Should there be an NFL Lottery?

[Miyagi-Do Karate]

With all the talk about intentional tanking in Miami and Cleveland (stemming from the Flores lawsuit), should the NFL change its draft format? 
 

Jason McCourtey alluded to the NFL doing a lottery similar to the NBA, where basically the non-playoff teams go into the lottery for their draft position. The worst record team is guaranteed no worse than the 5th draft pick. 
 

Would such a system work in the NFL

and be better for competitive balance and anti-tanking? 
 

 

[Doc]

I doubt it would do much to prevent tanking. 

[maddenboy]

yes.

 

maybe for Waiver priority, too.  Just re-shuffle it every week.  because . . . computers.

[st pete gogolak]

It's going to happen.  The Flores lawsuit guarantees it.

[Sharky7337]

No

[RobbRiddick]

Well, the advantage with that would be giving the NFL yet another opportunity to create an 'event'. Imagine the weekend before the Super Bowl, instead of all the pro bowl trash they could have a big event where different NFL legends come up and pick team names out of a hat, similar to what FIFA does when they announce the groups for the World Cup.

 

And it would create some interesting trade situations (a team like Buffalo getting the 1st pick in a draft where there's a big name QB expected to go number 1 - they could make a killing trading for a QB hungry team).

 

But on the other hand the minute the Patriots got picked out first we'd all be accusing Kraft of bribing the Goodell with cash and Asian hookers to fix it for him

 

Edit: I missed the part in the OP about non-playoff teams being involved. I say throw everyone in the lottery!

Edited February 5, 2022 by RobbRiddick

[Ridgewaycynic2013]

HOUSE can't find his wallet to buy a ticket.  Poor HOUSE. 🙁

*
As for the ranking of the dud teams, something else for Vegas to take money on.  5 teams in the draft lottery?  Pick the random order quintefecta.

Edited February 5, 2022 by Ridgewaycynic2013
Bet. BET. BET!

[papazoid]

tanking is not worth it !!

 

take the browns....they tanked at least two years in a row.....resulting in them getting the #1 overall pick twice

 

how'd that work out for them ???  NOT  SO  GOOD !!....lol

 

i am absolutely against a draft lottery.....it hinders PARITY

 

the advantages of parity far outweigh the possible disadvantages of tanking

 

one of the main reasons the NFL is so great is PARITY

 

the NBA & NHL have a draft lottery......do they have parity ??.....heck NO

 

in fact, an argument can be made that a draft lottery would make tanking worse by incentivizing even more teams to have a shot at the #1 overall pick. the current set up involves maybe 2-3 teams with a chance.....a draft lottery gives all 18 non playoff a chance at #1

[Miyagi-Do Karate]

1 minute ago, RobbRiddick said:

Well, the advantage with that would be giving the NFL yet another opportunity to create an 'event'. Imagine the weekend before the Super Bowl, instead of all the pro bowl trash they could have a big event where different NFL legends come up and pick team names out of a hat, similar to what FIFA does when they announce the groups for the World Cup.

 

And it would create some interesting trade situations (a team like Buffalo getting the 1st pick in a draft where there's a big name QB expected to go number 1 - they could make a killing trading for a QB hungry team).

 

But on the other hand the minute the Patriots got picked out first we'd all be accusing Kraft of bribing the Goodell with cash and Asian hookers to fix it for him

i was thinking the same— I think a lottery would generate a ton of excitement in the lead-up to the draft. 
 

i remember the year the Orlando Magic bucked the odds and won the lottery (was the year right after they had won it and drafted Shaq). It was pretty thrilling. I think their odds were like 1%.

[RobbRiddick]

5 minutes ago, papazoid said:

tanking is not worth it !!

 

take the browns....they tanked at least two years in a row.....resulting in them getting the #1 overall pick twice

 

how'd that work out for them ???  NOT  SO  GOOD !!....lol

 

i am absolutely against a draft lottery.....it hinders PARITY

 

the advantages of parity far outweigh the possible disadvantages of tanking

 

one of the main reasons the NFL is so great is PARITY

 

the NBA & NHL have a draft lottery......do they have parity ??.....heck NO

 

in fact, an argument can be made that a draft lottery would make tanking worse by incentivizing even more teams to have a shot at the #1 overall pick. the current set up involves maybe 2-3 teams with a chance.....a draft lottery gives all 18 non playoff a chance at #1

I think there are definite arguments for both. The problem with the draft currently is it requires zero skill or effort to get the number 1 pick. You're being rewarded for being bad. And if you're a truly terrible team with an awful front office the players drafted are often ruined by it. look at all the QBs who have come out and taken a beating for 2 or 3 years and end up a shell of their former selves.

 

FA and the salary cap are great for parity, but those require skill from your scouting team and your GM to juggle all the numbers. 

[TBBills]

None of those teams that have "tanked" actually made the correct draft decisions... why change something that works when the real challenge is picking the correct draft pick.

[Low Positive]

The lottery doesn't prevent tanking in the NBA or NHL. 

[maddenboy]

Just now, FrenchConnection said:

The lottery doesn't prevent tanking in the NBA or NHL. 

In order to prevent tanking, The last place team cannot pick higher than 3rd, maybe.

[Southern Bills Fan]

The lottery can be fixed much easier than games. When the patriots win the first pick six years in a row with a 0.2% chance of winning we will regret having a lottery. 

[BuffaloBillyG]

No.

 

Doesn't matter where you pick...matters if you got your picks right. Cleveland took Mayfield and Jets took Darnold over Allen. Picking a few slots lower or higher isn't guaranteed anything.

[Southern Bills Fan]

21 minutes ago, st pete gogolak said:

It's going to happen.  The Flores lawsuit guarantees it.

Because Flores said something doesn’t mean it will turn out to be true. 

Edited February 5, 2022 by Southern Bills Fan

[st pete gogolak]

10 minutes ago, Southern Bills Fan said:

Because Flores said something doesn’t mean it will turn out to be true. 

It's not whether the allegations are true or not.  It's the appearance of impropriety.  Believe me, this lawsuit will continue to get a lot of press and the NFL will try to bury it.  I'm not saying I'm in favor of a lottery and I'm not saying tanking works.   For God's sake, look at the Sabres.  They tanked for a 20% chance to pick Connor McDavid and they're still trying to work their way out of that ####show.  In order to successfully tank, you need a lot of things to go right.  You need to know your target(s), how likely you will be able to obtain your target, how your target will fit in to overall effort to rebuild team, etc.  Some tanks are incredibly successful (Penguins tanking for Mario Lemuiex probably the most famous).  Most are not.

[Over 29 years of fanhood]

19 minutes ago, TBBills said:

None of those teams that have "tanked" actually made the correct draft decisions... why change something that works when the real challenge is picking the correct draft pick.

This is fairly accurate. This year will be the first time a first overall pick gets a championship ring since Eli Manning who was drafted in 2004. 

[without a drought]

The bad teams don't even seem to be good at tanking, so I don't think it matters.

 

 

[Doc]

Flores also showed that while the owner/FO might have wanted to tank, coaches are against it.