You know the saying — the NFL stands for Not For Long. One day, you’re the talk of the league, lighting up highlight reels and jerseys flying off the shelves. The next? You’re lost in the annals of football history.
But for some players, the story doesn’t end at rock bottom. They claw their way back, rise from the ashes, and remind the league that, hey, they’re not dead yet.
So, who are the players who shook off the dirt, slapped the doubters in the face, and revived their careers in 2024? And who are the ones that fell off the face of the Earth, leaving us wondering how they ever played NFL ball in the first place?
Let’s take a look around the NFL landscape and dive in!
Which NFL players revived their careers in 2024, and which ones faltered?
Revived their Career: Bryce Young, QB, Carolina Panthers
When Bryce Young was drafted first overall, he was supposed to save the Panthers. Instead, his rookie season had people wondering if he needed to save himself.
Young’s 2023 campaign was the NFL equivalent of a horror movie, a bad one at that… It was hard to watch—to the point NFL fans were feeling bad and just sort of waiting for the credits to roll.
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And to begin the 2024 season, it looked like it was going to be more of the same… He got off to another horrendous start, and folks around the league thought that the Panthers were going to pull the plug on him entirely—especially after they benched him for an aging Andy Dalton and the Panthers offense proceeded to have its best game in two years by a long shot.
That said, the time on the sideline seems to have done Young well…
Since he’s returned, he’s looked like a completely different quarterback.
I might go as far as to say that he is now slinging it! More importantly, all of those jitters he was showing in the pocket have finally started to dissipate, along with the deer-in-the-headlights look that accompanied him through his first year and a half in the league.
Young has finally played like the kid everyone thought he’d be, making the right reads and the right throws and giving Carolina fans something they hadn’t had in years — hope.
Fell off the Face of the Earth: Mac Jones, QB, Jacksonville Jaguars
Mac Jones’s fall wasn’t a cliff dive, rather, it has been a slow, painful tumble. After being tossed out of New England, Jacksonville took a flier on him, hoping he could recapture that rookie-year magic by working with him behind the scenes, while Trevor Lawrence carried the burden on game day.
Unfortunately for both sides, Lawrence has been unable to stay healthy this year—and, thus, Jones has been thrust back into starting duties for a terrible Jaguars team.
And, well, he is not making matters any better for Jacksonville. In fact, he is making them infinitely worse.
Jones has looked absolutely lost under center and there is a real chance that this ends up being his last stop in the pros if he can’t but something halfway decent on tape… because man, is this painful to watch.
Revived their Career: Russell Wilson, QB, Pittsburgh Steelers
Russell Wilson’s Broncos tenure was a flaming wreckage of “Let’s Ride” memes and career obituaries. But then came Pittsburgh, a city that doesn’t do finesse — it does grit, grind, and quarterbacks who punch back. Wilson found a fresh start in black and gold, with Mike Tomlin’s no-nonsense culture breathing life back into his game.
And he’s done it in spite of the doubters and haters who were trying to end his reign before it began by clamoring for Justin Fields to remain the starter…
But at this point, it is clear that Russ still has just enough left in the tank to cook—and with this world-class defense and coaching staff, he might just have one or two more deep NFL playoff runs in his back pocket!
Fell off the Face of the Earth: Aaron Rodgers, QB, New York Jets
While he has stayed in the headlines, it hasn’t been for the right reasons. At this point, there are serious questions about Aaron Rodgers’s future, not just with the Jets but also in the NFL at large.
Aaron Rodgers came to New York with Super Bowl dreams and enough hype to fuel a city.
Instead, he immediately tore his Achilles in 2023, sending the fans into despair… and now his 2024 season played out like a sequel to a movie nobody wanted.
There hasn’t been one catastrophic one, but the nagging injuries have clearly piled up in his old age, and his throws aren’t as sharp.
It seems that Father Time has gotten the best of him, and now, the magic that made Rodgers flickered out.
The result has been putrid for New York… and he continues to look tired, frustrated, and — worst of all —average—if that.
As the season has progressed and the Jets offense continues to sputter, the boos—and subsequent calls for Rodgers’s job have only gotten louder.
And the unthinkable happened, as Rodgers has gone from savior to scapegoat. Heading into the season’s end, it seems like the writing is on the wall: the Aaron Rodgers era in New York was over before it ever really began.
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Revived their Career: Derrick Henry, RB, Baltimore Ravens
You thought Derrick Henry was done? That he left his prime somewhere on the floor of the Titans’ crumbling offense? Think again. In Baltimore, Henry strapped on that purple and black, looked around, and decided to play like it was 2019 all over again.
After a couple of quiet years for a middling Titans squad, people were starting to doubt him, but now the “King Henry” moniker doesn’t feel nostalgic anymore — it feels earned.
In 2024, he has been breaking tackles, punishing his opponents, and destroying the narrative that his career was on its last legs.
Maybe it is the Ravens’ system, and maybe it is just escaping the mess in Nashville. Either way, he reminded us all that not all great backs fade out at his age.
