by FIive years ago we looked at the teams that compete for the championship belt of incompetence. If a lesson came from the exercise – the chargers, commanders and Texans made the list – it is that a young franchise Quarterback can quickly transform the fortunes of a team. The other lesson is that Woody Johnson is a consistently terrible owner. Anyway, here is our latest list of woe.
Cleveland Browns
A single decision can explode a franchise. At the start of the decade, the browns were nice starters. They had beaten a number of top contracts. They made the play -offs. With Baker Mayfield they finally had a usable starting quarterback. It felt as if the old AFC North mats were a movement or two away from catching up the big boys of the conference – and she swam in the salary capace that was needed to make those movements happen. And then they tied their future to Deshaun Watson, sent three picks from the first round to Houston for the Quarterback and signed him to a fully guaranteed, five -year contract of $ 230 million.
Three years later, trade was an abject disaster. Forget the worst trade in the NFL history, it is there with the worst deals in every sport. Cleveland Mortgaging of their franchise for Watson makes the Dallas Mavericks that Luka Dončić or the Boston Red Sox exchanges that Babe Ruth Walk looks like Savvy Business. Watson is a shadow of the player he was before he was suspended for accusations of sexual misconduct. Last season he was the worst starter in the NFL at comfortable distance for He tore his Achilles late in the year. And that is all before we get to the ethical considerations to give someone with Watson’s history a huge deal.
In the Hall of Fame of Fame of Hopelessness we have to open a new wing for those fans of Cleveland who have been searched by the small print of Watson’s Deal to see if the browns can hide their way from paying the last years of his contract.
Sorry, Cleveland. The browns shall Must pay Watson. Unless the browns are willing to take a huge financial hit, Watson is still in the team’s books for a while. If the browns were to cut him out of season this season, he would still absorb $ 178 million from the Pet, making it difficult to establish a competitive team. Even when they cut him next Out of season, Watson takes around 30% of the cap.
Cleveland lets this come in out of season without established Quarterback beyond the wounded Watson, no dop room and holes about their selection. It is no wonder that Myles Garrett has asked for a profession. The best hope of Cleveland is that they can move Garrett for a premium of trekkings, break the schedule, start over and build the blessed day on which Watson’s contract is finally out of the books.
Pittsburgh Steelers
The Steelers are a good team, but what makes them hopeless is every sign that they will improve: being stuck in football vagatory brings its own courage.
The Steelers are a multi -year Playoff team that will be crushed in January. They are further away today to compete in the AFC than in years. According to all the bills, they will let Russell Wilson run this low season and return to the veteran Quarterback market to find another stopgap. Justin Fields, who eventually hit Wilson as a starter last season, will probably be retained to give the team some continuity.
After last season’s play -off defeat, it was clear that Mike Tomlin had to make more dramatic changes. Because as strong as Tomlin has been in the regular season over the past decade, his record has been bad after the season. Tomlin is now 8-11 for his career in play-offs and 0-5 in the last eight years. Even worse, the Steelers have not looked competitive in all five those defeats.
The Steelers roster is still filled with question marks. Their defense, the backbone of their recent success, is getting old. How long can they on Cameron Heyward, who is about to become 36, one of the best defensive rulers of the competition? Was the mild decline of TJ Watt at the back of last season a one -off or a sign that he is on the slide?
Tomlin has not made any major movements yet. He kept his staff out of season this season and again talked about “internal growth”. Reports from Pittsburgh suggest that the team is not being sold in the middle band of Quarterbacks in this year’s design class – and the team does not seem interested in hitting a blockbuster -trade to jump to the top of the design to get the Cam Ward from the University of Miami, the no. 1 Quterback in class.
That leaves the stalkers in a rut. Under Tomlin they will never go out and grab a top contract. The coach is too good. But what is the path to position? The plan seems to be to run back with an experienced quarterback and an outdated attack, depending on an aging defense to squeeze another play -off berth. Tomlin will continue to exceed expectations and lead rickety gratings to the play -offs. But at some point it will be stressful on a fan base to know that you have no shot to compete if it matters the most.
New York Jets
There is one culprit for the never-ending malaise of the jets: owner Woody Johnson. Do you remember those few years when Woody took a step back from the team and his brother, Christopher, let the show run? Good times. The jets looked positive for two years.
