The 2025 NFL regular season is four months away, but it’s not too early to rule out specific teams from making the 14-team postseason.
With that, let’s dive into 12 NFL Teams that have zero shot at making the playoffs in 2025.
Which teams will miss the playoffs in the 2025 NFL season?
New York Giants
After mercilessly ending the Daniel Jones era midseason last year, the Giants drastically shook up their QB room by signing veterans Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston. They passed on Shedeur Sanders in round one of the draft, instead using the No. 3 pick on can’t-miss Penn State edge rusher Abdul Carter.
Wanting to secure their future QB, the G-Men traded up via the Houston Texans to take Ole Miss product Jaxson Dart with the No. 25 pick. With Winston and Wilson behind center, the Giants don’t have to worry about rushing Dart’s development.
But let’s be real here. Wilson is past his prime. Winston is on his third team in as many years for a reason.
The Giants also play in a tough NFC East that features the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles and conference runner-up Washington Commanders. Even if you aren’t sold on the Dallas Cowboys bouncing back this year? Well, Dak Prescott is 13-2 against the Giants in his career.
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Oh, and Big Blue has the toughest strength of schedule in the 2025 NFL season. Moving on…
Las Vegas Raiders
The Raiders undoubtedly had one of the best offseasons. And trust us, we wanted to keep them off this list.
I mean, they brought in a former Super Bowl-winning head coach in Pete Carroll to run the show now. He turned a mediocre Seattle Seahawks franchise into a winner. Carroll and the presence of new minority owner Tom Brady will quickly implement a winning and fun-loving culture in Sin City, no question.
The Raiders also addressed their quarterback problem by trading for ex-Seattle Seahawks Pro Bowler Geno Smith. His experience with Carroll will ensure a smooth transition, too.
Las Vegas drafted generational running back Ashton Jeanty out of Boise State with the No. 6 selection, adding more firepower to an offense featuring superstar tight end Brock Bowers and veteran Jakobi Meyers. So what isn’t there to like?!
Well, they only play in an AFC West that sent three teams to the playoffs last year: The Kansas City Chiefs, Los Angeles Chargers and Denver Broncos. So even finishing above .500 may not be enough for Vegas to make the playoffs.
They also didn’t do much to address a defense that finished 25th in scoring last year. Once again, they’ll rely on Maxx Crosby do be a one-man wrecking crew. Not a smart bet with three explosive offenses in your division.
The Raiders’ long-term outlook is ultra-promising, but they’re still several steps behind their AFC West counterparts. If they played in a weaker division, we would have excluded them from this list.
They won’t return to the playoffs in 2025, but the Silver and Black will definitely improve from their 2024 win total of four.
Cleveland Browns
Owner Jimmy Haslam finally admitted the Deshaun Watson trade was a mistake, so there’s that. Watson is expected to miss most if not all of 2025 after re-tearing his Achilles in January.
GM Andrew Berry traded for Kenny Pickett, drafted Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders, and brought back 2023 Comeback Player of the Year Joe Flacco, one year after inexplicably letting him walk in free agency.
Myles Garrett also made a public plea to get traded before signing a $160 million extension. And in a draft day stunner, the Browns gave up the No. 2 pick to the Jacksonville Jaguars, allowing them to take two-way phenom Travis Hunter while Berry settled on Michigan defensive tackle Mason Graham at No. 5.
We’re just not sold on any of those four quarterbacks getting the job done with a lackluster supporting cast. Flacco is 40. Gabriel and Sanders are unproven rookies. Pickett? Well, the Pittsburgh Steelers gave up on the former first-round pick quickly for a reason.
The secondary still has a lot of holes, and Jerry Jeudy is the only skill position guy on offense that really stands out here. The Browns, by the way, play in an AFC North that features three Super Bowl hopefuls. That adds up to the second-toughest strength of schedule for the 2025 NFL season, behind only the Giants.
Tennessee Titans
The Titans chose to lay low in free agency and the trade market, saving their biggest moves for the draft. First-year GM Mike Borgonzi used the No. 1 pick on Miami quarterback Cam Ward, “hopefully” giving Tennessee its franchise signal-caller that Jake Locker, Vince Young, Marcus Mariota, AND Will Levis never became.