I mean… If Henry can keep this up, it will go down as one of the best seasons we’ve seen from a veteran NFL running back.
Who would have thought a guy who was sharing the load with Tyjae Spears last season would be blowing away the competition in 2024—regardless of his age?
Fell off the Face of the Earth: Bryce Huff, DE, Philadelphia Eagles
Bryce Huff’s 2023 season with the Jets was a revelation — 10 sacks, relentless pressure, and the kind of motor that made offensive tackles lose sleep. So when the Eagles handed him a fat three-year, $51 million deal, it felt like a no-brainer. But in 2024, Huff has largely vanished.
He has picked it up ever so slightly in the second half of the season… but still—it is a far cry from the guy we saw for Gang Green last year—and pennies on the dollar that the Eagles were expecting when they inked to that deal this offseason.
The only bright side for Huff is that his replacement in New York, Haason Reddick, who the Jets brought in from Philly, has managed to be an even bigger disaster.
Seems like both of these teams would’ve been better off leaving well enough alone.
In any case… In football, big contracts come with big expectations. Bryce Huff knew that when he signed with the Eagles. And he has done nothing but let them down since he entered the fold—and in the NFL, sometimes that is all it takes to be forgotten.
Revived their Career: Saquon Barkley, RB, Philadelphia Eagles
Saquon Barkley in New York was like a sports car stuck in traffic. A rather apt analogy for a star playing in the Big Apple!
Injuries, bad lines, and worse play-calling had him spinning his wheels. But in Philly? The road has been clear, and Barkley hit the gas.
Behind that Eagles’ offensive line, Barkley looked like the guy we all remembered — the cuts, the bursts, the highlight runs. And the synergy that he has running alongside Jalen Hurts is only magnifying his impact.
Obviously, his career wasn’t dead in New York. But there was a steadily growing debate about his real value to a contender—something that has been answered in spades during his time in Philadelphia.
Much to the chagrin of Giants fans who have been reminded on a weekly basis of how incompetent their franchise is by watching Barkley go off for one of their hated rivals while the G-Men continue to flounder at the bottom of the standings.
Fell off the Face of the Earth: Kyle Pitts, TE, Atlanta Falcons
Remember when Kyle Pitts was supposed to revolutionize the tight-end position? Yeah, neither do the Falcons. After flashes of brilliance in his rookie year, Pitts’ NFL career turned into a slow fade to black.
Everyone was ready to blame the coaching of Arthur Smith—and anointed Pitts as the guy most ready to pop off in 2024 with the changes to the offense and Kirk Cousins coming to town and what not… but it really has just been more of the same… Just disappointment and more disappointment!
Revived their Career: Sam Darnold, QB, Minnesota Vikings
Sam Darnold’s career was hanging by a thread, the ghosts of failed stints in New York and Carolina whispering his doom. Then he landed in Minnesota, with a chance to be the bridge quarterback from Kirk Cousins to J.J. McCarthy—and to say that he has made the most of that opportunity is the understatement of the century.
Now that he is surrounded by a competent offense and a phenomenal coach in Kevin O’Connell, who doesn’t expect miracles and actually fosters his development, Darnold is finally putting that impressive physical skillset to work and playing exceptionally good football.
Sam Darnold was supposed to be another bust story. Another quarterback who couldn’t figure it out…
But sometimes, all you need is the right place and the right time—and in Minnesota, Darnold has gotten both and completely revived his career.
To the point that the Vikings are going to have to have a serious discussion about re-signing him and what they might do with their first-round pick, McCarthy, in that scenario heading into this offseason.
Fell off the Face of the Earth: Deebo Samuel, WR, San Francisco 49ers
It hasn’t been smooth sailing for them. Samuel’s stats are way down this season, and his presence is seemingly nonexistent on a week-to-week basis… Maybe the fact he’s 28 has something to do with it.
In any case, Deebo Samuel used to be the Swiss Army knife of the 49ers’ offense — part wide receiver, part running back, and, to put it frankly, all playmaker.
He was viewed by many as the straw that stirred the drink—and made that group different. Obviously, his role changed a bit when CMC came to town, but still… He didn’t lose his dynamism… until now!
Because in 2024, it seems clear that the blade on this Swiss army knife has dulled.
All of the big plays have dried up, the broken tackles disappeared, and the touchdowns have become as rare as a quiet day on NFL Twitter for the diva wide receiver.
Maybe it was injuries, maybe it was age, but Deebo went from unstoppable to invisible. He wasn’t the guy dragging defenders anymore. He was the guy getting dragged down.
And it is almost starting to feel like the 49ers’ offense moved on, and Deebo got left behind.
This was a weird one, too, because no one really saw it coming… and this fall wasn’t just steep, it was sudden.
And the results have been catastrophic for the 49ers offense… Granted, they have dealt with a ton of other injuries as well—including to CMC—but maybe there was something to the notion that Samuel was the straw that stirred the drink… because it appears the drink has gone sour and San Francisco is at risk of missing the post season for the first time in what feels like forever…
This could spell doom for Deebo, as he risks falling into the cracks as another forgotten former playmaker.
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