As the NFL season nears its end, the topic of tanking has resurfaced, especially after the New York Giants’ surprising win over the Indianapolis Colts, which dropped them from the No. 1 overall draft pick. This shift sparked discussions about the integrity of the league and how draft positioning could impact team strategies. One high-profile voice in the conversation is none other than legendary New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, who shared his thoughts on how to address tanking in the NFL.
Appearing on the Pat McAfee Show Monday, Belichick was asked about the implications of the Giants’ win and how it affected the draft order. The conversation soon turned to the broader issue of tanking, a practice that some teams have been accused of to secure better draft picks. Belichick, a coach known for his competitiveness and strategic mindset, expressed his frustration with the current system, offering a solution inspired by another major sports league — the NBA.
Belichick proposed that the NFL adopt a lottery system for its draft, similar to the one used by the NBA. “The NBA kind of rectified that by having a lottery,” Belichick explained. “So even if you’re the worst team, you’re not guaranteed the first pick. In the NFL, that’s not quite the case. If you are the worst team, you do get the first pick.”
By introducing a draft lottery, Belichick believes the NFL could reduce the incentives for tanking and encourage more competitiveness throughout the league. This change, he suggests, would not only deter teams from intentionally losing games late in the season but also eliminate the perpetual cycle of rewarding historically bad teams with the top picks year after year. As Belichick put it, “There’d be actually a lottery part of it…we wouldn’t be having this conversation,” implying that teams would have other factors to consider beyond just their final record.
While the lottery system has worked to some extent in the NBA to combat tanking, the issue is more pronounced in basketball, where teams have openly engaged in strategic tanking for extended periods, knowing that losing consistently could guarantee them a high draft pick. The introduction of the lottery was designed to prevent the worst teams from being able to guarantee the first overall pick, making the draft process more competitive and adding an element of unpredictability.
However, Belichick’s suggestion could be more difficult to implement in the NFL, where tanking isn’t as widespread or as strategic as it has been in the NBA. NFL teams, due to the physical nature of the sport, are less likely to intentionally lose games for extended stretches. Unlike basketball, where teams can rest players and intentionally underperform, the NFL’s structure and the risk of injury make it much harder to convince an entire roster, coaching staff, and front office to abandon their competitive edge.
That said, Belichick’s point about adding excitement and intrigue to the NFL draft cycle is valid. The lottery system would indeed create a level of uncertainty that could be appealing to fans and teams alike, making the draft process less predictable and more interesting.
Additionally, implementing such a system could foster change within struggling franchises. Teams that have been stuck in a cycle of mediocrity might be encouraged to improve their operations rather than relying on the “lottery luck” of a top draft pick. The idea would be to create a system that rewards teams for sustained performance and effort, rather than simply punishing them for a few bad seasons.
While tanking remains less of an issue in football than it is in basketball, the concept of a lottery for draft picks provides an interesting angle for the NFL to consider. Belichick’s comments are a reminder that the NFL, like any major sports league, must continually evaluate its systems to maintain fairness and competitiveness. Whether or not the league takes up his proposal, the conversation has certainly sparked valuable debate.
