The Browns have never won the AFC North. Heck, it’s now been 36 years since they won any division. Don’t expect that to change this year.

Inside: Our AFC North preview for the Steelers, Ravens, Bengals and Browns. Let’s go.

This article is from The Athletic’s NFL newsletter. Sign up here to receive it directly in your inbox. It’s free to subscribe. 

AFC North Preview

The vibe of this division always felt familiar. Mike Tomlin and John Harbaugh led gritty, defensive-minded teams. Myles Garrett anchored an imposing defense, opposite an offense that couldn’t keep up. Joe Burrow had the inverse situation in Cincinnati.

Then everything changed. Pittsburgh and Baltimore now have very different leaders. The Browns have a new No. 1 pass rusher. The Bengals might even have a defense.

The AFC North is where we begin our 2026 division previews, starting with the reigning division champs:

Pittsburgh Steelers

(10-7, wild-card loss in 2025)

Big change: Mike McCarthy as HC. McCarthy isn’t the most exciting hire, but offers what the Steelers need: offense. McCarthy’s offenses ranked above average in yards and points scored in 14 of his 18 NFL seasons as a head coach. Pittsburgh hasn’t had a top-16 offense since 2018. Here’s what McCarthy’s offense might look like.

Subtle change: Patrick Graham as DC. Graham spent nearly a decade under Bill Belichick and has worked with Steve Spagnuolo, Brian Flores and Pete Carroll. Graham knows his stuff. He is joined by multiple additions in the Pittsburgh secondary, which should improve the league’s highest-paid defense; it ranked 26th in yards against in 2025, its worst finish since 1988. The scheme got stale. It won’t be this year.

Lingering question: Who is the quarterback of the future?

Projection: 9-8. I liked the coaching hires. I doubt they are enough for a dramatic improvement. A tough schedule and improved division make for a difficult farewell season for Aaron Rodgers, who gave The Athletic an exclusive interview.

Baltimore Ravens

(8-9 in 2025)

Big change: Jesse Minter as HC. The entire Chargers defense improved under Minter, who established himself as one of the league’s top defensive minds in just two seasons as defensive coordinator. He was hired to improve a Ravens unit that allowed the third-most points in franchise history last season.

Subtle change: A pass rush. Baltimore failed to pressure opposing quarterbacks in 2025, ranking 28th in both pressure rate and sacks. Trey Hendrickson alone might solve that, as he ranks behind only Myles Garrett on a sacks-per-game basis since 2023. But the Ravens also might get back elite defensive tackle Nnamdi Madubuike, who missed all but two games in 2025.

Lingering question: Can they adequately replace Pro Bowl center Tyler Linderbaum?

Projection: 12-5. Thanks to a significantly improved pass rush, assuming Lamar Jackson stays healthy for what should be a bounce-back year, Baltimore has the talent and coaching to make an AFC Championship Game appearance.

Cincinnati Bengals

(6-11 in 2025)

Big change: Dexter Lawrence. In 2025, the Bengals defense did what I considered impossible: got worse. Weakest against the run, Cincinnati’s defense allowed opponents to drain the clock and keep Joe Burrow sidelined. That had to change. Enter Lawrence, a 6-foot-5, 350-pound defensive tackle who headlines a changed identity that’s evident in camp.

Subtle change: Safety Bryan Cook. Cook might be the most underrated acquisition of an expensive offseason that also included Seahawks edge Boye Mafe. Paul Dehner Jr. reported Cook could be a team captain and has “changed the entire tenor of the secondary in these practices.”

Lingering question: After a rough rookie season, are sophomore linebackers Demetrius Knight Jr. and Barrett Carter enough?

Projection: 10-7. It’s easy to be optimistic: Cincinnati has an elite offense, improved defense and the league’s third-easiest schedule. They should return to the playoffs for the first time in three seasons. Anything less could spell trouble for head coach Zac Taylor.

Cleveland Browns

(5-12 in 2025)

Big change: Garrett trade. Cleveland’s lone bright spot was replaced by 25-year-old defensive end Jared Verse, who had the sixth-most pressures in 2025. He pairs with linebacker Carson Schwesinger to give Cleveland a strong young core on defense. The question becomes whether rookie defensive coordinator Mike Rutenberg can get as much out of this defense as Jim Schwartz did.

