NFL Teams Who Must Consider Tanking for 2025 Draft as Top Priority
NFL Teams Who Must Consider Tanking for 2025 Draft as Top Priority0 of 6
Geno SmithJennifer Stewart/Getty Images
As Herm Edwards once tactfully pointed out, you play to win the game. There’s no question that every player goes into the season with optimism that their team can win games and coaches have too much at stake in terms of job security to outright tank from Week 1.
Still, there are things that a general manger can do to already have an eye on the 2025 NFL draft. It’s the front office’s job to maximize their team’s window for success. Sometimes that means working towards improving future positioning rather than the current roster.
This idea also includes teams who have been stuck in neutral for too long. Teams that might be stuck in quarterback purgatory or mired in mediocrity might be wise to start playing younger players, ship off veterans on expiring contracts and avoid dipping into much more of their cash reserves.
The following teams aren’t going to start outright tanking, but they also should be making moves that might improve their positioning for next year’s draft.
Denver Broncos1 of 6
Bo NixMatthew Stockman/Getty Images
Not every team that should be looking ahead to the 2025 NFL draft is looking for quarterback talent. The Broncos have already staked the future of the franchise on Bo Nix after the 2024 NFL draft.
They shouldn’t go back on that regardless of what 2024 looks like.
Sean Payton’s team has multiple other needs that the next draft class could fulfill, though. B/R’s very early 2025 NFL mock draft featured four defensive linemen, two cornerbacks and one offensive tackle. The Broncos could still use an infusion of young talent on the defensive line, another elite corner across from Patrick Surtain II or an heir apparent to Garrett Bolles at left tackle.
There’s going to be some pressure for the Broncos to show progress under Sean Payton. They went 8-9 in Payton’s first season and the former Saints coach brings with him an expectation of success.
But this is still a roster with a lot of questions. The receiver room has a lot of young talent that could be good, but isn’t proven yet. The same could be said for the front seven and the Broncos didn’t have the cap space or draft capital to address everything this offseason.
The Russell Wilson trade has undoubtedly set back the franchise a few years. A bit of patience is going to be required and playing for the 2025 draft could put the Broncos in a position to make a bigger leap next season.
Las Vegas Raiders2 of 6
Aidan O’Connell and Gardner Minshew IIEthan Miller/Getty Images
As constructed, the Raiders are a plucky team whose defense is going to win them some games. The turnaround over the second half of the season created some good moments for the Raiders faithful, including a stunning upset of the Kansas City Chiefs on Christmas.
Unfortunately, the Raiders quarterback situation makes it hard to believe they’ll be able to pull off those kind of wins on a consistent basis.
The defense is for real. Maxx Crosby is an elite edge rusher and the addition of Christian Wilkins through free agency will give them an even better defensive line.
But Gardner Minshew II is just a good bridge option who can help a team stick around .500 and Aidan O’Connell hasn’t done enough to believe that he’s the heir apparent.
The truth is the Raiders are still looking for a quarterback that can take the franchise to higher heights than Derek Carr did. So far, they haven’t found that guy.
Their best bet might be in the 2025 draft. The quarterback class doesn’t have the same hype has the 2024 class, but there are still a few options who could build a case to be top 10 options.
The Raiders have an impressive collection of weapons. Davante Adams, Jakobi Meyers, Michael Mayer and Brock Bowers is a good core of skill players.
But the quarterback who can take that group to the next level isn’t on the roster and the 2025 draft might be their best option to find that player.
New Orleans Saints3 of 6
Derek CarrDerick E. Hingle/Getty Images
The New Orleans Saints manage the cap like a team chasing Super Bowls, but they have been just good enough to stay afloat in the NFC South picture over the last three seasons since Dennis Allen has taken over.
The question is what good comes from yet another 7-10 win season from the Saints in 2024.
This is a franchise that continues to live on the vapors of a successful era in the franchise’s history. They haven’t been a true contender since Drew Brees’s retirement and they’ve been stuck in a stage of being just good enough to avoid picking in the top 10, but not good enough to win a playoff game since a wildcard win over the Bears in 2020.
