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Albert Breer's Mailbag: The NFL's Division Most Up for Grabs in 2026

By Albert Breer Sports Illustrated

Updated May 28, 2026 9:05 AM

It's time for my final NFL mailbag for May. You had questions, and I answered a bunch of them.

NFC North

From James Jefferson (@J16James): Who wins the NFC North next season?

James, that division remains perhaps the NFL's most wide open from year to year and I could see any of the four winning it. The one team that would surprise most, Minnesota, won 14 games in 2024. But if I had to pick now, I might actually go with the Lions.

The first reason is the schedule. They could, maybe should, go into their Week 6 bye at 4–1, and don't have any sort of murderous stretch after that to sink their momentum.

The second reason is because so many things went wrong last year that I think will correct themselves. With Cade Mays and Blake Miller coming in, and Tate Ratledge in his second year, there's promise that the line that set the tone for Detroit for its rise to prominence will bounce back. New offensive coordinator Drew Petzing will bring back the creativity the team missed last year with Ben Johnson gone. And at some point, the defense has to stay healthy.

So give me Detroit at this early juncture, while I reserve the right to change my mind.

New England Patriots

From 12HillCub (@12hillcub): What do you hear on the Pats possibly still being interested in bringing back Stef Diggs?

12 Hill, I'd say it's unlikely that both A.J. Brown and Stefon Diggs will be aboard, and it's very likely that Brown will be a Patriot this time next week, making it less likely that Diggs will be one again any time soon. That, by the way, isn't about any sort of hard feelings that the Patriots have-in fact, the folks there, to a man, love Diggs.

This is about overall fit. Diggs is 32 with plenty of injury history. A.J. Brown turns 29 next month and has a ton of mileage on his legs. Both are accustomed to being the focal point of an offense. The Patriots are also bringing in Romeo Doubs from the Packers, and have Mack Hollins and DeMario Douglas back from last year's team. So if you become reliant on Diggs and Brown, and one or both go down, that's not great. And there's only one ball to go around.

So, again, this is simply a fit thing. If injuries were to change the Patriots' situation and Diggs were still available, I'd bet the door would stay open. But I don't think it's in the plans now.

Steve Smith Sr.

From Shawny Boy 420 PanthersFan (@ShawnHume3): Should Steve Smith Sr. be a Hall of Famer already?

Great question. I love Steve Smith Sr. I think to be fair in answering this, you have to do two things.

The first, and this to me should be the standard, is to ask whether he was an elite player at his position for an extended period of time. Smith was All-Pro three times (once as a returner), made five Pro Bowls, and he's one of five receivers in the Super Bowl era to win the triple crown (leading the league in catches, yards and touchdown catches in a single year), which he did in 2005. So, to me, Smith does satisfy that standard.

Second, you'd compare him to any contemporaries of his who are in, and I think that's particularly important at receiver, because statistics at the position are skewed by era. Four receivers who came into the league in the 10 years before Smith did are in the Hall: Isaac Bruce, Marvin Harrison, Randy Moss and Terrell Owens. If you stack those five, Smith would rank third in career catches (ahead of Bruce and Moss), fourth in career yards (ahead of Harrison), and fifth in touchdown catches. So he's borderline there.

But if your question is whether there's a case, yes, there's a case.

Atlanta Falcons

From BigZip330 (@BZip330): What will the Falcons and/or the NFL do with James Pearce Jr. with mandatory camp coming up in the next few weeks?

The case of James Pearce Jr. is starting to gain some clarity-and the details of the allegations, if you haven't seen them, aren't good-in that Pearce has accepted the terms of a deal that places him in a year-long, pretrial intervention program that could lead to the state dropping all charges against him.

For this part, Kevin Stefanski has maintained to this point that Pearce would stay away from the team's offseason program, pending further developments in the case. The next step here would be getting more from the league, in how the NFL plans to move forward with discipline via the personal conduct policy (all that's out there at this point from the league is that the case remains under review).

I wish I could give you more on this one. But that's where things stand.

Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores's lawsuit has now reached the U.S. Supreme Court. | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Brian Flores lawsuit

From SkippySkipSkippington (@SSkippington): What will the NFL offer Flores in an effort to buy his silence and avoid discovery? How come leaks don't happen from the league office when a bad light is shining on them?

Skip, it's a fair question, given that the league once struck a deal to effectively make the Colin Kaepernick situation go away. And you're right to think that the NFL's worst nightmare here is, as it always is, discovery-the last thing anyone over there wants is a record of all of an owner's or owners' actions out there for public consumption.

But to this point, Brian Flores has been pretty principled in wanting to see the case through.

As for the question of leaks from the league office, that only happens when the league is fighting an owner or team on something. In this case, they're on the same side (even though I would say the league office itself has made an earnest effort on the diversity hiring front).

Domestic violence problem

From Bill Parrish (@BillParrishGGSN): Does the league have a domestic violence problem?

Bill, I think it's fair to say that more than one case constitutes a problem, so there's still an issue in the NFL-and I also think it's important in cases like Josh Jacobs's to wait for all the facts to present themselves. But I'd add that the great majority of NFL players I've encountered in my career are good guys, and there are a lot of excellent husbands and fathers in the group. So I'd say it'd be unfair to project the problem of few on everyone.

New Orleans Saints

From Arthur Jaramillo (@ArtC_Jaramillo): How do you think the Saints in Kellen Moore's second year will fare? It appears they have the quarterback but still have some holes on defense. TIA.

