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It is time once again to unveil CBS Sports' annual NFL Survivor Squad. We have done this exercise for each of the last six years now, but if this is your first time hearing about this, you might be asking what a Survivor Squad is. So let me tell you: It's our attempt to build the best possible roster using one representative and only one representative from each of the 32 NFL teams. 

We build out our roster with a head coach, offensive and defensive coordinator, quarterback, running back, perimeter and slot receivers, two tight ends, an offensive "flex" player, five offensive linemen, two edge rushers, two interior defensive linemen, two linebackers, a defensive front "flex" player, perimeter and slot corners, a deep safety, a box safety, a defensive back "flex" player, a punter, a kicker and a return man. 

To make things more challenging on myself (and to avoid essentially reprinting the same article year after year), I unilaterally declare every player and coach who made any of the previous rosters off limits for this year's exercise. That list includes a whole lot of people: 160 of them, to be exact. Because we've been doing this for so long, some of the players and coaches are even out of the league by now: Bill Belichick, Aaron Donald, J.J. Watt and more. Each of the ineligible players and coaches is listed in their corresponding section below.

In an exercise like this, you have to have a theory of roster building, and as always, our theory is about flexibility. We want to be as multiple as possible in all aspects of the game. Players who can help in both the run and pass game are prioritized, as are those with positional versatility. 

So, pass-catching running backs, receivers who can play on the perimeter or in the slot, defensive linemen who can flex to the edge or inside, linebackers who excel against the run and the pass, and safeties who can drop down into the box, play up high, or slide to the slot were all things that we looked for in building this year's team. 

But teams still tend to go as far as their quarterbacks take them, and the best teams put their quarterback in the best position possible to succeed while making things as difficult as possible for the opposing team's signal-caller. So, in all toss-up decisions, the tie was broken in favor of whichever player or coach would help our offense throw the ball efficiently and explosively or help our defense stop the opposition from doing the same. 

All that said, a couple quick notes before you get to the reveal of the full roster: 

  • The players (and coaches) selected at each position are not necessarily the best players (and coaches) at that particular position, but those who made the most sense on a roster where you can only (and must) take one representative from each team and so many of the best of the best are ineligible to make the roster.
  • Unlike the last few years, we did think there were a few "must-have" players for this year's squad, based on the fact that they had yet to make the Survivor Squad in any previous season and were arguably the single-best player at their respective positions. Those players were Eagles running back Saquon Barkley, Raiders tight end Brock Bowers, Chiefs center Creed Humphrey, Lions right tackle Penei Sewell and Ravens defensive back Kyle Hamilton.

Without further ado, let's walk through our squad.  

Coaching staff

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Head coach: Sean McDermott (Bills)

  • 2024 (ineligible): Jim Harbaugh (Chargers)
  • 2023 (ineligible): Sean McVay (Rams)
  • 2022 (ineligible): John Harbaugh (Ravens)
  • 2021 (ineligible): Andy Reid (Chiefs)
  • 2020 (ineligible): Bill Belichick (Patriots)

McDermott's Bills win the division essentially every year. Since Josh Allen broke out in 2020, they have won it five years in a row. He has recently come out of his former conservative shell and been willing to show aggression in his decision-making, and even when undermanned his defenses tend to over-perform their talent level. The ultimate success has yet to come for him in the playoffs, but the Bills keep knocking on the door. 

Offensive coordinator: Kliff Kingsbury (Commanders)

  • 2024 (ineligible): Bobby Slowik (Texans)
  • 2023 (ineligible): Ben Johnson (Lions)
  • 2022 (ineligible): Shane Steichen (Eagles)
  • 2021 (ineligible): Brian Daboll (Bills)
  • 2020 (ineligible): Greg Roman (Ravens)

Early last season, things were looking dicey for Kingsbury. But starting with a "Monday Night Football" game against the Bengals, he showed that he's willing to adjust his offense to fit his quarterback's skill set, abandoning the "horizontal raid" and letting Jayden Daniels push the ball downfield and make plays with his legs more often. He can do the same for our offense here while also maintaining the ability to get our playmakers the ball in open space.

Defensive coordinator: Brian Flores (Vikings)

  • 2024 (ineligible): Jim Schwartz (Browns)
  • 2023 (ineligible): Dan Quinn (Cowboys)
  • 2022 (ineligible): Don Martindale (Giants)
  • 2021 (ineligible): Patrick Graham (Giants)
  • 2020 (ineligible): Robert Saleh (49ers)

It felt right to have a representative from the Vikings' coaching staff, whether it be Flores or head coach Kevin O'Connell. But Flores is currently the most flexible and creative DC in the league, and we highly value the ability to do multiple different things and run multiple different schemes while putting players in the best possible position to succeed.

Offensive skill players

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Quarterback: Joe Burrow (Bengals)

Burrow is coming off a career season during which he threw for 4,918 yards and 48 touchdowns. He's the career leader in completion percentage and he's done it while still pushing the ball down the field. We know he can orchestrate things at the line of scrimmage and he gets the ball out quickly while also being able to make plays late in the down. He doesn't have the rushing upside of some other quarterbacks, but his pocket mobility still allows him to extend plays. In other words, he has almost everything you'd want in a modern-day quarterback.

