Short Rebuilds: How The Bottom Can Rise
The emergence of the Washington Commanders in 2024 has many franchises and fan bases across the NFL asking the same thing: what do we need to do to finally fix our losing ways?
Typically, a new regime that features a first time GM/head coach emphasizes that change and eventual success will take anywhere between 4-5 years, and that the people surrounding the team have to be patient because Rome was in fact not built in a day. To win, you need a franchise quarterback, a dominant edge rush, a proven head coach, and all of these things that can in fact take years to aquire.
And then you look at Washington. You look at the 2021 Bengals. You look at the 1999 Rams. For these teams it took one, at most two years to finally ditch their losing ways and emerge as legitimate threats in the NFL. It’s not easy to do, but it can be done.
So, which teams are currently sitting in the metaphorical basement of the NFL, and what can be done to go from worst to first in 2025?
New England Patriots
The Patriots are in very unfamiliar territory. The decade of the first 20 years of the 20th century find themselves as one of the worst teams in the league these days. After parting ways with legendary head coach Bill Belichick, owner Robert Kraft and GM Elliot Wolf only gave former Patriot Jerod Mayo one full year before cutting ties. As one former Patriot linebacker leaves, another one takes his place in former Titans head coach Mike Vrabel.
Unlike Mayo, Vrabel comes in as a coach who has proven he can win games in this league. Bouyed by wrecking ball Derrick Henry, Vrabel rode a solid defense and a average Ryan Tannehill to the AFC Championship in 2019. Conflicts regarding the direction of the team led to the Titans and Vrabel parting ways after 2023. Vrabel now attempts to do just what he did in Tennessee, and he already has perhaps the most important building block in place.
2024 third overall pick Drake Maye looks like a stud, although he hasn’t gotten the attention of Daniels, Nix, and Williams. You arguably have the quarterback position solved, so now it’s time to do what the Bengals did in 2021, and that is make sure Maye has his number one target.
Currently slotted at pick four in the 2025 NFL Draft, the answer should be simple: Tet McMillan. At 6’5″ and 4.4 speed, McMillan is the best pure receiver in this draft class. Travis Hunter is potentially more of an exciting option, but he projects as a corner with partial offensive ability. Maye needs a legit number one guy that can go up and get every ball he throws. Pop Douglas, Hunter Henry, and perhaps even Kayshon Boutte and Kendrick Bourne are fine options, just not ones. McMillan is your one that you need. Pairing McMillan with plenty of cap space (over $100 million) towards the offensive line, and you give yourself a chance to go back to the top.
Jacksonville Jaguars
On paper, the Jaguars have the talent in place. A former top recruit and prospect at quarterback, two very good running backs, perhaps the best rookie receiver from a year ago, two dominant edge prescenses, and the arguable worst division in the league. What’s missing?
For starters, QB Trevor Lawrence has had two head coaches since entering the league. Despite a playoff season from the recently fired Doug Pederson, neither he nor the disaster that was Urban Meyer have been able to unlock the full potential of Lawrence. They’ve tried their best to surround him with weapons. They’ve drafted Travis Etienne, Tank Bigsby, and Brian Thomas, while also signing Christian Kirk, Evan Engram, Gabe Davis, and trading for Calvin Ridley to try and give Lawrence every weapon imaginable. Now about to embark on head coach number three, do you give Lawrence another shot?
The short answer is yes. You have no choice. You paid him a ton of money to be your guy, and he still possess the traits that made him a bona fide star at 19 years old. What you need is the right coach for the job.
Teams are often energized by new energy in the building. Much like Jacksonville was with Pederson in 2022, and also like Washington with Dan Quinn in 2024, Miami with Tony Sparano in 2008, the Jets with Rex Ryan a year later, new energy is needed in buildings that haven’t seen much success.
Owner Shad Khan needs to get this decision right to prove that his long-term investment in Lawrence was not a mistake. He needs to make the right hire and get the hell out of his way. Go get Lawrence his own Sean McVay, Kevin O’Connell, etc. If he doesn’t have that, the organization will continue on the landslide they’ve been on since the earliest days of Blaine Gabbert.
