Blow it up: 5 steps to a Tampa Bay Buccaneers rebuild
By Cory Kinnan
Step Four: Tank in 2020
The fourth step may be the most brutal of all steps, as it involves tanking, or putting oneself in position to play for a higher draft position rather than for wins. Again, this is unlikely since Arians was just brought in at the age of 67, but in a theoretical method of a rebuild, this has become a norm.
Take a look at the Miami Dolphins. They have zero intentions of playing competitive football this year, but rather taking one to the chin in order to land a quarterback like Tagovailoa or Justin Herbert. The Cleveland Browns went 0-16 right before landing Mayfield, Ward, and Chubb all in the same draft, and 1-15 the year before that allowed Garrett to fall into their lap.
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The more assets that are stockpiled, and the more losses that are added to the schedule, the higher those picks will be. Those high picks can then either be used to select elite talent or traded for another haul of picks to continue stacking.
The Browns got two first rounders and more from the Philadelphia Eagles to trade out of the number two pick in 2016, and an additional first rounder from the Houston Texans to trade out of the 12th spot in 2017. All of these picks turned into the load of young talent they have accumulated today.
It sucks and the Glazers would be sure to lose some money on ticket sales, but for the future, it may be for the best to tank.