The 10 NFL Teams With The Most Homegrown Talent

Player trades and big free agent signings are a fact of life in the NFL, with stars often jumping between several teams over the course of their career.

While technically the NFL is a level playing field given every team in the league is held to a salary cap, some teams may have to rely on the draft more than others. Consistently underperforming, turbulent front offices, salary cap mismanagement, being located in a smaller market or in a state with higher income tax are just some factors that can lead to a franchise not being a dream destination for star players. This is why some teams may have to put more emphasis on the draft compared to others.

Of course, cultivating this sort of homegrown talent is by no means a bad thing, and it can often be the catalyst that launches newer players into future stardom. So, with the 2025-26 NFL season now underway, we decided to look at each team’s current roster to see which uses the most home-grown talent.

For each roster, we calculated the percentage of players who have spent their entire NFL careers with one team rather than being acquired from other franchises, helping us to work out which teams put the most effort into creating new stars by building, rather than acquiring , their talent.

Here’s what we uncovered!

The top 10 NFL teams with the most home-grown players

According to our data, the average NFL roster consists of a surprising 57% homegrown talent, with the Washington Commanders ranking as the franchise with the fewest homegrown players at just 39%. That figure also includes players signed to the practice squad, not just those on the active 53-man roster. In contrast, the following teams have the highest percentage of homegrown talent out there:

1. Baltimore Ravens

With a massive 77% of their roster being made up of players who have spent their whole careers with the team, the Baltimore Ravens rank as the NFL franchise with the most homegrown talent in the 2025-26 season!

Of the 61 players they currently have signed, 47 have never played for another team. Some of their most notable homegrown athletes include star QB Lamar Jackson, who has played for the Ravens since being drafted in the first round in 2018, and 2024 Pro Bowl wide receiver Zay Flowers.

The Ravens finished 2024 and 2025 as divisional champions, but have struggled to translate their regular-season success into a strong playoff performance, in spite of achieving an average win rate of 61% over the past five years. With such a young roster of developing talent, though, they’re likely to get even stronger in the coming seasons.

2. Buffalo Bills

45 players on the Buffalo Bills’ 62-person roster have never played for another team. This means 73% of their current squad consists of homegrown players, with standout players like 2024 MVP quarterback Josh Allen and 2x Pro Bowl running back James Cook ranking among their top stars.

Overall, the Bills have the second-best track record in the league for developing their own athletes, with their commitment to developing new talent seeming to pay off, as the Bills have had the second-highest win rate of the last five seasons (71%).

The team has also made it to the playoffs in every season since the beginning of the Sean McDermott era in 2017, with their biggest successes coming in 2020 and 2024, when they reached the AFC Championship game before losing to the Chiefs on both occasions.

3. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The 2020 Super Bowl champions, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have made significant roster changes in the years that followed their title win, especially with legendary quarterback Tom Brady announcing his retirement from the NFL in 2022.

The Bucs now boast a roster made up of 71% homegrown players, earning them a podium finish on our list. 45 of their 63 signees have never played for other teams, including running back Bucky Irving and newly drafted wide receiver Emeka Egbuka.

Despite not being able to make it back to the Super Bowl since the 2020 season, the Bucs’ drafted players have been a big reason why Tampa Bay has remained in contention.

On the offensive side, Mike Evans who is playing his 12th season with Tampa has continued to hit 1,000 yard seasons and even though that streak is likely to die this year, Egbuka looks to be another home run pick. Tristan Wirfs remains one of the best offensive tackles in the league meanwhile on defense, homegrown stalwarts such as Vita Vea and Lavonte David (14 seasons with Tampa) continue to make plays.

4. Kansas City Chiefs

The Kansas City Chiefs have been one of the most dominant teams in recent NFL history, winning back-to-back Super Bowls in 2022 and 2023. They were also the 2024 AFC Champions, though they eventually lost to the Philadelphia Eagles.

Many would agree, however, that their success has hinged partially on homegrown stars like tight end Travis Kelce and quarterback Patrick Mahomes, both of whom have become household names in recent years.

Of the 62 athletes currently signed to the Chiefs, 42 have never played for another NFL team. This means they developed 68% of their talent, rather than signing in free agency or trading for them. And with the highest win rate of any team in the NFL over the last five years (77%), their methods have clearly paid off.

5. Green Bay Packers

With a 62% win rate across the last five NFL seasons, the Green Bay Packers are one of the most successful teams in our top 10. Their quarterback, Jordan Love, is arguably their biggest homegrown star, having played on the starting roster since 2023, while tight end Tucker Kraft and wide receiver Romeo Doubs are other notable Packers players who have never played for another team.

Overall, 67% of Packers talent on the 2025-26 roster consists of rising stars who have spent their whole careers with the franchise – that’s 42 of their 63 players. However, after reaching consecutive conference finals in 2019 and 2020, the team has struggled in the playoffs, with most of their wins coming from strong regular-season finishes.