Subtle change: Rookie wide receivers. First-rounder KC Concepcion and second-rounder Denzel Boston are immediate upgrades to one of the league’s worst receiver rooms, with Boston heralded as “the most impressive player on the field in many spring practices.”

Lingering question: Starting quarterback? It’ll be either Deshaun Watson or Shedeur Sanders, who are splitting reps in training camp. “No decision is coming anytime soon,” explains Zac Jackson.

Projection: 5-12. Owner Jimmy Haslam is optimistic. I’m not. But with a bunch of young talent and two first-round picks in next year’s draft, 2027 should be fun!

Extra Points

🚑 Ricky Pearsall done. The 49ers third-year receiver will miss the entire 2026 season due to a PCL injury. It’s a brutal update for the injury-plagued 2024 first-rounder.

📓 A man obsessed. Rookie tight end Kenyon Sadiq is different, having posted combine numbers that rival Vernon Davis’. His mental game is just as unique.

🎤 Aaron Rodgers exclusive. Linking Michael Silver’s interview with Rodgers again here, as it’s a rare look into the quarterback’s thinking and personal life.

👀 Matt Ryan’s vision. The Falcons’ longtime quarterback has a vision for his team, and Jeff Howe explores how that plan was built.

▶️ Most-clicked: Our pre-training camp Power Rankings.

📫 Enjoyed this read? Sign up here to receive The Athletic’s free NFL newsletter in your inbox. 

Also, check out our other newsletters.

CLEVELAND — As the clock struck 6 p.m. ET on Monday, I asked a Guardians source whether they were completing any final moves that hadn’t yet trickled out to the public.

“Only the two buzzer beaters,” they texted back.

Yeah, only. The Guardians, typically stealthy and deliberate and gun-shy and sometimes patient and risk-averse to a fault, certainly shot their shot. They swung three trades on Monday, and four in all leading up to the deadline. They acquired five players: an All-Star starting pitcher (Foster Griffin), a left-handed-hitting first baseman with an .820 OPS (Nathaniel Lowe), a right-handed-hitting outfielder with power (Jo Adell), a reliever with a mind-bending changeup (Craig Yoho) and a defensive-minded outfielder who was assigned to Triple A (Blake Perkins).

Now, the players have flaws. But they help fill glaring deficiencies that the previous roster couldn’t conquer on its own.

The American League is wide open. The Guardians can sense the opportunity at hand.

Let’s dive into their wheeling and dealing.

The Guardians will option first baseman Kyle Manzardo and utility man David Fry to Triple-A Columbus to clear spots for Adell and Lowe. No contender needed offensive upgrades more desperately than the Guardians, who own the league’s worst team OPS. Fry hasn’t collected a hit since July 2. He’s 0-for-25 with 10 strikeouts since. Manzardo actually enjoyed a strong week at the plate, but much of the season has been a struggle. Lowe, who boasts an .820 OPS this season, will assume his reps at first base against right-handed pitching.

The Guardians have discussed Adell with the Angels on several occasions over the years, including as early as 2018, the year after he was the 10th overall pick in the draft, a team source told The Athletic.

What Adell does best is what the Guardians have done worst this season. He totes a .303/.339/.571 slash line against lefties. The Guardians rank 28th in the league with a .653 team OPS against southpaws, and three hitters tasked first and foremost with feasting on lefties — Fry, Angel Martínez and Rhys Hoskins — have failed in that regard. The three have compiled OPS figures of .609, .631 and .634, respectively, against lefties this season.

To acquire Adell, the club coughed up catching prospect Jacob Cozart, who sat behind Patrick Bailey, Austin Hedges, Cooper Ingle and Kody Huff on the organizational depth chart. The Guardians planned all along to trade Bo Naylor, who they all but dismissed from their plans when they traded for Bailey in early May. They felt confident in their depth in the upper levels of the minors to part with Cozart, too.

Nathaniel Lowe sports an .820 OPS this season. (Dylan Buell / Getty Images)

Now, how often will Adell face righties? Team president Chris Antonetti relayed Monday night that the Guardians think Adell can improve against righties. Splits can wildly fluctuate from year to year. His splits were less pronounced last season, when he enjoyed a career year, with 37 homers and a .778 OPS.

