NFL players, at the behest of the NFLPA, are not in alignment with the NFL’s Covid-19 protocols.

Michael David Smith of ProFootballTalk.com surveys their coordinated social media storm with the message We Want To Play BUT:

Several NFL players took to Twitter around noon Eastern on Sunday to blast the NFL for what the players say is the lack of a coherent plan to keep them healthy while having a safe and successful season amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

In tweets that were obviously part of a coordinated campaign, players including Drew Brees, Russell Wilson, J.J. Watt and Stefon Diggs said the NFL’s planning has been unacceptable.

Brees wrote: “We need Football! We need sports! We need hope! The NFL’s unwillingness to follow the recommendations of their own medical experts will prevent that. If the NFL doesn’t do their part to keep players healthy there is no football in 2020. It’s that simple. Get it done @NFL.”

Wilson wrote, “I am concerned. My wife is pregnant. NFL training camp is about to start. And there’s still No Clear Plan on Player Health & Family Safety. We want to play football but we also want to protect our loved ones.”

Watt wrote: “Once again in the interest of keeping everyone (players & fans) as informed as possible, here is an updated list of what we as players know and don’t know as the first group gets set to report to training camp tomorrow.” Watt included a list of the questions players have.

Diggs wrote: “If #AdamSilver can respect the voices and protect his @NBA players why can’t @nflcommish do the same? Listen to your players. If we want to have a full season it will have to look different with OUR safety as the priority. @NFL make the necessary changes.”

Players used the #WeWantToPlay hashtag, making it clear that they don’t want to cancel the season, but they do want to play the season with the proper precautions in place.

It starts with accurate daily testing says NFLPA Board Member Lorenzo Alexander per  Michael David Smith of ProFootballTalk.com:

Lorenzo Alexander is retired from the Bills (for now), but he remains a member of the NFL Players Association executive board, and he says players — plus coaches and other staffers — need to be tested for COVID-19 every single day if the season is going to be played safely.

Echoing NFLPA Executive Director DeMaurice Smith’s call for daily testing, Alexander told Pat McAfee that the medical experts say daily testing is necessary.

“That’s what our jointly appointed medical committee recommended and that’s what we’re trying to follow,” Alexander said, via the Buffalo News. “It’s more than just the player. It’s the coaches, it’s the front office, the medical personnel, trainers, equipment staff. We have to make sure we are tested daily and we are going home every day. We are not in a bubble. I have to go home and my wife might be working or my kids might be going to school.

“We want as much information as we can so you don’t have someone who is asymptomatic spreading it through the locker room or a position group or to a coach, which I think would be even more impactful. If you lost two or three coaches, it might be impossible to play a game. We don’t have a backup to all those jobs and positions.

“The more information you have, it’s better any time you’re dealing with a disease, especially one we don’t understand. I want to be tested every single day to mitigate the virus as best as we can in these close quarters.”

There have been estimates that it could cost the NFL upwards of $100 million to test every player every day. Of course, it would cost the NFL a lot more than that if an outbreak among players led to the season being canceled.

NFC EAST

DALLAS

Despite all the positive talk about the short term, Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com sees a rift coming between the Cowboys and QB DAK PRESCOTT:

The Cowboys have had chances to get quarterback Dak Prescott signed to a long-term deal. They’ve consistently failed to offer enough to get him to accept. Now, Prescott has more power over the team than ever.

He’ll make $31.4 million this year. Absent a long-term deal after the season, he’ll either become a free agent in 2021 or make $37.68 million under the franchise or transition tag.

Some think the Cowboys won’t tag Dak next year. If they don’t, he’ll be able to pick his next team, unfettered by the Cowboys. That could mean the Jets or the Patriots or the Steelers (if Ben Roethlisberger retires) or the Colts or the Jaguars or the Raiders or Washington or the Bears or the Lions or the Saints or the Panthers or the 49ers. And then the Cowboys would have to find someone else to play quarterback.

Whatever happens, the failure to reach a long-term deal pushes the minute hand much closer to midnight for Dak leaving Dallas. If they tag him in 2021, a long-term offer will need to be good enough to get him to trade in $37.68 million for 2021 and the doomsday option for 2022: more than $45 million under the transition tag, more than $54 million under the franchise tag, or the open market. Whatever that is, it will be a lot more than what it would have taken in 2020.

That could be where it’s heading, with the Cowboys not being able to keep it from happening. And with the Cowboys potentially being required to compete with other teams in order to get Dak signed to a long-term contract.

WASHINGTON

With the city’s NFL team reeling from a forced name change, the Washington Post thought it had landed a haymaker that would finish off owner Daniel Snyder.  But they may have over-estimated the clout of their tale of 15 women who suffered varying degrees of indignity from some of the team’s male employees.  Mark Maske of said Post brings us up to date:

The NFL will seriously consider fining Washington’s team following accusations from 15 women of sexual harassment and verbal abuse against former club officials, and it will consider disciplinary measures against the individuals involved. But the league and fellow team owners are not expected to take formal steps to attempt to compel owner Daniel Snyder to sell the franchise, according to multiple people familiar with the NFL’s inner workings.

Snyder said Friday that the alleged behavior by former team officials, detailed in a report Thursday by The Washington Post, “has no place in our franchise or society.” The NFL said the accusations are “serious, disturbing and contrary to the NFL’s values.” The league indicated it will consider disciplinary action after reviewing the findings of the outside investigation initiated Thursday by the team.

The NFL will monitor and potentially have some participation in that review, according to one of the people with knowledge of the league’s planning and deliberations. The NFL is empowered to discipline a team, its owner or employees under its personal conduct policy. That person and another familiar with the NFL’s inner workings said a fine of the team is expected if the allegations are substantiated.