6. Los Angeles Rams

Another team that focuses on supporting its players’ growth is the Los Angeles Rams, as two-thirds of its players (66%) have spent their NFL careers with the franchise. The 2021 NFL Champions failed to qualify for the playoffs the following year, but they’ve found moderate postseason success since undergoing roster changes.

Following the mini-rebuild after their Super Bowl win, the Rams’ mentality seems to have gone from ‘F them picks’ to ‘love them picks’ and this seems to have paid off.

Drafted talent such as Puka Nacua and Kyren Williams have helped the Rams offense light up the scoreboard. While on defense, the huge loss of Aaron Donald has been somewhat negated due to the selections of Jared Verse, Braden Fiske, Kobie Turner and Byron Young.

7. Cincinnati Bengals

59 players are currently signed to the Cincinnati Bengals, with 38 of them having played for the team since their NFL debuts. This means that 64% of the Bengals’ 2025-26 roster consists of homegrown stars. After finishing the 2021 playoffs as Conference Champions, eventually losing the Super Bowl to the Los Angeles Rams, the Bengals’ postseasons have been hit-and-miss.

But despite their patchy track record in recent years, fans still have plenty of homegrown players to be excited about. For example, the 2024 Comeback Player of the Year, quarterback Joe Burrow, has played for the Bengals since his 2020 debut, while the homegrown duo of Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins is arguably the best receiving duo in the NFL.

8. Seattle Seahawks

Boasting a roster of 64% homegrown talent, the Seattle Seahawks finish at #8 on our list. Throughout the 2020s, the Seahawks have failed to progress past the Wild Card round, despite typically finishing their regular seasons with positive records. However, the team has also lost some key players through roster moves, though there are still rising stars in the Seahawks roster to watch.

Case in point, running backs Kenneth Walker III and Zach Charbonnet have spent their NFL careers in Seattle since being drafted, while Jaxon Smith-Njigba has established himself as one of the most productive wide receivers in the league.

9. Jacksonville Jaguars

The Jacksonville Jaguars have reached the postseason only once since 2020, advancing to the 2022 Divisional Playoffs before losing to the Kansas City Chiefs. But regardless of their recent win rate, the Jags are still helping to develop many players into stars.

Of their 59 signed players in the 2025-26 season, 37 have played for the side since their debuts, meaning 63% of the roster is homegrown. Some of the Jaguars’ most notable stars have been trained by the team since the end of their college careers, such as quarterback Trevor Lawrence, who was drafted first overall in 2021.

10. Indianapolis Colts

Rounding out our list are the Indianapolis Colts, whose roster consists of 62% homegrown players. Some of their most notable players, such as running back Jonathan Taylor and wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr., have represented Indianapolis since joining the league. But despite a strong base of homegrown talent, the Colts haven’t seen much playoff success recently, with their only postseason appearance of the last five years coming in 2020 (a loss to the Buffalo Bills).

Still, when it comes to homegrown talent, the Colts managed to narrowly beat the Dallas Cowboys (62%), the Minnesota Vikings, and the Cleveland Browns (both 58%) to place at #10 in our rankings.

Do homegrown players impact a team’s win rate?

There are several advantages to building players from within a team rather than acquiring established stars or making a splash in free agency: it costs less money upfront, it can boost your team’s morale and help maintain the team’s culture, but does it impact how your team performs on the field?

Well, by plotting each of our teams on a chart ranked by their percentage of homegrown talent and comparing their rankings to their win rate over the last five seasons, we can see that the results vary wildly.

There’s no denying the success of some of our highest-ranking teams, like the Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs. On the other side, teams with much less consistent success scored towards the bottom of our list. The Washington Commanders were found to have the lowest percentage of homegrown players and are a franchise which have generally struggled in recent years. However, last season’s success with drafted stars such as Jayden Daniels and Terry McLaurin will give Commanders fans hope for the future, if they can stay healthy.

Overall, there does appear to be a moderate positive correlation (r=0.62) between the number of players who have played their whole careers on one roster and that team’s win rate, but it’s clear that this is on a case-by-case basis.

So, while cultivating new talent is crucial to securing your team’s future, it really does depend on how players are used in their matches in order to achieve success on the field, and a combination of newer and established athletes may be what really helps to create a roster with plenty of depth and versatility.

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Methodology

This study ranks all 32 NFL teams based on the number of homegrown players present in their 2025-2026 squad.

“Homegrown players” were defined as athletes who have been drafted by the team they currently play in and haven’t moved, as well as players who have joined the team as a free agent and have never played for another franchise.

The number of “Homegrown players” were then added up and compared to the total squad size to give a percentage, at which point, all teams were ranked from highest to lowest, based on the number of homegrown players present. Total squad size also includes players signed to the practice squad, not just those on the active 53-man roster. Data is accurate as of 23/10/2025.