Determined to bounce back in the 2026 NFL season, Andy Reid and the Kansas City Chiefs are now gearing for a busy offseason. However, so is the rest of the AFC. According to the latest report, contenders like the Buffalo Bills, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Baltimore Ravens will get a scheduling advantage ahead of the new campaign.
“One note on the Bills having a new head coach: that means they can begin their offseason workout program two weeks earlier than teams with returning head coaches. This year they can begin on April 6,” as reported by Bills reporter Sal Capaccio.
Therefore, the same NFL ruling applies for organizations like the Steelers and Ravens, who have hired new head coaches in Mike McCarthy and Jesse Minter, respectively. Meanwhile, the Chiefs will be guided by Reid for the 14th straight season.
Obviously, the Chiefs would want no one else to lead them into battle in 2026, but the fact remains that other threats in the AFC will be getting some more time to work with heading into the new season.
Head coach Mike McCarthy.
Double-edged sword
The extra weeks of preparation also pose risks. Every offseason, as players return to the field after a long inactive period, injuries tend to occur. The glass-half-empty stance suggests that more weeks mean more time for injuries, but the other view indicates that players may also have extra time to recover from potential setbacks sustained during the offseason workout program.
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Bigger fish to fry
This isn’t Reid or the Chiefs’ first rodeo, though. They‘ve seen teams in the AFC earn this advantage before, and they had success, regardless. However, when it comes to Buffalo, Baltimore, and Pittsburgh, those three sides have had the same head coach for a very long time, so they hadn’t had the two-week advantage in a very long time. Still, Kansas City has enough on its plate, as to be stressing about other franchises. Especially as the 2026 NFL season is still far away on the horizon.