Both said that, barring new developments implicating Snyder directly, they would not expect the league or fellow owners to try to challenge Snyder’s ownership, given that he was not accused of any inappropriate behavior toward the women in the report by The Post.

“But we’ll wait to see what the investigation finds,” one of those people said. “That will be the basis for any potential discipline.”

NFL bylaws give the league and team owners the right to attempt to force the sale of a team if an owner is deemed to have engaged in conduct detrimental to the welfare of the league. Those people familiar with the NFL’s inner workings said this case, barring any new findings of involvement by Snyder, is unlike a previous case involving former Carolina Panthers owner Jerry Richardson, who chose to sell the franchise after being accused of workplace misconduct.

Snyder issued a statement Friday through the team in which he said: “The behavior described in yesterday’s Washington Post article has no place in our franchise or society. This story has strengthened my commitment to setting a new culture and standard for our team, a process that began with the hiring of Coach [Ron] Rivera earlier this year.”

The NFL’s response came earlier Friday after 15 former employees told The Post that they were sexually harassed during their time with the team.

“These matters as reported are serious, disturbing and contrary to the NFL’s values,” the league’s statement said. “Everyone in the NFL has the right to work in an environment free from any and all forms of harassment. Washington has engaged outside counsel to conduct a thorough investigation into these allegations. … We will meet with the attorneys upon the conclusion of their investigation and take any action based on the findings.”

Brewer: Daniel Snyder is detrimental to the welfare of the NFL. He must go.

The team said Thursday that it had hired attorney Beth Wilkinson and her firm, Wilkinson Walsh, “to conduct a thorough independent review of this entire matter and help the team set new employee standards for the future.”

“Beth Wilkinson and her firm are empowered to do a full, unbiased investigation and make any and all requisite recommendations,” Snyder said in his statement Friday. “Upon completion of her work, we will institute new policies and procedures and strengthen our human resources infrastructure to not only avoid these issues in the future but most importantly create a team culture that is respectful and inclusive of all.”

Ralph Northam, Virginia’s Democratic governor, called on NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to take action.

“The allegations against the Washington football team’s management are serious and disturbing,” Northam said in a statement provided to The Post. “I’m especially concerned that so much of this behavior is detailed to have occurred across Virginia, where the team has offices and practice facilities. Commissioner Goodell needs to step in and get to the bottom of this, and quickly.”

On Friday afternoon, Snyder and his wife, Tanya, sent an internal memo apologizing to affected employees and asking them for help in building a better culture for the organization, according to a person with knowledge of the memo. They wrote, in part, “We need to get better and the time is now.”

The allegations spanned from 2006 to 2019 and were made against Larry Michael, the team’s former senior vice president of content and its play-by-play announcer on radio broadcasts, who abruptly retired Wednesday; Alex Santos, the former director of pro personnel, and Richard Mann II, the former assistant director of pro personnel, both of whom were fired over the weekend; Dennis Greene, the former president of business operations; and Mitch Gershman, the former chief operating officer.

No women accused Snyder or former team president Bruce Allen of inappropriate behavior. But some expressed skepticism that Snyder and Allen were unaware of the behavior. The women blamed the team for having an understaffed human resources department and said they viewed an environment of verbal abuse by top executives as contributing to the team’s inappropriate treatment of employees.

UltraViolet, a women’s advocacy group, called on the NFL to remove Snyder. Shaunna Thomas, the group’s co-founder, said in a statement: “Daniel Snyder has enabled, encouraged and fostered a hostile workplace and toxic culture for women. He must go. If the NFL is serious about cleaning up its act, they will force Snyder to sell the team.”

The NFL fined Richardson $2.75 million in 2018 after investigating claims of workplace misconduct against him. In that case, the NFL took over the investigation from the team after Sports Illustrated reported four former team employees received significant financial settlements, accompanied by nondisclosure agreements, following accusations of inappropriate behavior and comments by Richardson, including sexually suggestive remarks and acts. There also was a reported incident in which Richardson directed a racial slur at an African American team employee.

The NFL’s investigation, conducted by former U.S. attorney and Securities and Exchange Commission chairwoman Mary Jo White, concluded there was no information to discredit the claims made against Richardson, who sold the team to David Tepper.

Five takeaways from Washington Post’s Redskins story on alleged sexual harassment

The NFL did not take over Washington’s investigation, one person familiar with the league’s view said, because the owner was not directly implicated.

Thoughts from Jason Whitlock of Outkick.com who reminds us that a popular NBA owner easily weathered a more explicit storm than the one that so many feel should claim Snyder – who is not shown to have known, much less participated in any of the allegations (none of which involve any actual touching, much less sex).

When it comes to race, it’s easy to defend sports culture. When it comes to sex, it’s nearly impossible to defend sports culture.

That’s my takeaway from the Washington Post story detailing a pattern of “unwelcome overtures or comments of a sexual nature, and exhortations to wear revealing clothing and flirt with clients to close sales deals” within the Washington NFL franchise.

I am a passionate defender of sports culture and football. Their ability to close and heal the racial divide is, in my opinion, only surpassed by an authentic religious faith.

On the other hand, sports have a troubling history as it relates to sex. The culture of sports promotes promiscuity, the sexual objectification of men and women and the sexual exploitation of women.

These problems creep into sports at the outset — at the Pee Wee level — and escalate from there. One of the primary allures of participation in sports is that male dominance on the field or court leads directly to sexual access to girls. Joe Namath was a sex symbol long before he led the New York Jets to victory in Super Bowl III. The uniforms worn by athletes — male and female — are sexualized.  Sex sells in America, and the selling of sex is as baked into volleyball, track and field, tennis and swimming as it is cheerleading.