Arthur, I'd say the Saints are still in a state of transition. The ceiling for the defense is still relatively low given the talent on hand-and it's going to be on Brandon Staley to try to get the most out of the group. Offensively, I really like where they're going, and having first-round picks at receiver (Chris Olave, Jordyn Tyson) and tackle (Kelvin Banks Jr., Taliese Fuaga), and high-end backs (Alvin Kamara, Travis Etienne Jr.), should give them a very clear read on Tyler Shough, and whether quarterback will be a need in the 2027 draft.

Overall, I do like the direction on Kellen Moore, and the NFC South is winnable. But I do think building the way they are, you're going to have to have a little patience.

Los Angeles Chargers

From Crash Bandicoot (@JAY4rmLA): How many points do you think the Chargers can average with Mike McDaniel as OC this season?

Crash, the Chargers weren't terrible last year-finishing 20th in scoring, at 21.6 points per game-and that was without their tackles for most of the year. Having Joe Alt and Rashawn Slater back, another year of development from Ladd McConkey and Tre' Harris, veterans David Njoku and Charlie Kolar coming in at tight end, and Omarion Hampton returning as the lead back alone should lead to some natural improvement. Adding one of the game's best play designers only adds to that.

I do believe in McDaniel, and think the union with Jim Harbaugh will be a good one. And I think it'll lead to Justin Herbert making a run at MVP in his seventh season.

So I think it's fair to hope for 25 points per game this year, which would put them on the fringe of the top 10 in scoring, and represent a pretty big uptick in production. And as part of that, I'd bet they have one of the NFL's most effective and explosive run games.

Minnesota Vikings

From Nick Howard: Certified Duke Hater (@BD97): I know the Vikings are reportedly doing finalist for the GM in-person interviews through Thursday (reportedly). Would you expect them to make an announcement before the week's end?

Nick, Rams assistant GM John McKay is interviewing Thursday, and I believe that'll wrap it up. The Vikings haven't closed the door on bringing others back in, but after going through all this, and the process lasting three weeks, I think the likelihood is they'll make their hire either on Friday or, if they want to ruminate over it through the weekend, early next week.

That would give the new GM three weeks with the players (next week's OTAs, the mandatory minicamp the following week, and a pared-down set of OTAs with younger players the week after that), coaches and scouts before everyone breaks for summer.

That, at the very least, would give the new guy in charge a better shot to hit the ground running in July as training camp opens, even with the timing still a little wonky.

Former Patriots wide receiver Stefon Diggs could be a possibility for the Chiefs. | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Kansas City Chiefs

From Connor Mulligan (@weekendteeshots): Chiefs can't go into training camp with the current WR room they have, who are they gonna get? Hill? Brown?

Connor, they had a shot at A.J. Brown in March and passed on it. Yes, their situation has changed, with Rashee Rice now in jail, and the idea of signing him to a new deal murkier. Still, when you have a top-heavy salary cap with a big-time quarterback, you need draft picks to fill the roster out with cost-controlled talent, so I don't think Kansas City is going to reverse course and try to outbid the Patriots for the Eagles' star.

But as you alluded to, the uncertainty around Rice certainly would put the Chiefs in the market for insurance, and from that perspective Stefon Diggs would make a ton of sense. He's healthy, was productive last year, has played against the Chiefs' championship teams of the recent past, and could be a crafty plug-and-play piece for Patrick Mahomes & Co.

Hill, to me, would be a little bit of a long-range idea, just in that you'd want to see him coming out of that catastrophic injury, and know he's going to be able to at least be in the neighborhood of the kind of player he was. I don't know one way or the other if he will be.

Denver Broncos

From Joe Coccia (@JoeLFGPatsPod): Are the Broncos the team to beat in the AFC? It feels like the Chiefs and Ravens aren't the big dogs on campus anymore. The Chargers with McDaniels feel scarier with their starting line back and a commitment to the run.

Joe, I love where the Broncos are. A top-five defense is returning virtually intact, as is one of the NFL's best offensive lines, and Jaylen Waddle's presence should help filter Denver's skill guys down into roles that are a little more suitable for their skill sets (I also think RB Jonah Coleman is a fun fourth-round sleeper). Then, there's Bo Nix, who should benefit from the above and take another step in his development.

The wild card is the impact that Davis Webb makes as a first-time OC and play-caller. But on the other side, Vance Joseph returns. A lot of pieces are in place. I'm not ready to declare a favorite. But I'd say that division has three legit Super Bowl contenders in it. I think the Bills and Bengals will be better than they were a year ago. If C.J. Stroud rebounds and Houston's line acquisitions work, the Texans could be scary. The defending AFC champ, New England, should be tough, and Drake Maye taking another step could ward off natural regression.

And yeah Denver's very, very good.

Arizona Cardinals

From Kyle (@KyleH10201988): What are the chances Carson Beck is QB1 and starts the season?

Kyle, I don't think that'll happen. I think it'll be either Jacoby Brissett or Gardner Minshew II to begin the year. But I think we will see Beck make starts, plural, this season, as Mike LaFleur and his Cardinals coaching staff assess the position ahead of what could be a pivotal draft next April.

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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Albert Breer's Mailbag: The NFL's Division Most Up for Grabs in 2026.

This story was originally published May 28, 2026 at 8:35 AM.