2025 vs. LHP: .931 OPS
2025 vs. RHP: .744 OPS

2026 vs. LHP: .910 OPS
2026 vs. RHP: .593 OPS

Opponents have salivated at the thought of throwing junk-tossing lefties at the Guardians. People named Mitch Bratt and Caleb Ferguson have silenced them in recent days. Adell, who now leads the Guardians with 16 home runs, should make them think twice about that approach. Once a consensus top-10 prospect, he has top-shelf bat speed and has trimmed his strikeout rate to a tolerable level. He doesn’t walk much and he doesn’t grade out well defensively. Antonetti said Adell will split his time between right field and designated hitter.

Griffin traveled a winding path to Cleveland. A first-round pick in 2014, he debuted with the Kansas City Royals in 2020, briefly pitched for the Toronto Blue Jays, spent three seasons with the Yomiuri Giants in Japan and then returned to MLB this season with the Washington Nationals, with whom he blossomed into one of the most consistent starters in the league.

He doesn’t throw hard — the heater is 91-92 mph — but he has a balanced attack with not one, not two, not three, not four, not five, not six, but seven(!) different pitches. Bailey and Hedges should be giddy about programming PitchCom to account for everything their new battery mate can toss their way.

He doesn’t walk anyone, induces a bunch of chase, limits hard contact — all of those unexciting traits that fuel a pitcher’s effectiveness. We’ll give him a pass for his last start, when trade rumors swirled. Here’s how many earned runs he allowed in his previous 11 outings: 0, 3, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 3. If your run line compilation resembles binary code, you’re probably enjoying a noteworthy season.

Griffin’s arrival cements Cleveland’s rotation as one of the best in the league. They now boast two All-Star lefties in Griffin and Parker Messick; a wannabe ace in Gavin Williams, who ranks behind only Jacob Misiorowski in strikeouts; plus Tanner Bibee and Joey Cantillo. The Guardians already ranked sixth in rotation ERA, but they had some uneasiness about whether the group could hold up, with Messick and Cantillo approaching uncharted workload territory and the unit avoiding injuries to this point. Plus, there’s not a ton of ready depth beyond their starting five.

All-Star Foster Griffin joins an already strong Guardians pitching staff. (Emilee Chinn / Getty Images)

They were nervous about the state of their starting pitching after the 2024 season, too, so they swung trades for Luis Ortiz and Slade Cecconi. But Cecconi continues to endure trials on the mound and Ortiz is awaiting trial in November. Antonetti said the Guardians are working through how they’ll arrange their pitching staff to incorporate Griffin. Cecconi is tentatively scheduled to start Wednesday, after the team pushed him back a few days. That would also be Griffin’s regular turn to pitch, or Bibee could start that day on normal rest.

Speaking of Ortiz, two of the prospects included in the package for Griffin — Josh Hartle and Nick Mitchell — came to Cleveland in the three-team arrangement that landed Ortiz with the Guardians in December 2024. The Guardians also sent the Nationals pitchers Will Dion and Kendeglys Virguez.

Lowe, coincidentally, complements Adell perfectly. He has tormented righties this season (.885), but he’s 2-for-24 against lefties. Stick the two in some sort of timeshare — and the Guardians platoon more than any team in the league, year after year — and you get the equivalent of a Monstar from “Space Jam” (at least, until the Tune Squad consumes Michael Jordan’s “secret stuff”). Like Griffin, Lowe will be a free agent at the end of the season. He’s really just keeping the seat warm for top prospect Ralphy Velazquez.

In exchange for Lowe, the Guardians sent the Reds a pitcher, Alejandro Rivera, who was born on Dec. 27, 2006, just in case you want to feel old.

Close the book on the Nolan Jones/Tyler Freeman/Juan Brito saga. Jones was once Cleveland’s top prospect, a big, powerful, strong-armed third baseman. The Guardians swapped him for Brito in November 2022. They then flipped Freeman for Jones just before Opening Day 2025. Jones never found his footing in Cleveland, though, and the club sent him to the White Sox for international bonus pool money in June. Chicago traded him to Seattle over the weekend. Brito, meanwhile, was designated for assignment and then shipped to the Reds on Monday. All together, the Guardians received minus-1.0 bWAR from the three players.