New York Jets
I’m not going to spend too much time on this one. Washington owner and scumbag Dan Synder finally sold the team two years ago after a horrific tenure overseeing the Redskins/Football Team/Commanders. After Josh Harris took over, it didn’t take them long to return to their winning ways of the 80s and 90s.
All an owner needs to do is hire the right people, and as Doug Collins once said “get the **** out of the way.”
So this is my message to Woody Johnson, to Christopher Johnson, to Brick Johnson, or to whichever dumb-fuck is running my favorite teams these days.
For the love of God, sell the team. Please. You have ruined my life.
Say what you want about Joe Douglas, about Robert Saleh, about Aaron Rodgers. I know all the gripes with each of them. None of those men are perfect. All made plenty of mistakes in their tenure. At thet same time, you have been fortunate enough to establish a core that includes a top level corner, a top level receiver, a top level running back, an offensive line that finally looks competent, and still have Rodgers and Davante Adams in place for a potential 2025 rebound. All we need is for Woody to get out of the building. The second that happens, the Jets are back. Easiest fix on the list.
New York Giants
Giants owner John Mara and the Mara family have been very patient with the men that run their organization. Think back to 2007. Third year head coach Tom Coughlin had just finished 8-8 with a talented roster, and drove All-Pro running back Tiki Barber into retirement. Instead of firing him, he gave Coughlin and GM Jerry Reese the chance to prove him wrong. He gave them that same chance before 2011. Both times he was awarded with a Super Bowl.
The problem now is that Brian Daboll is not Tom Coughlin. Joe Schoen is not Jerry Reese or his former boss Ernie Acorsi. This team needs a reset desperately. They had the chance to do that this off-season. They chose to remain patient, and it will only set them back one more season.
Daboll has worn out his welcome in my book. He had an incredible year one, but at the end of the day he is just another Belichick disciple who can’t hack it as a head coach in this league. Joe Schoen has caught a lot of flack for not trading up into the top three to grab Jayden Daniels, but realistically even if he wanted to no team was trading back, so people can stop clowning him for that. It was the decision to pay Daniel Jones, the decision to let Saquon Barkley and Xavier McKinney walk, and the decision to draft Kayvon Thibodeaux and Evan Neal in the top 10 that has done him in.
A factory reset is what this team needs. They have talent on this roster, but those key pieces of Bobby Okereke, Andrew Thomas, and Brian Burns aren’t getting any younger. Malik Nabers put up great production with a rotating quarterback trio of Jones, Drew Lock, and the immortal Tommy Devito, but how do you keep him happy? Get him, Okereke, Thomas, and Burns a new coach, a new GM, and find a way to get your quarterback. And to all the Giants fans waiting for Arch, good luck waiting another year only for Devito to come and win a meaningless week 18 game and now you’re drafting someone else.
Cleveland Browns
This one is a bit tricky, since nobody has known how to fix the Browns since they’re re-emergence into the league in 1999. 40 quarterbacks have started games for them since coming back, and they’ve only made a good decision once. I won’t say the best decision, because they left Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson on the board, but Baker Mayfield was the right man for the job in Cleveland. Letting him walk for the raging sex-offender is by far the worst move they’ve ever made, and that’s truly saying something.
Where do you go now? It starts with finding a way to get Cam Ward. It doesn’t appear Shedeur Sanders wants to come to Cleveland, so you better hope that he’s the desired choice at one with Tennessee, and you can draft Ward at two. Secondly, keep Kevin Stefanski in place. He managed to guide the aging wonder that is Joe Flacco to 11 wins and a playoff berth last year, which is nothing short of a miracle. Third, you need to stay strong and keep your top defensive assets. That includes Myles Garrett, the corner back trio of Ward, Newsome, and Emerson. JOK should remain your top inside backer. You have the pieces. A running mate for Garrett would be nice, but you have pieces there for now too.
The last thing you have to do, from just a vibes perspective, is get Watson out of the building. It’s easy for me to say, as I don’t run the Browns or put any money into the organization, but you should take whatever cap hit it’s going to take to get him off the property. The longer he sits their in Berea and takes your money, the longer this dark cloud will hang over the team. The Browns have been the worst organization in the league for 25 years. You need all of the bad energy out of that building, and it starts with getting rid of Watson one way or the other.