5 NFL Offseason Moves That Teams Will Regret in 2026

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5 NFL Offseason Moves That Teams Will Regret in 2026

Matt Johnson · Sportsnaut

Tue, Jan 20, 2026 ·

6 min read

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We're just a few weeks into the 2026 NFL offseason, with the moves made in January largely all tied to the NFL coaching carousel. While change can be a good thing, there's a few decisions made by prominent clubs in the last few days and weeks that we believe the organizations will wish they could take back before long.

Let's dive into our short list of the NFL offseason moves made so far in January that teams will regret.

Buffalo Bills : Keeping and Promoting Brandon Beane

If a devastating loss that leaves Josh Allen publicly distraught and the locker room devastated leads an organization to believe changes are necessary, that is fine. We really did not see anything in the divisional round that made it obvious head coach Sean McDermott needed to be fired. Although, given the perennial playoff disappointment for the Buffalo Bills , it would be easy to understand cleaning house. Except, that is not what Terry Pegula did.

Instead, Pegula allowed the architect of a roster with obvious weaknesses that doomed the team in the playoffs every year to use McDermott as a scapegoat. Not only that, Buffalo gave Brandon Beane a promotion and pay raise to president of football operations and is allowing him to oversee the Bills coaching search. There is no world in which this makes sense. McDermott was also beloved in the Bills locker room, and now Beane has arguably made Allen feel even more responsible for the firing of his head coach. Moving forward, Buffalo has a 29-year-old quarterback whose body is showing some signs of breaking down after years of playing like Cam Newton , and we have no faith that Beane can make it work because his track record speaks for itself.

Kansas City Chiefs : Bringing Back Eric Bieniemy as OC

The Kansas City Chiefs offense has become increasingly stale and predictable in recent years. Personnel is certainly part of the reason this unit ranks just 11th in EPA per play (0.057) and success rate (46.1 percent) over the last two seasons despite having one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time at the helm. However, a lack of innovation from Andy Reid and the rest of the Chiefs coaching staff is also a glaring issue.

That is what makes the return of Eric Bieniemy as offensive coordinator so baffling. He worked in Kansas City from 2013-22, and when he left, his stints as offensive coordinator with the Washington Commanders (2023) and UCLA Bruins (2024) yielded underwhelming results. What this appears to be is Reid bringing in someone with whom he has a good relationship and whose ideas will closely mirror what the Chiefs coaching staff is already doing. Kansas City had a chance to innovate, but Reid took the late-stage Bill Belichick route by simply hiring close confidants who were equally stuck in their ways.

Detroit Lions : Hiring Drew Petzing as Offensive Coordinator

We will first acknowledge the possibility of the Detroit Lions not wanting to wait around to see if Mike McDaniel lands a head coaching job while other top offensive coordinator candidates come off the board. With that said, hiring former Arizona Cardinals offensive coordinator Drew Petzing to take over as the new play-caller in Detroit feels like the definition of an underwhelming hire.

As the Arizona play-caller (2023-25), Petzing orchestrated an offense that only ranked 17th in EPA per play (-0.001) and offensive success rate (43.8 percent) during that three-year run. He did oversee an effective ground game—10th in rush EPA (-0.053) but 18th in success rate (40.1 percent)—but even that requires context. As detailed by Justis Mosqueda of AcmePackingCompany.com , dual-threat quarterback Kyler Murray (151 carries under Petzing) had a role in the explosive runs and the high yards per carry average.

That is not on the table with Jared Goff . We will also note that Arizona ranked 26th in net yards gained per pass attempt and 19th in dropback success rate (45.7 percent) in 2025. It is difficult to have confidence in this hire. While Dan Campbell did hire Ben Johnson, he is also responsible for bringing in two offensive coordinators, John Morton and Anthony Lynn, whom he fired a year after bringing them in.

Miami Dolphins : Firing Mike McDaniel

After benching Tua Tagovailoa and posting a 6-4 record down the stretch, it certainly seemed like Mike McDaniel would remain the Miami Dolphins head coach in 2026. In fact, that seemed to be the organization's plan until John Harbaugh became available. Bafflingly, Dolphins owner Stephen Ross seemed to be under the impression he had a shot at Harbaugh. That notion was quickly dismissed, so Miami had to pivot.

Maybe things work out with Jeff Hafley as the new Dolphins head coach. After all, he was a finalist for multiple teams and received a second interview with nearly every club that had a head coaching vacancy. With that said, the Dolphins are now without one of the league's best play-callers and that is a dreadful spot to be in when you have no plan and no quarterback for the foreseeable future. We wish Hafley well, but with the salary cap issues Miami is stuck with, this is probably going to be a below-average roster for two-plus seasons. If the offense is abysmal, which seems likely, Hafley is in a situation set up for failure.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers : Keeping Todd Bowles

In an NFL offseason with 10 head coaching vacancies, tying a league record, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers kept head coach Todd Bowles. That is not to say the organization did not recognize that changes were necessary after an abysmal second-half collapse. After all, the Buccaneers practically cleaned out the entire coaching staff, with the offensive coordinator, special teams coordinator and several position coaches shown the door in January. Somehow, Bowles was not deemed the problem.

Here is the issue that creates. Prospective coaches do not want to walk into an unstable situation where they could be with a team for one season and then have to find another job again in 2027. This feels like a sinking ship, with Bowles squarely on the NFL coaching hot seat in 2026. In an offseason where the likes of Mike McDaniel, John Harbaugh, Mike Tomlin, Sean McDermott and Kevin Stefanski all became available, Tampa Bay anchored itself to Bowles and hurt its ability to land top assistants and coordinators.

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