The culture described within Dan Snyder’s football franchise is pervasive throughout sports and much of corporate America. That is not written to exonerate the Redskins organization. It’s written to open our minds to ponder real solutions rather than cosmetic ones.

When Mark Cuban’s Dallas Mavericks faced a worse crisis two years ago, the public relations-savvy owner immediately replaced his scandalous male CEO with a female one. This move satisfied the media and allowed Cuban to maintain his good-guy credibility despite his direct support of a male employee who physically abused a female Mavericks employee.

As it relates to sexual politics, objectification and exploitation inside the workplace, I don’t believe gender cures the problem. It’s the equivalent of believing black skin cures racism. How many more black athletes have to defend DeSean Jackson’s and Nick Cannon’s anti-Semitism while crucifying Drew Brees’ national anthem patriotism before we realize all humans are capable of all sin?

I have been intimately involved with sports since about age six. As a journalist, I’ve been covering and analyzing sports since 1990. There are stories and narratives we elect not to tell because the backlash from those stories are too great.

Trust me, sexual politics, objectification and exploitation are just as rampant in women’s sports as they are in men’s.

What’s missing in sports is the exact same thing that’s missing in America. Moral, courageous leadership. That is the cure for the sexual perversion pervasive within our workplaces. We need leadership willing to sacrifice popularity and office camaraderie for an environment that is safe.

Yes, we have improved from the Mad Men days when the Roger Sterlings and Pete Campbells of the world openly bedded and abused every entry-level female employee.

But, as the Post story makes clear, we haven’t done nearly enough to knock down the sexual obstacle courses found inside our corporate work spaces.

In the sports world, these obstacle courses are particularly hard to root out because the culture of sports prioritizes “fun.” Sports are social. We associate drinking, eating and dating with sporting events. We romanticize the perfect girlfriend or wife as someone we can watch the game with and celebrate a gambling cover with under the covers.

All of this socializing baggage bleeds into the work environments of any business attached to sports. I chose a career in sports writing because I never wanted to work.

Working in the sports world can feel like a never-ending tailgate party. Some executives promote this mentality and believe it’s the key to a successful company. The reality is it’s the key to maintaining a work environment filled with inevitable sexual abuses.

Too many men and women show up to work looking for fun when our only expectation should be reward. It’s a difficult balance. It’s impossible to sell a stadium suite for $500,000 without selling fun. It’s impossible to sell 50-yard-line season tickets for $10,000 without selling fun.

Fun is for the customer, not the employee. Dan Snyder, Mark Cuban and all the other billionaire sports fans-turned-owners better recognize the Mad Men days of sports are long gone.

We just don’t know how Snyder can reasonably be expected to know about “rumblings” that apparently never even rose to an HR complaint.

But that’s not a problem to Nancy Armour of USATODAY.com:

Snyder was not accused of any wrongdoing by any of the women, 15 of whom are former employees and two of whom who are reporters. But it’s hard to imagine an owner as controlling as Snyder and as immersed in his team’s operations would not have at least heard rumblings of the inappropriate behavior.

Washington owner Daniel Snyder

Especially since it was hardly a secret.

“Former women employees said the first few weeks at Redskins Park also often came with an informal, but invaluable, orientation administered privately by veteran female employees who warned them to avoid certain people and places, such as the staircase near the entrance to team headquarters,” according to The Post report.

“Lined at the top with transparent plexiglass, the stairs descend from the lobby to the locker room and training area, and someone standing at the bottom can look up the skirt of a woman standing at the top.”

Regardless of what Snyder knew or didn’t know, this is his team. Its culture is a direct reflection of him.

The complaints cover a span of 14 years…

AFC WEST

LAS VEGAS

An interesting take from Raiders owner Mark Davis.  Vic Tafur of The Athletic:

Raiders owner Mark Davis isn’t planning to attend any of the team’s home games in its first season in Las Vegas.

“I won’t go if the fans can’t go, and the way it looks right now there won’t be any fans at our games,” Davis said Saturday afternoon.

While a handful of NFL teams have already made plans to have partial, spaced-out seating for their home games during the pandemic, Davis said the Raiders won’t be doing that at Allegiant Stadium.

“It’s all or none for me,” Davis said in an interview at the Westgate Las Vegas Resort and Casino. “Either all the fans are going to be in there or none.”

“I can’t tell one fan that they can’t go to the inaugural opening game in a stadium that they helped to build through their PSLs,” Davis added. “I won’t tell them that they can’t go but the rest of these guys can … and oh, by the way, don’t worry about it because we’ll be able to advertise on your seats.”

Eight-thousand Raiders fans, according to Davis, would have to be displaced after the NFL passed a measure two weeks ago to tarp off the first eight rows of stadiums to have social distancing from players (and to sell advertising for owners). The measure passed 31-1, with Davis the one dissenting vote.

“We’re sold out so we don’t have anywhere to put those 8,000 people,” Davis said.

But another Raiders official has told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that no decision has been made about fans.  And a Garth Brooks concert, slated to be the first event in the new stadium on August 22 has not been cancelled or otherwise attendance adjusted with 65,000 tickets sold.

THIS AND THAT

THE NEXT THREE YEARS

ESPN’s experts try to figure out what teams are in the best shape for the next three years.  We give you the top five and the bottom three – you can read the whole thing here.  The “three-year” list doesn’t look much different than a 2020 ranking.

To project which NFL franchises are in the best shape for the next three seasons, we asked our panel of experts — Jeremy Fowler, Louis Riddick, Seth Walder and Field Yates — to rate each team’s roster non-QB, quarterback, draft, front office and coaching using this scale:

100: A+ (Elite)

90: A (Great)

80: B (Very good)

70: C (Average)

60: D (Very bad)

50 and below: F (Disastrous)

After averaging the results from the panelists, each of the five categories was weighted to create the overall score — roster (30%), quarterback (20%), draft (15%), front office (15%) and coaching (20%). The result is a comprehensive ranking based on how well each team is positioned for the future.

