Some people around the NFL have more riding on the 2026 season than others. The vast majority of players are on one-year deals or have limited or no guaranteed money waiting for them in 2027. Every coordinator and assistant coach is one bad year away from potentially looking for work. And although a fair number of head coaches and general managers have real job security, others might have a storied career with one team come down to a missed field goal or a contested catch at the wrong time -- to which John Harbaugh and Sean McDermott can attest.
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Today, I'm looking at the players, coaches and executives who might be most impacted by what they do -- or don't do -- during the 2026 campaign. Perhaps it is a player in position to make life-changing money if he has a good season at the right time. Perhaps it is someone on the verge of losing their path to a starting role. It could also mean coaches and executives looking to lock up another contract with a successful year.
Even within this group, though, there are a few players who could really see their future diverge into one of two dramatically different paths solely based on what they do over the next 17 games. Let's open things up there. Here are 23 people around the NFL with the most to gain or lose in 2026.
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C.J. Stroud, QB, Houston Texans
I'll start with the player who might have a wider range of outcomes heading into the season than anyone. There aren't many candidates in any given year who have a shot at coming out of the campaign as the highest-paid player in NFL history. But Stroud has the potential to be that player if things go right. There's also a world where things go south and he's competing for his job -- or on another roster altogether -- in 2027.
In a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately sports universe, Stroud's disastrous postseason has dominated offseason discussion around the fourth-year pro. Turning the ball over seven times (and being lucky to avoid more) in two games will do that. Texans fans will look at what the Seahawks did on the other side of the bracket, with a dominant defense and a quarterback who avoided turning the ball over at all in three games, and rue what happened in January. Between teams such as the Chiefs and Ravens missing the playoffs altogether, and the Broncos showing up in the AFC Championship Game without their starting quarterback, the 2025 season might go down as a missed opportunity for the Texans.