So how do you fix tanking?

MLD Woody

A lottery like the NBA for the bottom X teams.

Unsympathetic

There's still the potential for gaming the system a la the frozen ball the year the Knicks had the top pick so they could get Ewing on a team the NBA thought was desirable..

As well, I'd find it hard to discern between a team that had collectively given up / coach lost the locker room bc he was Hue Jackson vs a team that was "tanking from the top"

Orion

@dusty said:

The teams that don't make the playoffs are in a drawing for the first 18 draft picks. The remaining 14 are based on how they did in the playoffs with the super bowl winner picking 32nd.

Perfect! Ratify that! (perhaps the worst 9 get an extra name in the hat...but perhaps not)

Neo

It will never get fixed because certain teams are a bigger draw than others. It's always about $$$$

Browns149

@dusty said:

I hate that too.

Here's a suggestion.

The teams that don't make the playoffs are in a drawing for the first 18 draft picks. The remaining 14 are based on how they did in the playoffs with the super bowl winner picking 32nd.

That is what the NBA does and it hasn’t stopped tanking

Browns149

@mld-woody said:

A lottery like the NBA for the bottom X teams.

It hasn’t stopped tanking in the NBA

Axe

Change human nature.

Orion

@browns149 said:

That is what the NBA does and it hasn’t stopped tanking

The NBA has only 8 teams in that lottery (as I recall. I no longer follow the NBA). dusty's suggestion puts 18 teams in that mix. That is a huge difference. You have the same odds of picking 18th as you do 1st.

jrb12711

Tanking isn't an issue that matters in the NFL. The Bengals went from the worst team in the NFL to the Super Bowl in two years. Football and the NFL is very unique in how many teams ebb and flow from playoffs to bad it really doesn't create long-term 'tank' culture. For example, this year there were 7 teams in the playoffs that were not last year. The teams that drafted 3rd and 5th (I know the 49ers traded up) were in the NFC and AFC championship games. There's so much parity year to year I don't see it remotely as a problem in the NFL.

Don't forget, what the Browns did in 2016 and 2017 was so unique the NFL investigated it and found no wrong doing. That plan was an exception to the rule.

Browns149

@orion said:

The NBA has only 8 teams in that lottery (as I recall. I no longer follow the NBA). dusty's suggestion puts 18 teams in that mix. That is a huge difference. You have the same odds of picking 18th as you do 1st.

There are 14 teams in the NBA lottery. And it is a weighted system. The worst 4 teams have the same odds of getting the 1st pick

And teams still tank

Orion

@browns149 said:

There are 14 teams in the NBA lottery. And it is a weighted system. The worst 4 teams have the same odds of getting the 1st pick

And teams still tank

Thanks! 14 teams in the nba (like I said, I gave up on bball - Knicks fan...Walt Frazier is who I modeled my game after. I was quite good at bball)

...anywho, so you've got to do away with the weighting. All incentive to finish with the worst record must be removed. If you miss the playoffs, you're all equal. And it's because yaz just don't wanna play nice. - I used to tell my crew when a silly company policy would be brought up, "Counter to popular opinion, they don't stay up late at nights trying to think of stupid rules to put in place. Stupid rules are in place because people did stupid things."

Kvoethe

Relegation...just like soccer.

ballpeen

@orion said:

First, to all of you who called fans who hoped we'd lose our final games once we're eliminated from the playoffs, Not True Fans.....FU. Obviously it's a strategy in front offices.

Now, how do ya fix it so teams won't try to make themselves lousy so they can draft towards the top of the order?

You can't just eliminate the draft because all of the good players will want to play in glamorous locations.

Do you just come up with a draft order for year one....and whichever team drafts #1 will next year draft dead last and have to wait 3 decades before they rotate back up to #1 again?

The NBA went to a draft lottery to combat tanking. I would suspect the NFL might do the same.

It's hard to prove out and out tanking, so a lottery makes sense.

AP1

Morality cannot be legislated.

Orion

@ap1 said:

Morality cannot be legislated.

IMO, morality is why you must legislate. (if heinous of enough) This is a loophole that has to be closed up.

Kvoethe

Hit em the pocket books....produce a winner or you lose your ownership. Pirates of MLB need that. Another thought...your share of the tv money is based on where your team finishes or maybe you dont get your merch cut.

ballpeen

@ap1 said:

Morality cannot be legislated.

True, but lack of can.

ballpeen

@kvoethe said:

Relegation...just like soccer.

Interesting concept. IMO the problem would be having enough quality teams in the 'lower league" to move up. I suppose in some ways the NFL already has that with playoffs teams and non-playoff teams.

Kvoethe

@ballpeen said:

Interesting concept. IMO the problem would be having enough quality teams in the 'lower league" to move up. I suppose in some ways the NFL already has that with playoffs teams and non-playoff teams.

Relegate the owners lol.

Orion

Let's use this season as an example. We were eliminated from the playoffs with the Steelers & Bengals left to play. Now, there's no way that a die-hard Browns fan (of which we on message boards are) wants to entertain the thought of losing to either of those rivals. However, that same Browns fan knows that winning those two games do not help our draft position, which could make our team better in the long run. And you know the GM (Berry) was privately hoping the team would lose the games and move him up that draft board. So, theoretically, we could've tanked the last couple of games to improve our draft spot. But if dusty's suggestion is adopted then there is never an advantage in tanking.