Bill Belichick Suggests A Drastic Change To The NFL Draft
12/30/2024 03:44 PM
Bill Belichick floated an NFL Draft tweak that currently would hurt his former team.
On Sunday, the New England Patriots moved into the driver's seat to secure next year's No. 1 pick. They'll land the first choice if losing to the Buffalo Bills, who have no playoff implications in Week 18. The 3-13 New York Giants (Eagles) and 3-13 Tennessee Titans (Texans) also play teams already locked into a postseason spot.
Belichick didn't oversee many losing seasons in New England, so he's not too familiar with tanking. However, he suggested on Monday's The Pat McAfee Show that the NFL could benefit from following the NBA's lead and instituting a draft lottery.
"Personally, I don't think it would be a bad idea for the competitiveness of the sport to do something similar to what basketball does with those lottery picks," Belichick said (h/t Awful Announcing). "Then we wouldn't be having this conversation — well we might be having it, but there'd be other circumstances besides just your record. There'd be actually a lottery part of it. But that's not a decision for me to make. That's just a suggestion."
The NHL, MLB, and WNBA all use a lottery. However, it hasn't eliminated tanking in the NBA. Besides, the Giants didn't seem to get the memo about intentionally losing when they earned a costly Week 17 win over the Indianapolis Colts.
Yet another possible form of tanking is at play this Sunday. One could argue that the Bills, Eagles, and Texans would benefit from losing in Week 18 and moving a division rival down the draft board.
They probably wouldn't think along those lines with a lottery, and Giants fans wouldn't be as upset with Drew Lock for snapping a 10-game losing streak.
Two years ago, Commissioner Roger Goodell says the NFL's Competition Committee discussed a draft lottery on "a regular basis." However, there seemed to be no serious traction toward making it happen.
As Patriots fans await their draft number, Belichick won't need to worry about the NFL Draft format when he moves to college to coach North Carolina.
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