1. Baltimore Ravens

Overall score: 89.4

CATEGORY                                SCORE                 NFL

RANK

Overall roster (minus QB)           87.8               3

Quarterback                               94.0              3

Coaching                                    90.5              5

Draft                                           83.3              3

Front office                                 91.3              1

Why they’re here: Lamar Jackson didn’t need long to put himself in the conversation for the most dynamic player ever, as he became just the league’s second unanimous MVP pick in just his first season as a starter. But GM Eric Decosta has also built up a defense ready to hold up its end of the bargain going forward, led by a particularly fearsome secondary. — Yates

Biggest worry: This team is loaded. The thing that can derail what is clearly an organization with a lot of positive momentum is the health of its young superstar QB. He must be protected at all costs, which means not “changing” who he is as a player, but being more selective and judicious as to when he purposely puts himself in harm’s way.. — Riddick

Looking ahead: Get a big-bodied receiver target for Jackson early in the draft — think Mark Andrews with more speed, someone with catch radius to complement Marquise Brown’s speed. Matthew Judon could walk after this year, so investing in a pass-rusher via free agency or the draft is a prudent move. — Fowler

Top stat to know: When the Ravens find an edge, they exploit it as well as any team. That’s what they did with motion at the snap, which they ran at an off-the-chart rate relative to other teams last year. They ran play-action at a higher rate per dropback than any other team, too. Here’s one more: the Ravens ran cover-0 last season 12% of the time — that’s more than anyone, and well above the league average of 2% — to tremendous success. Offenses averaged -0.77 expected points added on those plays, which is roughly half the cost of an average sack.. — Walder

2. Kansas City Chiefs

Overall score: 89.0

CATEGORY                             SCORE  NFL

RANK

Overall roster (minus QB)           85.3      4

Quarterback                                99.5    1

Coaching                                     94.8    2

Draft                                             77.0  10

Front office                                  86.5    4

Why they’re here: It’s easy to get hyperbolic, but it doesn’t even feel like hyperbole when envisioning a career in which Patrick Mahomes finishes as one of the three best quarterbacks ever. He’s that good and that young. Kansas City flexes an absurd collection of speed on offense and a defense with pillars in place to stay competitive going forward. — Yates

Biggest worry: Managing the cap and restocking the roster as Mahomes’ new contract begins to kick in and his cap figure rises is what GM Brett Veach is going to have to contend with going forward. If the cap continues to grow at a reasonable rate, they have done a nice job of structuring Mahomes’ extension to make it very possible for them to go on a “run” over the next two seasons at least, but Veach is going to have to continue to deliver on draft day. — Riddick

Looking ahead: Corner is an lingering issue for the Chiefs, who exhaust resources at other positions and hope for the best in coverage. Kansas City last used a Day 1 or 2 draft pick on a corner in 2016 with KeiVarae Russell. Bashaud Breeland is facing a suspension in 2020 and might not be the long-term answer. Charvarius Ward should continue to develop. But put capital into a prime position. — Fowler

Top stat to know: Mahomes has never recorded a QBR below 50 in a game he started. Seriously: he has never had a bad game. In what is quite possibly the most important category on this board, the Chiefs cannot be better off for the long term. — Walder

3. San Francisco 49ers

Overall score: 86.4

CATEGORY                             SCORE  NFL RANK

Overall roster (minus QB)           90.3      1

Quarterback                               80.8     12

Coaching                                    92.3     4

Draft                                           82.0    4

Front office                                 83.0     7

Why they’re here: Elevation can happen rapidly in football, as the 49ers showed in 2019. Sustainability for their success is rooted in a vaunted defensive front laced with young cornerstones and an offense under the guidance of one of the best minds in football, Kyle Shanahan, featuring a standout offensive line and running game. — Yates

Biggest worry: Richard Sherman is in a contract year and is now 32. Slot Corner K’Waun Williams is in a contract year. Safety Jaquiski Tartt is in a contract year. This unit could undergo major overhaul in the next two years, and for a team that was a couple of big plays allowed away from a Super Bowl title, the 49ers need to make sure the secondary doesn’t become a problem. — Riddick

Looking ahead: One of the league’s best rosters has minimal holes, but with Sherman turning 33 after the 2020 season, drafting an additional outside corner with press-man coverage ability will help. The 49ers run a lot of zone but could use the flexibility to mix and match more on the back end. And maybe draft a receiver in the first three rounds every year. But finding an issue with the 49ers is like finding a play on which George Kittle doesn’t want to block. — Fowler

Top stat to know: Defenses stacked eight or more players in the box on 26% of 49ers rushes when the game’s win probability was between 20% and 80% last season, the second-highest rate in the league. That’s because the 49ers run at a heavy rate. But they were much more efficient passing the ball — and in fact, even ranked higher in EPA/pass play than EPA/rush play. That suggests that the 49ers’ offense has room to grow by passing more and taking advantage of those stacked boxes. Which is good, because their defense is very unlikely to sustain its high level of 2019 performance over the long term. — Walder

4. New Orleans Saints

Overall score: 85.7

CATEGORY                               SCORE            NFL RANK

Overall roster (minus QB)           90.3      1

Quarterback                               84.0     9

Coaching                                    93.8     3

Draft                                           72.8    23

Front office                                 81.0     11

Why they’re here: There’s a case to be made for the Saints as the most complete roster in football right now and the team is coached by the brilliant Sean Payton. While New Orleans has a year-to-year approach surrounding Drew Brees’ future, the team has already invested in a developmental player in Taysom Hill that it hopes can be their “guy” going forward. — Yates

