Since 2021, four new NFL teams have made the playoffs in every season. These seven teams, however, won’t be one of the those new teams to make the playoffs in 2025. Fans of these teams will be looking at mock drafts in October and won’t expect their team to stay in playoff contention past Christmas. So here are the 7 worst NFL teams heading into the 2025 season:

New Orleans Saints:

The Saints will be the NFL’s worst and most unwatchable team in 2025. Avoid watching Saints’ games this season unless you have a fantasy player in it. After four seasons of mediocrity, Saints’ GM Mickey Loomis still refuses to trade any of his aging star players for draft picks, resulting in the Saints’ roster being extremely scarce of young talent. And thanks to Derek Carr’s retirement, New Orleans will be without competent QB play this season. The Saints must start Tyler Shough or Spencer Rattler at quarterback in 2025. Shough has never played an NFL snap before, and Rattler lost all of his six of his starts last season.

Things are looking even more grim for the Saints on the defensive side of the ball. New Orleans ranked 30th in yards allowed per game last season, and they will rank even lower unless one of their mid-round picks has a rookie-of-the-year-like season. However, since the Saints refuse to trade for more draft picks, their drafting must be extremely effective in 2026 to escape their current rut.

Cleveland Browns:

The Browns went 3-14 in 2024 and will likely finish the 2025 season with a similar record. The Browns had the opportunity to trade Myles Garrett for a boatload of players and draft picks to build for the future, but instead re-signed him so that they could win a couple more games this season but still get eliminated by Christmas. The Browns also had the opportunity to draft Travis Hunter with their first first-round pick since 2021, but they questionably traded the 2nd overall pick to grab defensive tackle Mason Graham.

After a wildly unproductive offseason, the Browns have a QB battle to settle, with Kenny Pickett, Joe Flacco, Dillon Gabriel, and Shedeur Sanders all vying for the starting role. No matter which quarterback takes the first snap of the season, it’s very unlikely that said quarterback will thrive with a subpar supporting cast and a rigorous schedule. The Browns have their own tough division to deal with, but they also have to play the NFC North, which essentially guarantees four losses. By November, Cleveland will be looking forward to using their 2026 first-round pick on a quarterback.

Tennessee Titans:

The Titans probably won’t receive the 2026 No.1 overall pick, thanks to a defense that was quietly one of the league’s best in 2024. The Titans’ defense ranked second in yards allowed per game last season and second in passing yards allowed per game, with L’Jarius Sneed and Amani Hooker leading a prolific secondary.

However, Tennessee’s offense has way too many question marks and may cause their defense to wear down late in games. No.1 overall pick Cam Ward could potentially be the Titans’ first franchise quarterback in 15 years but is generally valued as an eventual plus starter, meaning he won’t have a wildly successful rookie year like Jayden Daniels’s 2024 season.

Ward’s weapons are also not ideal, as WR Calvin Ridley and RB Tony Pollard are occasional game-wreckers, but struggle with consistency. The only other proven weapon in this offense is WR2 Tyler Lockett, who is clearly past his prime. 2025 will be more of a developmental year for Cam Ward and the Titans, so don’t be surprised when they get eliminated from playoff contention by week 14.

Indianapolis Colts:

Just one year ago, the Colts had a “fresh start”, and there was plenty of hype for what was hopefully the team’s franchise quarterback, Anthony Richardson. However, the Colts did not do as well as they hoped in 2024, finishing with an 8-9 record. Their boom-or-bust QB prospect looked more like a bust, with Richardson posting an abysmal 47.7 completion percentage and eight touchdowns to twelve interceptions in 11 games.

The Colts did have a solid rushing offense, with the 1,400+ yard Jonathon Taylor being the team’s best offensive weapon, although Taylor often fails to beat the league’s best teams without help from the passing game. Michael Pittman Jr. is the Colts’ clear No.1 receiver, but he and Richardson haven’t had great chemistry, resulting in Pittman’s worst career season. The only Colts’ pass-catcher with 800+ yard potential is Alec Pierce, but he was a purely deep-ball receiver in 2024 without consistent yardage or targets.  

The Colts look even worse defensively, as their bottom-ten defense in 2024 probably won’t improve, as their offseason additions of Charvarius Ward and Camryn Bynum will regress without the confines of Domeco Ryans’ and Bryan Flores’ defensive systems. 2025 is Anthony Richardson’s last year to prove himself, and even if he does, his defense will turn many of his successful games into losses. There’s just too much stacked against the Colts this season for them to finish with more than seven wins.

New York Giants:

Heading into the 2025 season, the Giants’ roster is far from bottom seven, but their final record likely will be. The Giants have the NFL’s hardest schedule in 2025, with ten of their games against teams that finished with winning records last season. Their only games that will be even remotely easy are against the Saints and Raiders. The 2025 Giants will be a similar team to the 2021 Lions, as most of their games will end in close losses, but still losses.

Having Russell Wilson at quarterback will ensure that Jaxson Dart’s development isn’t rushed, and Wilson, while passed his prime, will still toss plenty of deep balls to Malik Nabers. The rushing duo of Tyrone Tracy Jr. and Cam Skattebo should add more depth to the offense, and the offseason additions of DBs Paulson Adebo and Jevon Holland via free agency and edge rusher Abdul Carter in the draft should bolster the defense as well. The Giants’ record in 2025 won’t accurately reflect the quality of their team, but at least they’ll receive a top-ten draft pick in return.

Las Vegas Raiders:

The Raiders will be a fun team to watch in 2025, at least for the first 15 weeks before they get eliminated from playoff contention. 73-year-old Pete Carroll doesn’t have much left in the tank, and he doesn’t exactly have prolific coordinators either. It’s difficult to see the Raiders’ defense improving at all in 2025, with a similar roster and very little talent outside of Maxx Crosby.

The Raiders play in a daunting AFC West where the three other teams are all near playoff locks, making six games very difficult to win. There are only about five winnable games on the Raiders’ schedule, although they could beat the Chiefs considering how well they’ve played against them in recent years. Pete Carroll vs. Jim Harbaugh, Brock Bowers, and Ashton Jeanty will make the Raiders watchable this season, but they won’t be contending for a playoff spot.

New York Jets:

It’s going to be a bad season for New York football, as both the Giants and Jets will likely get a top-seven draft pick in 2026. In the offseason, the Jets made the right decision by pulling the plug on the Aaron Rodgers experiment, but the team’s roster is not the same as in 2022 or 2023 when they were a quarterback away from Super Bowl contention. The Jets had a top-five defense last season, though the loss of D.J. Reed will hurt the secondary.

On offense, QB Justin Fields will provide some upside, but it’s uncertain whether he can be consistent. Fields has very little pass-catching talent outside of Garrett Wilson, and RB Breece Hall has not hit 1,000 rushing yards in a season, ranking 24th in rushing yards in 2024. The Jets’ manageable schedule and Justin Fields’s upside could win them a few more games than expected, but this team will still be part of the “eliminated by Christmas” club.