The easiest way to stop that cycle would be to bite the bullet, get their books in order and wind up with a top 10 pick in next year’s draft. It’s worth noting that the highest the Saints have drafted since 2009 is 11th.
They picked Marshon Lattimore 11th in 2017 and Chris Olave 11th in 2022.
Trading away players like Alvin Kamara and Lattimore would qualify as “tanking” moves that would allow them to focus on playing younger players while building draft capital and potentially wind up with a top 10 pick in next year’s draft.
New York Giants4 of 6
Daniel Jones and Brian DabollLuke Hales/Getty Images
Whether the Giants can afford to tank in 2024 probably depends on whether owner John Mara is able to extend some grace to Brian Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen for the Daniel Jones contract.
Schoen gave Jones a four-year, $160 million contract last offseason while contract talks with Saquon Barkley stalled and resulted in a one-year deal. Fast-forward to 2024 and Jones’ status as franchise quarterback is still in question. Barkley is now with the division-rival Philadelphia Eagles.
Those Eagles not only added Barkley, but also added Bryce Huff on defense in addition to two new coordinators who could fix their woes from last season. The Cowboys still have a ton of talent even if it feels like everyone is in a contract year. The Commanders have an exciting answer at quarterback and a new head coach.
There are things to get excited about with the Giants. Malik Nabers gives them their biggest potential star at receiver since Odell Beckham Jr. and the defensive line added a huge missing piece in Brian Burns.
But it feels like this offense is still far from providing the Giants with a contender. If Mara can exercise some patients, making moves that would see the team be more competitive with a potential first-round quarterback might be the best path forward.
Seattle Seahawks5 of 6
Seahawks offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb and quarterback Geno SmithSteph Chambers/Getty Images
The Seahawks are a team that has to ask themselves what their goals are.
If all they want is to make the playoffs and continue to be a solid football team then sticking with the status quo is the path forward. They are 9-8 in each of their last two seasons since Geno Smith took over.
They didn’t have an opportunity to draft a quarterback picking 16th in this year’s draft. The same could be said for picking 20th in the 2023 draft. They wound up with Jaxon Smith-Njigba in 2023 and Byron Murphy II in 2024. Both could end up being high-impact starters at key positions.
But neither will mean as much if they can’t find a way to get elevated play at the quarterback position.
If going 9-8 and flirting with the playoffs was a good bar for Seattle, they likely wouldn’t have made the choice to move on from Pete Carroll as head coach. However, making the move to sign Mike Macdonald opens the door for the Seahawks to lean into tanking toward a high draft pick in 2025.
The Niners have a strong grip on the NFC West right now. But the Seahawks could ostensibly make a run at a wildcard spot and hope that Sam Howell can be the quarterback of the future.
Instead, trading an aging player like Tyler Lockett in the middle of the season might a tanking move worth considering to increase their draft investment and potentially get a new quarterback prospect in 2025.
Tennessee Titans6 of 6
Will LevisJohnnie Izquierdo/Getty Images
The Tennessee Titans should have two primary objectives heading into the 2024 season: Find out if Will Levis can be their franchise quarterback and do what they can to be in position to draft his replacement if he isn’t.
The Titans are still not a complete team. The AFC South was relatively weak last season and they still finished four games behind 10-7 Houston Texans who won the division.
General manager Ran Carthon has started to rebuild the roster. Derrick Henry is gone. They drafted JC Latham and signed Lloyd Cushenberry III to kickstart rebuilding the offensive line and signed Calvin Ridley and Tyler Boyd to bolster the receiver corps.
The Titans did a good job of giving Levis what he needs to prove he can be the quarterback in 2024. After taking him in the second round of the 2023 draft, he earned the right to show he can do the job, throwing eight touchdowns to four interceptions while making nine starts last season.
Calvin Ridley and Tyler Boyd will team up with DeAndre Hopkins to create a formidable wide receiver trio. But there’s still room for significant growth with a youth movement on defense.
The early outlook on the 2025 NFL draft seems to favor defensive talent. While it might be tempting to see the Titans get aggressive in Brian Callahan’s first year, it’s probably important to keep that in the perspective that the Titans best hope to get back to being a threat in the AFC for them to hit on their draft picks.
That’s a lot easier if they can move up the board during the season.