Biggest worry: This team is loaded for a run in 2020, but after that, when Brees is gone, what then? Is Hill really a starting-caliber QB in the league as Payton claims he is? Will Jameis Winston realize his full potential after sitting behind Brees for a year and then exploding back onto the scene in 2021? It could go either way. — Riddick

Looking ahead: The middle of the defense is aging, with Demario Davis and Craig Robertson over 30, and 29-year-old Kiko Alonso coming off a third ACL injury. Investing in linebacker help next year will strengthen a defense that deftly balances explosive young talent and steady vets. And make a decision on whether Hill can be your starter in 2021. — Fowler

Top stat to know: Despite an average depth of target of 8.2 yards, Michael Thomas led all receivers in yards per route run last year. The fact that defenses know Brees won’t throw deep and yet he and Thomas continue to win with slants and speed outs is probably a good sign that this team has another run in them. — Walder

5. Dallas Cowboys

Overall score: 82.7

CATEGORY                               SCORE            NFL RANK

Overall roster (minus QB)           82.3      7

Quarterback                                86.8    5

Coaching                                     80.3    15

Draft                                            84.5   1

Front office                                  79.5    13

Why they’re here: The Cowboys have been as strong as nearly any team in finding blue-chip talent, acing many draft picks to help build a top-flight nucleus. Though Dak Prescott didn’t get a new deal this offseason, if a deal is struck in the future, the Cowboys will have perhaps the best skill group in football basically all under contract long term. Couple that with an excellent offensive line, and points should come easy going forward. — Yates

Biggest worry: Will the lingering contract situation with Prescott have a negative impact on the focus and attention to detail of both QB and the team overall? Prescott seems intent on betting on himself for this season and dancing this dance again in 2021, which ultimately could lead to the Cowboys being in the market for a franchise QB in less than a year. Say it ain’t so. — Riddick

Looking ahead: Dallas’ defensive line is patched together more than it should be. Gerald McCoy and Dontari Poe have Pro Bowl pedigree but are on the back nine of their careers. Aldon Smith is a major gamble. DeMarcus Lawrence will remain a top-10 edge rusher for the next two years and the team shouldn’t waste the chance to build around him. — Fowler

Top stat to know: Last season the Cowboys ranked 22nd in dropback rate when win probability was between 20% and 80%. But with new Dallas coach Mike McCarthy running the show for Green Bay in 2018, the Packers ranked fourth in the same metric, which means we can expect a heavier aerial attack for the Cowboys. For a team with a good quarterback — and especially after CeeDee Lamb fell into their lap in the draft — that’s a good thing, for 2020 and beyond. — Walder

6. Philadelphia Eagles

7. Pittsburgh Steelers

8. Seattle Seahawks

9. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

10. Indianapolis Colts

11. Tennessee Titans

12. Minnesota Vikings

13. New England Patriots

14. Buffalo Bills

15. Green Bay Packers

16. Cleveland Browns

17. Los Angeles Chargers

18. Los Angeles Rams

19. Las Vegas Raiders

T-20. Atlanta Falcons

T-20. Miami Dolphins

22. Arizona Cardinals

23. Houston Texans

24. Denver Broncos

25. Detroit Lions

26. Washington

27. Cincinnati Bengals

28. New York Jets

29. New York Giants

30. Carolina Panthers

Overall score: 68.9

CATEGORY                                SCORE             NFL RANK

Overall roster (minus QB)           67.8      26

Quarterback                                67.3    29

Coaching                                    72.5     25

Draft                                           71.8    25

Front office                                 66.0     27

Why they’re here: The Panthers return the lowest percentage of total snaps played from 2019, have a new coach, all new coordinators, a new starting quarterback and much more. This is the first layer of bricks being laid under coach Matt Rhule, whose seven-year contract affords him time and patience. But make no mistake, this is going to take some time. — Yates

Biggest worry: Do they have a franchise QB or don’t they? There has always been a lot of love for Teddy Bridgewater out there, specifically those who believe that all he needs is a second chance. I see his upside as being capped at the game-manager level when it is all said and done. Time will tell. — Riddick

Looking ahead: Carolina will need to handle Kawann Short’s contract. He has a cap hit of $20.8 million in 2021, the last year of his deal. He’s still effective at age 31, but the Panthers probably won’t want to carry that cap on their books, especially after drafting interior dominator Derrick Brown. Carolina is going younger under Rhule, who could use an explosive tight end to pair with Ian Thomas. — Fowler

Top stat to know: Bridgewater had the lowest average depth of target of all quarterbacks with at least 100 attempts last season. Sort of like with Tom Brady in Tampa Bay, it will be interesting what new Panthers OC Joe Brady — who worked with a QB who had tremendous downfield success last year in Joe Burrow at LSU — does to the Panthers’ offense to fit Bridgewater. Or vice versa. — Walder

31. Chicago Bears

Overall score: 68.8

CATEGORY                                SCORE           NFL RANK

Overall roster (minus QB)           74.8      20

Quarterback                                64.5    31

Coaching                                     74.8    22

Draft                                            64.3   32

Front office                                  59.0    30

Why they’re here: The Bears enter 2020 with a quarterback competition on their hands, as Nick Foles and Mitch Trubisky will vie for starting duties. Being ranked this low is not a reflection of where the team probably will finish in 2020 — there’s enough reason to think Chicago can hang around for a while in the NFC North with good quarterback play — but a reflection of some recent major personnel decisions: GM Ryan Pace hand-picked Trubisky, has been heavy-handed at times in free agency (Jimmy Graham as a recent example) and mortgaged much draft capital for a win-now approach. — Yates

