jason Daniels was tremendous last season.
However, I did go back through the Commanders year and things look interesting.
10 wins by six points or less and we all remember the two last minute moments.
That makes you question if they were great or lucky.
They ran hot in the playoffs and blew the doors off some teams, sure, but second time around this could be a team that drops rather than rises.
Now we come to… THE G MEN!
A QB room with Jamies Winston is always fun but with Russ and Dart the Winston show will likely be limited to sideline antics (Boo!).
The D-line has the potential to be really scary and it wasn’t a walkover last year either.
Adding Penn State meanie Abdul Carter to Dexter Lawerence and Kayvon Thibodeaux is a definite upgrade.
Although the team is long odds by a mile ($26 to win the division last time I checked) the New York Football Giants could surprise a few teams this year and I think they might not be the bottom of the division like we all think.
Brian Daboll & Joe Schoen are on their final chance and will be going all out to exceed expectations.
HOWEVER if this team does have a hard time early, will ownership throw the GM & Coach into the volcano in order to receive another Manning to save the franchise?
This team is heavy in Archie Manning watch for #1 pick.
How bout them Cowboys? How bout we sign our best player? How bout we play some starters in the pre season to get some momentum? How bout we put Jerry Jones in a home and get this team back into the Superbowl conversation??
As a long suffering Cowboys fan this season feels like groundhog day with a big chunk of era spice.
Lets start with the bad news and the running game is a mess, the run defense is also still a mess, two of your expected starting corners are injured for the start of the season, you have a rookie head coach who has looked lost in pre season games and oh yeah how could I forget YOU HAVEN’T SIGNED MICAH PARSONS!
The circus is in full swing and instead of being excited about a healthy Dak Prescott (who was MVP worthy last time he played a full season) and a new WR2 who could and should be a WR1b we are being drowned by Jerry Jones being the F*** boy ruining our lives making us cry.
The good news? Well last time Dak Prescott was health he was playing at an MVP level, 4500+ yards 36 Touchdowns and was top 5 in every passing stat.
They’ve added a young strong WR2 in Pickens and this team looks like they’ll be a pass first offense.
If that Dak stays healthy and the defence can finally stop the run, Dallas could be frisky.
So its simple.
Sign Micah to the highest non QB contract ever and fight to be relevant in January.
That’s all Jerry really wants, the Cowboys have 1-2 years before all this is then blown up and the hunt for a new QB begins, so do something!
Eagles Win the Division and I’ll go one better this is the order Eagles, Commies, Giants, Cowboys.
I hope I’m wrong.
NFC West
Am I the only person who thinks the NFC West is ripe for the taking? Probably
These teams love ruining the party for each other with Rams and 49ers being the consistent winners for the past few years.
But their castles are crumbling, 49ers are in a jam with a star RB who might not (likely won’t) play the full season, a WR with a banged up knee, and a defense that leaked the fourth most points in the league.
They have added a player who I do think will make a difference for them in Brian Robinson Jr. but will it be enough?
Robert Salah is back to fix the defense which is a good reason to believe they can flip the script on last season but I think I am out on the 9ers.
For the Rams it’s simple: Stafford or bust.
If he plays as good as everyone still thinks he is, then yeah maybe.
But he’s been missing a bit this offseason and that back injury is worse than I think they’re letting on.
Puca is a beast and is great fantasy value and you may have forgotten that Davante Adams is in this side too.
The defense is strong, really strong and I like Kearse as a dark horse DPOY candidate.
The RB room has options as well so they might be able to ease into the season and let Stafford ramp up as the season goes on but if he goes down it’s Bennett and Jimmy G?
Yucky.
The Rams are a smart man’s pick to come out on top in this division though.
The Seahawks have Sam Darnold under center with Kupp outside and a decent 1-2 run game.
Some veteran upgrades on defense gives them some intrigue, but the Darnold experience is the real focus here.
Geno Smith did an exceptional job here and do we see that much difference between him and Darnold?
Was the Vikings success a true moment of reaching his first round draft pick potential or was it a flash in the pan helped by Justin Jefferson?
I have a feeling we will know by Week 3 if this Seahawks team is contender or pretender.
I do like the Jalen Milroe packages we saw in the pre season though, so that could be cool to see.
But I like a true dark horse, the Cardinals who have so much great potential on offence.
Marvin Harrison Jr and Kyler Murray were having some hang outs in the off season, which hopefully means some chemistry is building.
They also made some big defensive upgrades both in free agency and the draft.
This team hasn’t lived up to any potential really and Murray is probably a blockbuster trade candidate if this season goes to the dogs.
But why not pick something crazy to happen?
The wheels fall off the Rams when Stafford goes down, Darnold throws 15 picks on the season and the 9ers have an injury crisis yet again.
Cardinals to shock the division.
NFC West Winner 2025/26: Arizona Cardinals $5.20
SUPER BOWL WINNER
Baltimore Ravens
The Ravens have been so close but yet so far.
The last three years it has been Wild Card Loss (Bengals), AFC Championship Loss (Chiefs), Divisional playoff loss (Bills).
All were thanks to a fourth quarter score, brutal stuff, but this year could be the year.
They say defense wins championships and the Ravens have definitely upgraded.
Lamar will be in the top two for MVP if not the winner, they will get the last miles out of Derrick Henry, and I think they might be the best defense in the league come December/January.
I like the Ravens to finally get to the big dance and Lamar to finally overcome his playoff jitters and bring the Lombardi back to Baltimore.
Dark Horse Super Bowl Pick
Ok this is crazy. Denver Broncos.
I don’t know why I am so high on these guys.
They don’t have a crazy top five WR, a superstar QB or even a barnstorming wrecking ball RB.
They do have a pretty good defense and a head coach who has turned around a team so quickly when really, they had no right to be this good this early.
Now, they are in the same division as the Chiefs and they’re not even a consensus number 2 in their division thanks to the Chargers.
But I could see a world where they become a hard team to score on and a frustrating west coast offence that just keeps getting third down conversions.
The road to glory would be a bumpy one, win a wildcard likely against a two or three seed then probably have to go through whoever is left out of the Bills or Ravens.
But this is supposed to be a dark horse pick so an outlier that could have a path is Sean Peyton, Bo Nix and Patrick Surtain II