The thing is, Ward isn’t considered a sure thing to succeed like Joe Burrow or Caleb Williams. There is real bust potential here, and we don’t think Calvin Ridley is enough in the passing game to help him produce early and often.
With little to offer on the defensive side of the ball as well, there’s no reason to think the Titans can be like the 2024 Commanders and come out of nowhere to be a playoff team. Tennessee fans oughta be patient with the rebuilding process under Borgonzi and Ward. The time to go all-in will come.
Indianapolis Colts
We thought the Colts might compete for a playoff spot last year…but they finished a disappointing 8-and-9 to miss the postseason for the fourth straight year.
We’re at the point now with Anthony Richardson where we need to see it to believe it. The o-line, Indy’s strength for a while, lost two elite starters in Ryan Kelly and Will Fries in free agency.
Yes, they drafted promising Penn State tight end Tyler Warren to bolster the offense. But this unit stunk last year with Jonathan Taylor, Michael Pittman Jr., and Josh Downs…because their QBs weren’t producing.
The Colts threw a lot of money at defensive backs Cameron Bynum and Charvarius Ward to bolster their secondary, but both posted unflattering 2024 numbers at Pro Football Focus. So where’s the upgrade?
The Colts are miles behind the Houston Texans in the division. The Jaguars and Titans both made moves to get better, so neither NFL opponent will be a “gimme” for Indy in the 2025 season. Playing the entire AFC West and NFC West, as well? Woof.
Arizona Cardinals
The Cardinals finished 8-9 last year and only missed out on the NFC West by two games. So why are they on this list?
Well, we don’t have to ramble on about how the Cardinals have a disturbing habit of unraveling in the second half each year. We can stick to the obvious that they’re the fourth-best team in their division.
The Rams are the team to beat for the division crown. The Seattle Seahawks figure to be better after swapping out Geno Smith for Sam Darnold. Not to mention, they have more young talent on both sides of the ball than Arizona.
And the San Francisco 49ers figure to re-emerge as a Super Bowl contender after a wasted season brought on by the awful injury bug. Like we said…Arizona is the fourth-best team in the division. And we won’t buy them as playoff contenders until a Murray-led team learns to put it together for a full season, not just the first half.
Carolina Panthers
After spending a lot of money on offense in free agency the last two years, the Panthers mostly focused on defense. Not sure if that’s a good thing, because they really overpaid for safety Trevon Moehrig and defensive tackles Tershawn Wharton and Bobby Brown.
They made one notable move on offense, bringing in running back Rico Dowdle after he hit 1K rushing in Dallas. Then, with the No. 8 pick, GM Dan Morgan took big-bodied Arizona wideout Tetairoa McMillan to help Bryce Young and the offense.
But we’re not sure if McMillan, 35-year-old Adam Thielen, and unproven 2024 first-round pick Xavier Legette are enough for Young to have a breakout year in the 2025 NFL season. Also, the Panthers hardly added any impact players to improve a defense that finished dead last in scoring last year.
Playing in the weak NFC South might push Carolina to seven or eight wins, but there isn’t enough talent or depth on either side of the ball here for them to end an eight-year playoff drought.
New England Patriots
The Patriots aced the offseason, alright. They brought in old friend Mike Vrabel to replace Jerod Mayo as head coach before spending lavishly in free agency.
In comes Stefon Diggs, Mack Hollins, Garrett Bradbury, and Morgan Moses to bolster the o-line. On defense, they bolstered the front seven by signing Super Bowl 59 hero Milton Williams and ex-Titans standout Harold Landry. The secondary got another boost with the pickup of Carlton Davis, one of the game’s best ball-hawkers.
At the draft, the Pats got three new studs on offense with tackle lineman Will Campbell, running back TreVeyon Henderson, and wide receiver Kyle Williams. Add it all up, and the Pats actually look dangerous again in the post-Tom Brady era.
But let’s not jump the gun, folks. The Patriots have a lot of new faces here that need to get themselves familiar with Foxborough. Vrabel needs time to install his culture and style. Drake Maye is still a second-year QB working on his craft.
And yes, the Pats are merely the fourth-best team in their own division. Let’s not get carried away and assume that they’ll make the automatic jump to playoff contention. They’re still a couple of years away.
