Ranking the NFL head coaching openings, from least to most attractive

The problem for head-coaching candidates in practically every offseason is the group of available jobs is usually bad. There’s a reason those teams fired their coaches.

But there are also many examples of teams making the right hire and turning around quickly, whether it was DeMeco Ryans a few years ago with the Houston Texans, Liam Coen for the Jacksonville Jaguars, Mike Vrabel with the New England Patriots, Ben Johnson joining the Chicago Bears this past offseason or many other examples. Just about any situation can be turned around with the right hire at coach, along with some key personnel moves.

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As of Monday morning, there were six head-coaching openings in the NFL. Here’s how we rank them, from least attractive to most attractive:

6. Arizona Cardinals

The Cardinals lost 14 of 15 games. Injuries impacted their season, but not that much. It was simply a bad football team. And what’s the main selling point? General manager Monti Ossenfort will stay, and in this era of GMs and coaches coming in a package deal, that might not be a positive. Kyler Murray’s time with Arizona seems to be over, and even if he returns, that’s not a great thing either. There’s no quarterback, the team’s best player is a tight end, the defense was bottom six in points and yards allowed, and the franchise has just one playoff appearance (a one-and-done loss) since 2015. Maybe the possibility of drafting a quarterback third overall will be appealing, but it’s not like this is a great quarterback class. This has been a dead-end job for many years, and there’s not much reason to believe that will change soon.

5. Cleveland Browns

You don’t think candidates will realize that the Browns just fired a two-time NFL Coach of the Year in Kevin Stefanski, who was stuck with Deshaun Watson, Joe Flacco, Dillon Gabriel, Shedeur Sanders and a rotating cast of other quarterbacks? Acquiring Watson was probably the worst trade in NFL history and the GM who was on the job when it was made, Andrew Berry, remains. Jimmy Haslam has a horrendous track record as an owner. The hope for the Browns is a strong 2025 rookie class that had immediate contributors throughout. But it’s hard to ignore the Browns’ history.

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4. Tennessee Titans

If you like Cam Ward, who showed improvement in the second half of the season, that’s a selling point. Just about everything else is not. It’s the same bad ownership situation that moved on from Mike Vrabel, the presumptive NFL Coach of the Year this season, due to a power struggle with a GM they fired a year later. A few young players did well this season, but the roster isn’t close to contention. The AFC South isn’t a walkover anymore either. If a hot candidate prefers this job, it’s because of absolute belief in Ward being a star, and even that is a risk.

3. Las Vegas Raiders

The Raiders are a flailing organization. They hired the oldest coach in NFL history and traded for a 35-year-old quarterback last offseason just to go 3-14. There never seems to be any plan. The search for Pete Carroll’s replacement will be led by general manager John Spytek and limited owner Tom Brady, the latter of which was a great quarterback but has no track record of helping to lead a coaching search. But he’s a big name, which is what owner Mark Davis likes. The one selling point to the new coach would be having the first overall pick and a choice of quarterbacks to start fresh with. Brock Bowers is a great talent, Ashton Jeanty should be a good running back with a little help, and Maxx Crosby is either a fantastic defensive star or a prime trade piece. There are some things to like, but it’s the Raiders. Everyone knows how bad this franchise has been for decades.

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2. New York Giants

The Giants are an underrated dysfunctional organization. It’s overlooked because they have four Super Bowl trophies, but the recent history is awful. Since winning the Super Bowl at the end of the 2011 season, they have not won the NFC East once and have just two playoff appearances. But there have been a couple of good drafts in a row, which provides some promise. The Giants are also dying to give a coach more than a few years, after cycling through four coaches in 10 years, which has to be appealing. Jaxson Dart was a first-round pick in 2025 and presumably the team’s quarterback of the near future, so a coaching candidate would have to buy in to developing him. But there is good young talent around Dart. And the appeal of winning in New York, for a franchise the NFL loves highlighting, is nice. Not many of the teams looking for a new coach are appealing, so the Giants’ opening probably looks better than it actually is.

1. Atlanta Falcons

This is a job you can talk yourself into. Watching the Falcons blow out the Bills, and then beat the Rams late in the season, it is confounding how they had a record under .500. That’s a reason head coach Raheem Morris and general manager Terry Fontenot were fired. The Falcons did it smartly, not having a lame-duck GM pick the new coach. That will make the job more appealing to some candidates. There is obvious talent on the roster, and the Falcons play in the NFL’s worst division. The one stumbling block is the quarterback situation. Michael Penix Jr. has been up and down and is coming off yet another season-ending injury that leaves his availability for next season’s opener up in the air. Kirk Cousins could return, but he’ll be 38. Quarterback is a pretty big factor, but everything else is pretty good. And regardless of how head-coaching vacancies are often talked about, quarterback is not the only selling point candidates look at.