Giants Top List of NFL Teams That Should Tank for New Quarterback

Why is tanking more acceptable in the NBA than the NFL? The NFL doesn’t have a Draft Lottery. There’s no disincentive to giving up and the rewards of losing are getting bigger because quarterbacks are getting so expensive.

Patriots GM Eliot Wolf told the Boston Herald last week that he wouldn’t tank because it “cheats the game.” Exactly. That’s the point. It’s a shortcut out of perpetual mediocrity. While tanking is anti-competitive in the short term, in the long term the strategy is all about winning.

Players, coaches, executives and fans with weak stomachs hate tanking. Their jobs and their pride are at stake. That’s no excuse for team-builders not to focus on the big picture. If it’s all about winning championships, everyone should get on board.

This summer’s quarterback market has to affect teams’ thinking. Every quarterback that could be signed got the deal he wanted. There are no answers in free agency. The draft is the only answer. And now nine QBs make over $50 million a year. That means the teams that don’t have to pay that price tag have a significant advantage.

There isn’t a “Suck for Luck” or “Tank for Tua” situation yet. With Quinn Ewers, Carson Beck and Shedeur Sanders among the top QB prospects for the 2025 draft, we might have “Quit for Quinn,” “Be Bad for Beck” or “Shed your veterans for Shedeur.” Gonna need to workshop those.

Teams don’t necessarily need to get to No. 1 to get their guy. But these five teams don’t want to fall too low in the first round because they have to think about their future right now.

New York Giants

The Giants aren’t good at this. With the second overall pick in 2018, they passed on a chance to take Josh Allen for running back Saquon Barkley. In this year’s draft, they opted for receiver Malik Nabers at No. 6 instead of a QB. The one time they did pull the trigger, they ended up with Daniel Jones at No. 6 in ‘19. Now Jones is coming off the books and there’s no room to mess around.

Here’s the concern: Despite what we saw Sunday at the Meadowlands, the Giants might not be bad enough to get to No. 1. Jones has a chance to rebound against a shaky Commanders defense that he’s played well against. And New York has an expensive defensive line that could interfere with tanking efforts.

GM Joe Schoen and coach Brian Daboll might not get a chance to make the next pick if they’re bad. We learned on Hard Knocks that owner John Mara deferred to Schoen on the Barkley decision. If the Giants have a chance to make a move at the trade deadline, Mara has to impose his will and make it happen.

Way-too-early tank target: Georgia quarterback Carson Beck looks like he could rock a pair of khakis and fit in well in that building.

Carolina Panthers

The Panthers don’t have a choice. They lost their best defender, DT Derrick Brown, for the season. They are non-competitive on both sides of the ball. The only question is, can Bryce Young do enough to keep the job? The answer is, no.

Unfair to put this all on Young, but football isn’t about fair. His problems aren’t just about his height – the poise Young had at Alabama has vanished. New head coach Dave Canales was supposed to help, but in Week 1 we saw the same jittery, inaccurate QB from last season.

At least in this case, Canales and new GM Dan Morgan should be safe no matter what happens this season. Although Morgan was assistant GM when they took Young, he has to get at least one shot to draft his own guy.

Way-too-early tank target: Also Beck. This might be a battle to the bottom. The Panthers will want to go in the opposite direction of Young … in terms of height. Beck is six inches taller than Young.

Las Vegas Raiders

Coach Antonio Pierce will never quit. That’s why the front office has to trade Davante Adams and make sure he doesn’t have the firepower to win too many games.

The Raiders haven’t drafted a quarterback in the first round since JaMarcus Russell in 2007. They either couldn’t or didn’t want to get into the QB mix during the ’24 draft. Perhaps they thought Michael Penix Jr. would fall to No. 13. Fortunately, they should have another chance this offseason.

Gardner Minshew finished Week 1 with decent stats — 25 of 33 for 257 yards, 1 TD and 1 INT — but the Las Vegas offense was non-threatening in the 22-10 loss to the Chargers. The Raiders are digging out of a hole from several missed draft picks and have needs everywhere. Won’t be an ideal spot for a rookie QB, but they have to take a shot in this year’s draft to keep some kind of hope alive.

Way-too-early tank target: If Shedeur Sanders can stay upright this season, he feels like a Raider. Deion Sanders says he loves Pierce and would probably follow his son to Vegas as an NFL assistant if Colorado struggles this season.

Tennessee Titans

Rookie head coach Brian Callahan said the Titans could have beaten the Bears “if we just punted it on first-and-10 every time.” When the punter is more effective than the QB, it’s time to move on. Fans seemed to have a wait-and-see attitude toward Will Levis coming into the season. Week 1 showed Levis lacks all situational awareness and has trouble reading the field.

The Titans are set up better than anyone on this list to add a rookie quarterback. They’ve drafted first-round offensive linemen, paid for wide receivers and hired an offensive coach.

Way-too-early tank target: Considering how much the Titans have spent at receiver, they need a pocket quarterback to distribute the ball. Enter Quinn Ewers, who is making everyone at Texas look good.

Arizona Cardinals

The Cardinals are tricky, because Kyler Murray could be a Pro Bowler this season and they almost pulled off the upset in Buffalo on Sunday. But if you’re an Arizona fan, would you rather be 8-9 and continue with Murray or 4-13 and have a chance to start over? If there’s an opportunity, the Cardinals should be shipping off veterans at the deadline.

Murray is the most talented active quarterback on this list of teams. But there are some concerns about how high his ceiling is. He was 0-for-7 on passes over 10 air yards on Sunday – an area he struggled in last season. He also didn’t show any chemistry with rookie receiver Marvin Harrison Jr.

Dead cap ramifications be damned, this is Murray’s sixth season in Arizona. Barring a surprise playoff run, the Cardinals have to start over.

Way-too-early tank target: With Miami QB Cam Ward, the Cardinals get some of Murray’s creativity with a lot more height. Ward will throw from every imaginable arm angle and could be the right quarterback to grow with Harrison.

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