Biggest worry: Many things are in place in Chicago: solid coaching staff, strong defense, improved skill position players, and an OL that has some good pieces to improve. But the QB competition will decide the fate of this franchise both short and long term. I happen to believe that it has to be Foles time in the Windy City, or there could be major changes on the horizon. — Riddick

Looking ahead: This one is pretty simple — the quarterbacks on the Bears’ roster in 2020 aren’t guaranteed to be the answer for future years. Let’s see if Foles and Matt Nagy can reignite their Kansas City chemistry. But if Dak Prescott is available as a 2021 free agent, the Bears would be foolish not to explore that possibility. The defense should be top tier for a while, and re-signing Allen Robinson II would help stabilize the offense. — Fowler

Top stat to know: Foles’ cap hit is more than six times what New England will pay Cam Newton this year. And that’s not counting Foles’ 2021 guaranteed roster bonus and the rest of his prorated bonus. That Chicago actually traded a fourth-round pick for Foles instead of waiting for Newton or Winston was a failure by the front office at the game’s most important position. — Walder

32. Jacksonville Jaguars

Overall score: 64.5

CATEGORY                              SCORE             NFL RANK

Overall roster (minus QB)           65.5                   31

Quarterback                                64.0                 32

Coaching                                     64.5                 31

Draft                                            69.0                29

Front office                                   58.8                31

Why they’re here: The rebuild is on. This offseason saw the Jaguars trade away three prominent veterans (Nick Foles, Calais Campbell and A.J. Bouye) to stockpile draft capital, a process that truly began when trading away Jalen Ramsey last season. It’s going to take time. Losses figure to endure for another two or three seasons, but this is a long-term play: find young cornerstones and meticulously work back to a competitive state. — Yates

Biggest worry: From the outside looking in, the culture in Jacksonville seems to not be what it needs to be, and the upheaval/uncertainty in the front office seems to be a very large reason why. This is a franchise that is heading for a major overhaul from the top down in short order, as I don’t see the Jaguars going anywhere with the present structure. — Riddick

Looking ahead: Jacksonville’s roster isn’t as dire as projected. More than half the 22-man starting lineup has splash-play ability. But if the team truly wants to start over, it should move on from all the players who either don’t want to be there or have had problems in the locker room. Trade Yannick Ngakoue, who wants out. Give Leonard Fournette the ball in his 2020 contract year and then let him walk, effectively starting fresh at running back. And continue to build the passing game around DJ Chark Jr., who’s a top-15 to top-20 receiver right now. — Fowler

Top stat to know: Gardner Minshew recorded a completion percentage over expectation of -5.2% last year, the worst among passer rating qualified quarterbacks. In the NFL, there is nothing bleaker than hopelessness at quarterback, and the bottom two teams on this list embody that better than any other team. Good news for Jacksonville: No team is better positioned to bottom out and land Trevor Lawrence, though FPI still gives the Jags only a 24% chance to land the No. 1 overall pick. — Walder

MONEY FOR NOTHING

Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com doesn’t seem too impressed with how much the NFL will pay its players – if the season doesn’t happen.  But the DB is:

The Collective Bargaining Agreement does not include a force majeure clause. The league is essentially trying to force the players to accept one after the fact.

The most recent proposal from the NFL to the NFL Players Association sets forth a lengthy and detailed schedule of payments to be made in the event the season is suspended or canceled.

For starters, players would keep all signing, roster, reporting, or workout bonuses earned before cancellation of the season, along with base salary and per-game roster bonuses or per-game payments earned for any regular-season games actually played.

If the season is canceled before training camp opens, the players would get no further payment. If the season is canceled after training camp starts and before final roster cuts, all players on the 90-man roster who received a credited/accrued season in 2019 or who were drafted in 2020 would receive a $250,000 stipend, reduced by all other payments already made to the player this year. (For example, if a player received a $100,000 signing bonus, he’d receive $150,000 upon cancellation of the season. Any player who has received $250,000 or more this year would get nothing.)

If the season is canceled after the final roster cuts and before Week One, players on the 53-man roster and injured reserve or reserve/PUP would be eligible for the $250,000 stipend. Players on the practice squad would be eligible for a $100,000 stipend.

If the season is canceled during the regular season, players on the 53-man roster and injured reserve or reserve/PUP would be eligible for the $250,000 stipend, but money earned from regular-season games already played would also count against the stipend. Players on the practice squad would be eligible for a $100,000 stipend, minus other money earned.

For players who join the active roster after Week One, they would receive the lesser of $250,000 or their remaining prorated base salary. Players who join the practice squad after Week One would receive the lesser of $10,000 or their remaining prorated practice squad pay.

Incentives would be prorated and partially earned, as long as at least eight regular-season games are played by the player’s team. If, for example, a player has an incentive that pays him $1.6 million for 16 sacks, the incentive would drop to $1.2 million and the threshold would drop to 12 sacks if only 12 games are played.

Apart from the stipends, players will not be paid for games not actually played — even if player salaries are guaranteed for injury, skill, and/or salary cap.

Again, this is the league’s proposal. The players can adhere to the current status quo, which gives players their full salaries if only one game is played. The approach proposed by the league would reduce player pay dramatically, but it also would reduce the eventual financial consequences of the pandemic.

2021 DRAFT

Put this down as something we hope is not needed – but Erik Edholm of YahooSports.com wonders how to determine who gets QB TREVOR LAWRENCE if the 2020 season is lost to concerns about Covid-19:

The confidence in an NFL season occurring — at least in part — in 2020 feels higher right now than it does for a college football season this fall. But there’s no iron-clad belief the pros will go on without issues amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

If there’s one thing we’ve learned throughout this ordeal it’s that there’s never enough time to plan ahead. That’s why we’re kicking around the idea of what could happen to the 2021 NFL draft if, worst-case scenario, there’s no 2020 season. (We promise we’re not trying to be fatalistic here — merely practical, prudent and proactive.)

