Let me first define what I mean by "tanking." Tanking in this context means deliberately losing on purpose to get the best possible draft pick. I do NOT consider tanking to be the same thing as a rebuild, where you do not expect to get good enough value for the salary, and so you trade away assets or simply let them walk in order to bring in younger and cheaper talent to develop. In doing so, you accept poorer performance along the way until you can develop that talent. When I ask about tanking I'm asking if teams not only do that, but also lose on purpose to improve their draft position.
There should be no debate that nobody in the NFL tanks like this. The only sport this somewhat happens in is the NBA. I usually give fans the benefit of the doubt that when they say "tanking" they mean "starting a rebuild."
There should be no debate that nobody in the NFL tanks like this. The only sport this somewhat happens in is the NBA. I usually give fans the benefit of the doubt that when they say "tanking" they mean "starting a rebuild."