Running back: Saquon Barkley (Eagles)

I was honestly kind of surprised when I looked back and saw that Saquon had yet to make this team, but it feels appropriate that he do so coming off his 2,000-yard, Super Bowl-winning season. He is as complete a back as there is in the NFL, and on this team he'd get to show off his pass-catching chops more than he does in Philadelphia.

Perimeter receivers: Malik Nabers (Giants) and Drake London (Falcons)

Nabers broke Nacua's record for catches by a rookie wide receiver, only to see another player on our squad surpass him and set the all-time rookie record regardless of position. He is a physical freak who can win inside and out, in contested catch situations and with the ball in his hands on the move. He can play as an X or Z receiver or move inside to the slot, and we love that kind of flexibility in our offense. London is more of a classic X type. He has prototypical size for a perimeter receiver and he's a target vacuum on the outside who wins with great hands and body control in the intermediate passing game. These two should make for a strong fit together.

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Slot receiver: Jaxon Smith-Njigba (Seahawks)

JSN broke out in his second NFL season, catching 100 passes on 137 targets. He still mostly worked in the short areas of the field -- which makes him a good fit for Burrow, who can pepper those areas with a high volume of targets -- but also found himself working down the field more often, as evidenced by his bump in yards per target. 

Tight ends: Brock Bowers (Raiders) and Tucker Kraft (Packers)

Bowers might already be the best tight end in football, unless it's still Kittle. He set the all-time rookie record for receptions and he's basically a wide receiver who gets listed at tight end. He did this exact kind of thing when he first stepped on the field in college, too, so it's not like this is just some fluke. The guy might actually be unguardable. Kraft, meanwhile, emerged as Green Bay's top tight end last year, hauling in 50 passes for 707 yards on just 70 targets. That 10.1 yards-per-target mark is extremely good for a tight end. Neither of our tight ends are great run blockers, but that's why it's good that we have big, physical receivers and a massive offensive line with some maulers in the run game.

Offensive flex: Nico Collins (Texans)

Collins missed five games last year and still went over 1,000 yards as C.J. Stroud's top target. He's liked a souped-up version of what Burrow has with Tee Higgins in Cincinnati. Adding him to Nabers, London, JSN, Bowers and Kraft would give us a plethora of big-bodied targets who can haul in tight-window passes while also doing an excellent job of creating separation for Burrow to find them in the open field.

Offensive line

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Left tackle: Bernhard Raimann (Colts)

Raimann is coming off the best season of his young career. He allowed just 20 total pressures and took only three accepted penalties, and he improved as a run blocker to match what he was already doing well in pass protection. He deservingly got himself a contract extension this offseason and fits in nicely protecting Burrow's blind side here.

Left guard: Damien Lewis (Panthers)

Lewis is one of the aforementioned run-game maulers, and he helped Chuba Hubbard to a career-best season a year ago. He checked in with Pro Football Focus' 11th-highest run-blocking grade among all qualified guards, and his size makes him extremely difficult to deal with on the inside.

Center: Creed Humphrey (Chiefs)

Widely considered the best center and interior offensive lineman in the NFL, Humphrey makes for an easy choice to anchor the middle of the offensive line. He is elite as both a pass protector and run blocker, and we know he can work with a high-level quarterback to set protections and make all the calls up front.

Right guard: Kevin Zeitler (Titans)

The old veteran can still block it up in both the pass and run game at an extremely high level, as we saw last year in Detroit. His offseason move to Tennessee helped us out with finding a Titan for the roster, as well.

Right tackle: Penei Sewell (Lions)

If Sewell isn't the best overall lineman in the NFL, he's pretty damn close. (It might still be Lane Johnson.) He's the rare lineman who is himself an offensive weapon due to his fantastic mobility, and we can use him in space in both the screen game and the run game while also being able to leave him on an island in pass protection. He's an easy fit for this type of roster. 

Defensive front

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Edge rushers: Nick Bosa (49ers) and Jared Verse (Rams)

It's high time that Bosa made this team given that we've already used all the other elite edge rushers in his class. He's got nine-plus sacks in each of the five seasons that he's played more than two games, and he's also a high level run defender. 

You can tell how outrageously good Verse already is by the fact that I am willing to put a Florida State player on this roster. He is just a dominant force coming off the edge. His 55 pressures were fourth-most among all edge rushers last year, per Pro Football Focus, as was his 26.8% win rate. When you're that good as a rookie, expectations should be sky high moving forward. 

Interior defensive linemen: Cameron Heyward (Steelers) and Zach Sieler (Dolphins)

Heyward is another player who is overdue to make this team. He is somehow still playing at an elite level deep into his 30s, coming off an eight-sack season at age-35 wherein he tied for sixth among all interior defenders in pressures. He's also long been a stalwart defender against the run, and that hasn't changed. He still has the flexibility to kick outside on occasion, too, even if he almost exclusively lines up at right end or on the right side as a defensive tackle.