So far, the league is mum on the matter. We called around to various team and league sources, and there isn’t much buzz on the matter.

Even so, here are three scenarios we could see unfolding. None are perfect, but the NFL would have to weigh these options (or others) to generate the best outcome out of the worst result.

Keep the 2020 draft order for 2021

This would be, quite frankly, a problematic result. The NFL isn’t like other leagues where teams stay bad (or good) for long stretches as readily.

NFL teams that earned top-five selections from 2015 to 2019 — whether they traded the pick or not — gained a net average of 3.64 victories (with ties counted as half a win), which resulted in an average improvement of .228 in win percentage that ensuing season.

Of the 25 teams that originally held top-five picks in that span, including those that traded their first-round selections previously (such as the Rams in the Jared Goff deal or the Texans in the Deshaun Watson trade), only three saw their win totals decrease the following year.

Little shock: The Browns accomplished that twice. In that span, the Browns were also the only team to pick again in the top five the following year, landing there in 2016, 2017 and 2018. The point is that bad teams one year roundly tend to get better the next.

If we kept the 2020 order static, that would mean the Cincinnati Bengals would pick first again in 2021, followed by Washington, the Lions, Giants and Dolphins. There’s no way the Bengals would select the presumed 2021 top-pick favorite, Clemson QB Trevor Lawrence, having taken LSU’s Joe Burrow this spring, right?

Even if the Bengals viewed Lawrence as a better prospect than Burrow, it would create some real awkwardness if they moved on so quickly from a QB prospect — and the local kid, no less — before he even suited up for them. On top of that, the trade value for Lawrence, who turns 21 in October, almost certainly would be higher than that of Burrow, who turns 24 in December.

That means the Bengals could gain a huge advantage by putting the No. 1 pick up for sale. In addition to the extra picks they’d get, the Bengals might even be in position to land offensive tackle help (such as Oregon’s Penei Sewell) or give Burrow his go-to college receiver (LSU’s Ja’Marr Chase) if they can remain high enough in the draft in a trade-down situation.

Two teams — the Rams and Texans — don’t own their 2021 first-round picks because of trades. That means the Jaguars would, under this scenario, own the ninth (their own) and 20th overall picks (from the Rams) for the second straight year. The Dolphins once again would head into the 2021 draft with the fifth (their own) and 26th overall picks (from the Texans).

And like the Bengals, the Dolphins — who just drafted Tua Tagovailoa — also could put their pick up for bid if the right quarterback prospect, such as Ohio State’s Justin Fields or North Dakota State’s Trey Lance, were appealing options for other teams.

Keeping the 2020 order for 2021 would represent the path of least resistance. That doesn’t mean it would be the most popular option. Very rarely does the top of the draft look the same, one year to the next.

Follow the 2005 NHL draft model

Back in 2004, the NHL and its players union were locked in a labor dispute, and the ensuing season was canceled. After delaying the draft nearly a month, the league determined its 2005 draft order based on a weighted lottery system.

Under those stipulations, the teams that had missed the playoffs each of the previous three seasons and those that had not earned the top overall selection the prior four years were given the most lottery balls (three). Six of the NHL’s 30 clubs met both criteria.

Ten NHL teams that had one playoff appearance or the first overall pick in those years each earned two lottery balls. And the remaining 16 clubs that met neither criteria each were given one ball.

The NHL’s lottery process that year was different than the NBA’s system in that all 30 teams had a shot at the top pick. The odds were also far greater in the NHL’s system for a good team landing the top pick — could you imagine the Detroit Red Wings having landed the first overall pick (a generational talent in Sidney Crosby) after averaging a league-best 111.5 points the previous four seasons?

If the NFL adopted this format, there would be a chance for a team such as the Patriots earning the top pick in 2021, which surely would go over well. Your “Bill Belichick tanking for Trevor” tweets wouldn’t look as absurd now, that’s for sure.

The NHL produced some wild results that year. The four teams with three lottery balls (Pittsburgh Penguins, Columbus Blue Jackets, Buffalo Sabres and New York Rangers) earned first, sixth, 13th and 16th picks, respectively.

Meanwhile, five of the 16 one-ball lottery teams ended up picking higher than expected. The big winners were the Montreal Canadiens, who ended up with the fifth overall pick after winning a playoff series in the 2003-04 season. The San Jose Sharks, who won 10 playoff games and made it to the conference finals, picked 12th.

Two other playoff teams, the Ottawa Senators and Vancouver Canucks, picked ninth and 10th, respectively. The Red Wings, the regular-season points leaders, picked 19th — ahead of two non-playoff teams, the Edmonton Oilers and Florida Panthers, who picked 25th and 29th, respectively.

If the NFL tried this format, it might have to drastically alter the system.

Using the NHL’s model, the three-ball lottery teams would be the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, New York Jets, Denver Broncos and Washington. The two-ball teams: the Browns, Arizona Cardinals, Cincinnati Bengals, San Francisco 49ers, Chicago Bears, Los Angeles Chargers, Indianapolis Colts, Carolina Panthers, Jacksonville Jaguars, New York Giants, Detroit Lions, Las Vegas Raiders and Miami Dolphins. The remaining 15 teams would receive one lottery ball.

That would create a 53-ball lottery where the three-ball teams would each have a 5.7 percent chance of the top pick; the two-ball teams would have a 3.8 percent chance; and each of the one-ball teams would have a 1.9 percent chance.

Just for fun, we ran 10 simulations using these rules. Here are how the top-10 picks came out for those (any repeat team picks were just rerolled, using Google’s random generator):

* — pick belongs to Jaguars

** — pick belongs to the Dolphins

We swear we did this fairly. But you might want to get your cringe face ready when you see Simulation 6, which almost looks like a playoff field and could result that dreaded Lawrence-to-Foxborough scenario.

