What happened: The Buffalo Bills are heading into the 2026 NFL season with the same core that has kept them in the AFC's top tier. The franchise continues to build around a settled roster and a fan base that travels, with the team even highlighting expanded routes to help Bills Mafia show up at road games this season.

Why it matters: Depth and continuity are why the Bills belong at the front of the AFC conversation, not the middle of it. A roster this settled with a proven home-field advantage does not need to reinvent itself to contend, and no other AFC team enters the 2026 offseason with fewer obvious holes. That is a defensible reason to put Buffalo first.