Sieler is a player who has totally exploded over the last two years. After totaling 10 sacks through his first five NFL seasons, he notched 10 of them in both 2023 and 2024. He finished ninth among interior defenders in pressures last season and he did it while lining up near exclusively in B gaps. That's a dominant interior rushman.

Defensive front flex: Vita Vea (Buccaneers)

Vea can play on the nose for our defense and bring the heat against both the run and the pass. He's a rare athlete for his position in a way that doesn't make all that much sense given his immense size. It helps that he's also coming off one of his better pass-rush seasons. 

Linebackers: Quincy Williams (Jets) and Devin Lloyd (Jaguars)

Quincy is the lesser-known of the Williams brothers (Jets teammate Quinnen Williams is his brother) but he's not much of a lesser player. He's damn good in his own right. He wasn't quite as strong in coverage last year as he was the year before but we know he has a ton of upside playing in space and roaming sideline to sideline for tackles.

Lloyd similarly roams all over the field to make plays, having racked up at least 113 tackles in each of his three seasons. He is very good coming downhill against the run and has been productive on the rare occasion that he's been asked to rush the passer. Coverage isn't his specialty but we've got a lot of back-end flexibility to make up for that.

Defensive backfield

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Outside corners: Christian Gonzalez (Patriots) and Jaylon Johnson (Bears)

Gonzalez was well on his way to breaking out as a top-five corner as a rookie before getting injured. Last season, he picked up right where he had left off and emerged as one of the very best in the league. He's only heading into Year 3 and he's already a star. He made Second Team All-Pro last year and it would hardly be a surprise if he jumped up and made the First Team this time around.

Johnson is a prototype physical corner on the outside who often moves around the formation to follow the opposing No. 1 receiver anywhere except into the slot. He split his time almost equally between left and right corner last season doing so. He wouldn't need to do that on this squad, but it's nice to know that he could.

Slot corner: Garrett Williams (Cardinals)

Williams ranked third in the NFL in receptions allowed per snap in the slot last season, per PFF, and gave up only 277 yards and a 73.5 passer rating when lined up on the inside. He's small at 5-10, 192 pounds but it's not like he's afraid to stick his nose in the muck and make some tackles. He can hold up close to the line of scrimmage. (And if he can't, well, we have multiple safeties who can slide into the slot and do it for him. More on them in a second.)

Deep safety: Brandon Jones (Broncos)

Box safety: Derwin James (Chargers)

Jones is coming off the best season of his career in his first year in Denver, emerging as a tackle machine (116 of them) while also matching his total from his first four seasons with a career-best three interceptions. He graded out as PFF's third-highest rated safety and ewas especially electric sweeping things up on the back end in coverage.

James has the versatility to play essentially anywhere, but we love moving him down into the box and taking advantage of his size and instincts to make plays near the line of scrimmage. He can cover tight ends and slot receivers, come up and play the run, and also work a deep half of the field or even operate as a center-fielder on occasion. He's perfect for this defense.

Back seven flex: Kyle Hamilton (Ravens)

As versatile as James is, Hamilton might be even more so. He's an elite slot corner and an elite safety in one player. There's nothing that he doesn't do at a high level for his position. With him and James in the same defensive backfield, we can line up pretty much any way we want and let Flores get as creative as he can imagine getting.

Specialists

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Returner: Rashid Shaheed (Saints)

Shaheed was a First-Team All-Pro as a return man in 2023, then got off to a great start in the return game last year (15.9 yards per punt return and 28.5 per kick return) before getting injured. He's one of the best in the game in this role.

Punter: Corey Bojorquez (Browns)

Kicker: Brandon Aubrey (Cowboys)

We didn't have any other rep for the Browns, so Bojorquez was it.

Aubrey is the best kicker in the NFL, essentially an automatic three points when he steps on the field.

FULL ROSTER

PositionRepresentativeTeam
Head CoachSean McDermottBills
Off. CoordinatorKliff KingsburyCommanders
Def. Coordinator Brian FloresVikings
QuarterbackJoe BurrowBengals
Running BackSaquon BarkleyEagles
Perimeter WRMalik NabersGiants
Perimeter WRDrake LondonFalcons
Slot WR Jaxon Smith-NjigbaSeahawks
Tight EndBrock BowersRaiders
Tight EndTucker KraftPackers
Off. FlexNico CollinsTexans
Left TackleBernhard RaimannColts
Left GuardDamien LewisPanthers
CenterCreed HumphreyChiefs
Right GuardKevin ZeitlerTitans
Right TacklePenei SewellLions
Edge RusherNick Bosa49ers
Edge RusherJared VerseRams
Interior DLCameron HeywardSteelers
Interior DLZach SeilerDolphins
Def. Front FlexVita VeaBuccaneers
Off-ball LBQuincy WilliamsJets
Off-ball LBDevin LloydJaguars
Perimeter CBChristian GonzalezPatriots
Perimeter CBJaylon JohnsonBears
Slot CBGarrett WilliamsCardinals
Deep SafetyBrandon JonesBroncos
Box Safety Derwin JamesChargers
Back Seven FlexKyle HamiltonRavens
ReturnerRashid ShaheedSaints
PunterCorey BojorquezBrowns
KickerBrandon AubreyCowboys