Imagine the high-wire act that is being a Jets fan. In these 10 scenarios, they either pick really high (No. 1 pick three times and No. 2 overall once) or get left out of the top 10 entirely (four times) with equal frequency. Take a guess what that fan base assumes would happen on the real draw.

Some of the simulations look fairly close to like one would expect. But it feels as if the weighted system would need to reward more consistently underachieving teams.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman understood that few people would be happy with how that league ran its lottery under tough circumstances.

“Half the league probably wanted everybody to have an equal chance, and the other half wanted all the teams that didn’t make the playoffs to have the only chances, weighted or unweighted,” Bettman said. “And if you look at the statistical odds of both scenarios, what we did is about in the middle. And so actually nobody was particularly thrilled, but everybody understood that on balance it was probably the fairest way to approach it.”

If a good team ends up with the No. 1 pick, especially in a year when Lawrence is such a household name, the laity assumption will be that the draft was rigged. But the NFL also knows that a lottery event would be made-for-TV gold for the league to showcase and help recoup a sliver of the lost revenue from a missed season.

There are problems with this method, but there’s also a potential solution from within it.

Stick straight to the recent numbers

This is a suggestion we’re lifting from a smart Reddit user, “jeckenimbo,” who suggested merely averaging out the past three seasons’ results and running the order inverse of winning percentage. And the first tiebreaker here would be 2019 victories.

That would give us a draft order of:

1. Giants 2. Browns 3. Bengals 4. Jets 5. Cardinals 6. Washington 7. Raiders 8. Buccaneers 9. Dolphins 10. Broncos 11. Lions 12. Jaguars 13. Colts 14. Panthers 15. 49ers 16. Falcons 17. Bears 18. Bills 19. Texans (traded to Dolphins) 20. Chargers 21. Packers 22. Cowboys 23. Titans 24. Seahawks 25. Steelers 26. Eagles 27. Vikings 28. Rams (traded to Jaguars) 29. Ravens 30. Chiefs 31. Patriots 32. Saints

Not bad. Of course, that also treats 2017 results nearly as equally as 2019 victories, so a system that is more heavily weighted toward recency could be implemented.

Here, for instance, is a model another Reddit user suggested that uses a 10-30-60 weighted split for 2017, 2018 and 2019 records, respectively, along with the same 2019-victory tiebreaker:

1. Bengals 2. Giants 3. Lions 4. Washington 5. Cardinals 6. Dolphins 7. Browns 8. Jets 9. Raiders 10. Jaguars 11. Panthers 12. Buccaneers 13. Broncos 14. Falcons 15. Chargers 16. Colts 17. Cowboys 18. Bills 19. Steelers 20. Bears 21. Titans 22. Eagles 23. 49ers 24. Vikings 25. Texans (traded to Dolphins) 26. Packers 27. Rams (traded to Jaguars) 28. Seahawks 29. Patriots 30. Chiefs 31. Ravens 32. Saints

This model clearly boosts teams such as the Lions and Steelers and hurts teams such as the Browns and 49ers. But overall, this method would upset the fewest people, as it’s generally a solid representation of how the teams might stack up, outside of a few expected leaps and falls we get every season.

A similar suggestion from our friend, Pete Fiutak of Collegefootballnews.com, looks not at the standings but rather draft order itself.

It’s a subtle but significant distinction. After all, you can win four games in a season and pick second overall, as the 49ers did (landing Nick Bosa) in 2019. Or you can win four games and pick seventh overall, as the 49ers did in 2016.

Likewise, you can win seven games, make the playoffs and pick 20th or later, per draft rules, as the 2014 Panthers did, landing the 25th pick. Or a team can win seven games, like the Jets did last year, and pick 11th overall. The 2011 Giants went 9-7 but won the Super Bowl that year, and thus picked 32nd. The 2017 Ravens went 9-7, missed the playoffs and earned the 16th pick.

This system more accurately reflects the draft-slot benefit over the standings. Pete’s model averages out the first-round draft positions (before picks were traded) for every team over the past three years. That gives us a potential 2021 order of:

1. Browns 2. Bengals 3. Jets 4. Giants T5. Bears T5. Chargers 7. Colts 8. Washington 9. Cardinals 10. Dolphins 11. Panthers T12. Broncos T12. Buccaneers T14. Jaguars T14. 49ers 16. Lions 17. Raiders 18. Rams (traded to Jaguars) 19. Bills 20. Texans (traded to Dolphins) 21. Ravens 22. Saints 23. Cowboys 24. Eagles 25. Vikings 26. Seahawks 27. Titans T28. Falcons T28. Packers 30. Steelers 31. Chiefs 32. Patriots

Don’t forget that the 2021 NFL draft is scheduled to be held in Cleveland. We’re not saying the league would rig it to benefit the locals, but the fans there wouldn’t be too angry.

But where Pete’s system goes next level — and perhaps a wee bit beyond where the league might be willing to go — is that he suggests reversing the order every round. You know, a “snake” draft, like the method thousands of you employ in standard fantasy football leagues.

Would fantasy really meet reality? We suspect not, even though teams such as the Patriots, who seem to annually hoard second-rounders, would be in favor of this.

No system is perfect, clearly, and the hope is that by the time the 2021 NFL draft rolls around, we will have played a full (or mostly full) season and that all of this is moot. Perhaps the solution lies somewhere in the middle of the final two suggestions, using a weighted lottery system but one that is based more on rolling winning percentages or draft slots, or some combination of the two.

And it never helps to get a head start on this sort of thing. Advanced planning never hurt anyone, especially not a professional sports league.