When you look at what all four teams in the AFC East have done up to this point in free agency, fans are seeing that two teams will be competing for the division, while the other two are focused on the future. The Buffalo Bills and New England Patriots are the teams in the front seats with their free agency moves and current rosters.
As for the Miami Dolphins and New York Jets, it’s a completely different story. Believe it or not, the Jets look like they will be more competitive than the Dolphins. The Jets have atleast made some additions to try and improve under Darren Mougey and Aaron Glenn. The Dolphins have lost more than gained and are going into a complete rebuild.
From 2020-2024, the AFC East belonged to the Bills. The Patriots won the division last season and a huge reason why they did was because of a massively easy schedule. That won’t be the case in 2026, though. Either way, the Bills and Patriots are expected to battle it out for the division.
Recent AFC East power rankings has Bills right where they belong
Lou Scataglia from NFL Spin Zone put together an updated AFC East power rankings and Scataglia has the Bills at the top ahead of the rest of the division. The Dolphins are at the bottom, and it’s followed by the Jets at third and Patriots at second.
"Acquiring DJ Moore via trade earlier in the offseason, the Bills did finally get a good wide receiver in the building for Josh Allen, who was throwing to the likes of Brandin Cooks and Mecole Hardman in the playoffs. Allen and the Bills did recently take ownership of the AFC East for years, so this experience and a potential regression from the Patriots should have them right back atop the division. No one is going to be surprised if Buffalo does win the AFC East and earns a top playoff seed." said Scataglia.
Buffalo added D.J. Moore to give Josh Allen his new go-to guy on the outside, and have added some solid defensive help. There is still plenty of work to do on both sides of the ball, but with the Bills entering a new era with Joe Brady as the head coach, this is an exciting time for the Bills because it’s something new with a good amount of continuity still intact.
Now obviously, things can change for the rest of free agency and in the draft. However, there is more confidence with the Bills with some of the changes that they made. Now they just need to capitalize on the changes they made and keep improving.