Former New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton believes that the NFL will eventually join the NBA, NHL and Major League Baseball in running a draft lottery system.
Among the “Big Four” North American professional sports leagues, the NFL is the only one that determines its draft order strictly through the standings. Major League Baseball used to do that as well, but beginning in 2023, they’ll use the draft lottery system.
During his appearance on “The Herd with Colin Cowherd”, Payton explained that he believes the NFL will eventually go to the draft lottery system as well.
Payton opines that USC quarterback Caleb Williams, already regarded as one of the top prospects for the 2024 NFL Draft, could prompt the league to launch the draft lottery concept.
“At some point, we’re going to move to a lottery system in the NFL. This is a player (Williams) that possibly does that, where at the end of the season…clubs begin to lose to try and put themselves in that (position).
That’s not been a problem to date with our league, as we know it…We’ve had two teams, that I know, lost games (on purpose).”
Payton and Cowherd cited the 2014 Tampa Bay Buccaneers as a team that was supposedly tanking. Payton explained that they were losing in Week 17 to the Bucs, who began pulling their starters. New Orleans went on to win that game 23-20.
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The Buccaneers wound up finishing as football’s worst team that year, earning the first overall pick which allowed them to take Jameis Winston in 2015.
Payton also cited the Philadelphia Eagles-Washington Football Team Week 17 game. In what would be his final game as the Eagles head coach, Doug Pederson pulled starter Jalen Hurts and replaced him with third-stringer Nate Sudfeld.
Pederson’s decision was widely panned since it looked rather obvious that Philly was tanking. Not only that, but Washington won the game and the NFC East. Had the Eagles won, the New York Giants would have instead won the division.
If the NFL season ended today, the Houston Texans would own the first overall pick. Alabama quarterback Bryce Young, linebacker Will Anderson Jr. and Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud are widely considered the three front-runners to go first overall.