New York Jets
Only time will tell if new GM Darren Mougey and first-year head coach Aaron Glenn made the right call to pull the plug on the Aaron Rodgers era. What isn’t up for debate, though, is the fact that Gang Green got considerably worse in the short term.
We do believe that Justin Fields can be “The guy.”. Maybe he will emerge as the long-term starting QB this franchise needs. But the Jets aren’t in it to win it in the 2025 NFL season. They’re restarting from scratch after the disastrous and short-lived Rodgers era.
I mean, they bid farewell to a four-time league MVP and his longtime teammate, superstar wideout Davante Adams. They lost veteran offensive lineman Morgan Moses, standout corner DJ Reed, and Pro Bowl edge rusher Haason Reddick in free agency, too.
Mougey didn’t spend much in free agency and wisely avoided making any “win-now” blockbuster trades. He and Glenn want to take their time rebuilding the Jets their way, and that means some short-term pain here.
The Jets might flirt with seven to eight wins, but you know they’re not stealing the AFC East from the Buffalo Bills. And between the contenders in the AFC North and AFC West, who would the Jets realistically steal a wild-card spot from?
It ain’t happening.
Miami Dolphins
Miami’s defense kept them competitive last year with Tua Tagovailoa missing six games. Well, you can’t bank on that anymore. They lost superstar safety Jevon Holland, chose to divorce All-Pro corner Jalen Ramsey, and watched defensive linemen Calais Campbell and Emmanuel Ogbah walk in free agency.
The Dolphins reached big time for Michigan defensive tackle Kenneth Grant with the No. 13 pick. Did we mention their top two edge rushers, Bradley Chubb and Jaelan Phillips, combined to play four games last season? Those were all courtesy of Phillips, by the way.
Tyreek Hill is coming off a down season and doesn’t seem committed to Miami. Tagovailoa, unfortunately, will always be an injury concern. And we don’t see rookie Quinn Ewers or Zach Ewers carrying the offense if Tua gets hurt again.
Everything points to another year of mediocrity in Miami.
New Orleans Saints
The Saints were our way-too-early pick to win the No. 1 pick in 2026 BEFORE Derek Carr retired. Now that the four-time Pro Bowler has hung up the cleats, though, we know these guys truly have zero shot at exceeding expectations.
Despite missing the postseason for the fourth straight year, Saints GM Mickey Loomis refused to begin the inevitable rebuild. Yep. Another year of running it back with the same ageing core of Cameron Jordan, Alvin Kamara, Tyrann Mathieu, and Demario Davis. Ho hum.
Carr wasn’t the only notable Saint to retire. So did superstar offensive tackle Ryan Ramczyk because of a serious knee injury, not to mention that standout corner Paulson Adebo left for the New York Giants in free agency.
So the Saints were already a lousy football team last year. They got even worse. Their quarterback room features rookie Tyler Shough and Spencer Rattler, who lost all six starts as a rookie.
But you know what? Being terrible in the 2025 NFL season would be the best-case scenario for New Orleans. It would finally give this organization the kick it needs to rebuild. Arch Manning, anyone?
Chicago Bears
Hot take, we know.
The Bears had an excellent offseason by hiring Ben Johnson as their head coach, for starters. They brought in veterans Joe Thuney, Drew Dalman, Jonah Jackson, and Grady Jarrett to accommodate the young core before using draft picks on offensive weapons Colston Loveland and Luther Burden III.
So, how can the Caleb Williams-led Bears be on our list after adding more talent to a promising nucleus? It’s simple: They play in the NFC North.
The Detroit Lions are arguably the team to beat in the NFC. The Minnesota Vikings won 14 games with Sam Darnold last year, so we’re sure they’ll remain contenders with JJ McCarthy behind center. The Green Bay Packers, at least in our eyes, are also a serious threat to win it all in 2025.
Let’s assume the NFC has the same four division winners from 2024. That realistically leaves Chicago, Minnesota, Green Bay, San Francisco, Seattle, Washington, Atlanta, and Dallas competing for the three wild-card spots.
You really think the Bears will sneak in over that bunch? They’re at least another year away, folks.
