NFL News NFL News, Reports and Updates
In the NFL, there’s a very real incentive to tank. The NFL would prefer that it doesn’t happen or, at a minimum, that no one talks about it.
For several teams, there’s a tanking dance in Week 18 for the first overall pick in the draft.
Currently, the 3-13 Patriots hold the top pick. They’ll clinch it with a loss on Sunday. That creates an incentive for New England to not try to win the game.
It creates a different incentive for the division rival against whom they finish the season. If the Bills don’t want the Patriots to emerge with the top pick in each round of the 2025 draft — including the all-important No. 1 pick — the Bills could try to lose. Or at least not try very hard to win.
Meanwhile, the 3-13 Titans, 3-13 Browns, and 3-13 Giants each could end up with the top pick, depending on how the other games go.
There’s plenty of chatter in league circles regarding attempts to snag the first overall pick. Or, in the case of the Bills, from preventing the Pats from getting it by letting the Pats win.
It’s an awkward reality of a draft process that gives the worst teams from the prior season dibs on the best players in the draft. And there’s real value in a team positioning itself higher in the draft order.
It costs nothing to lose a game. It costs plenty to move up in the draft.
Really, what’s the difference between 3-14 and 4-13? Nobody cares. Few will even remember. A lost season is a lost season, regardless of the number of losses.
Players don’t tank; they don’t care at all about draft order. But coaches, executives, and owners can have plenty of influence over what happens in a given game.
In the last game of the 2014 season, for example, the Buccaneers entered the second half of a game against the Saints with a 20-7 lead. But Tampa needed a loss to secure the first overall pick. So, when the third quarter started, most of the starters were removed from the game.
“When someone gets hurt, the coaches upstairs will say, ‘Coach, the corner’s out, the right…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/tanking-reverse-tanking-could-issue-230548040.html
Author : ProFootball Talk on NBC Sports
Publish date : 2025-01-04 23:05:00
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.