However, because Woody returned from his ambassador to the UK, he had a hopeless hot streak. The heir of the Fortune of Johnson & Johnson handed over his team to a 40-year-old Crank. Aaron Rodgers received the keys to the building, chose his staff, took important staff decisions and imposed his own schedule, to the annoyance of the then head coach Robert Saleh.
The result: two lost seasons, endless controversies and another debacle inspired by Johnson.
The jets have the longest-running play-off drought in the competition. Since 2011 they have only ended up once .500. In 2022 there were a good looking basis. The jets had a talented young core and a front office that looked like it knew what it was doing. They had missed Zach Wilson on Quarterback, but had a selection that was able to mount a play -off push. But the two-year-old Dalliance with Rodgers has restored the franchise and every part of the clown show, led by Rodgers, had Johnson’s fingerprints on it.
With Dan Snyder from the competition, Johnson has demanded first place as the worst owner of the competition. Stormy. Impatient. Selfish. Nepotist. Intrusive. Controlling. Johnson has it all.
“It is the most conceivable dysfunctional place,” an anonymous player told The Athletic about the jets last season. He wasn’t alone. Johnson was the only owner who received an F from players in the annual survey of the Players Association. He finished last in the survey in his willingness to invest in facilities, to contribute last to a positive team culture and last to accept a competitive team. Almost the triple crown! Maybe next year, Woody.
Culture is a vague term. But when the teenage son of an owner distributes game balls instead of a player or head coach, everything that the culture should have been broken. You can add to that Johnson and the preference of his family for criticizing players in the dressing room, including reporting Quarterback Mike White: “You fucking suck.” Or you can report to Johnson that the last season sends a trade in the market because his 15-year-old told him that the player had a low Madden rating, which sounds like a rejected plot of a worthless Netflix show.
Still Hope Eternal jumps in New York. The jets went further from Rodgers and his friends and are at the start of another cycle. Aaron Glenn, the new head coach, is an exciting recruitment. Perhaps the jets will eventually hit a franchise quarterback that can activate a quick change. But they have previously taken many photos on smart coaches and talented quarterbacks. Johnson has a 20-year legacy of losses. Until he sells the team, it is unlikely that the jets are building a stable team, let alone a competition.
New York Giants
The housemates of the jets have their own question marks. The owner, general director, head coach and quarterback have set up the process of a franchise. Three of those positions are in the air.
Owner John Mara retained GM Joe Schoen and coach Brian Daboll after a disappointing 2024, one that brought viral attention after being seen on hard beats. Credit to Mara; Other owners would not have immediately accepted that humiliation.
Mara held the two chapters in place. Shoe crushed last year’s design, even if some of his liberated decisions (betting on Daniel Jones; Saquon Barkley Walk) failed. Daboll has proven that he can develop a young quarterback and squeeze solid performance from an incomplete attack. That should have to Be a solid foundation, so that the Giants can adjust this out of season and build it methodically instead of having to chase expensive names. But Mara’s decision to keep his two main decision makers came up with a public credo: find a quarterback.
Every staff feels busy outside of season, but shoe and Daboll work under a very thick cloud. If they sniff on their quarterback, they can be outside their job before November. And they are slender pickings that are there. Do they want to commit themselves to a multi -year contract for Sam Darnold or in future assets to issue a fortune to go to the first place in the design to select Ward? Even if they are not sold, they may have to conclude their eyes, sign the contract and hope best.
The first choice of the Giants was to act for Matthew Stafford, but in the end he decided to return to the rams. In addition to closing a deal for Darnold or setting up the design for Ward, they continue to look in the bargain box.
Rodgers is the Fallback plan. If not, the jobs of Schoen and Daboll can rest on Wilson’s shoulders, Jameis Winston or a Rookie Quarterback. The best free agent on the market after Darnold, Rodgers (if you are Rodgers-Inclined) and Wilson is … Daniel Jones. Oops.
Mara showed admirable patience by retaining his coach and general manager. But they now work from a point of despair. If they invest heavily in a quarterback this season to exclusively protect their job, this could determine the franchise for years.
