The number of NFL head coach vacancies is shrinking after the Pittsburgh Steelers found their man in former Cowboys and Packers head coach Mike McCarthy. Earlier in the week, the Ravens confirmed the hiring of Jesse Minter. At four, the number of teams without a coach is still significant, as this was the most active cycle of coaching changes in recent NFL memory.
Here is the list of the remaining NFL head coach vacancies and the overall situation of those teams.
The Remaining NFL Head Coach Vacancies
#4 Arizona Cardinals
This January, the Arizona Cardinals decided to end Jonathan Gannon’s head coaching debut after three straight losing seasons. In 2025, the Cardinals had the worst record under Gannon’s watch, coming to an unceremonious 3-14. Indeed, they missed starter Kyler Murray for most of the season, and his time at Arizona seems at an end, too, but the entire team looked unprofessional at times (Emari Demercado’s drop TD comes to mind). The future looks bleak for the Cardinals.
#3 Las Vegas Raiders
The Raiders are as much a dysfunctional organization as the Cardinals, with the difference that they do have talent on their roster that a proper coaching staff could put to good use. The Raiders made a big gaffe by hiring Pete Carroll as their head coach this past season, a once-great coach who is clearly past his prime. On paper, his partnership with Chip Kelly sounded great, but in practice, it didn’t work out.
The good news for the Raiders is that they hold the first overall pick, through which they can pick a transformational quarterback (ostensibly, Fernando Mendoza). Pairing a proper starting quarterback with Brock Bowers and Ashton Jeanty should make the starting unit formidable.
#2 Cleveland Browns
This was a more unexpected dismissal, as at one time, it looked like Kevin Stefanski was the man to finally bring the Cleveland Browns out of perpetual mediocrity. He even won the NFL Coach of the Year Award twice (2020, 2023). But in reality, those seasons were outliers. Overall, Stefanski had a record of 46-56 and also had a quarterbacks galore going on, finding it impossible to settle on a starter.
In 2025 alone, they had three players take over the starting position (Joe Flacco, Dillon Gabriel, and Shedeur Sanders). The one piece of good news for the incoming head coach is that they would have one of the best defenses in the league, and maybe, just maybe, they find a starting quarterback in Shedeur Sanders.
#1 Buffalo Bills
The Bills are by far the most interesting vacancy left in the market. Buffalo looks, for all intents and purposes, like a Super Bowl-ready team. The franchise has one of the best quarterbacks in the league in Josh Allen, and both sides of the ball seem balanced. This season, they made it all the way to the Divisional Round and fell to the Denver Broncos at the last minute.
However, the big conundrum during the Sean McDermott era was, if everything was there for the team to succeed, why couldn’t they get to the Super Bowl? That’s something their next coach will have to answer.
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