The NFL is a league of what-ifs. One draft pick, one contract, one coaching hire—it only takes one wrong decision to send an NFL team spiraling from contender to catastrophe.
We see it every year… instead of making the move that would’ve put them over the top, they zigged when they should’ve zagged. Maybe they overpaid for the wrong guy. Maybe they passed on a franchise-changing talent. Maybe they thought they were one piece away—only to find out that piece shattered everything they had built.
Let’s take a look at some of the major blunders we’ve seen in the last couple of years—and breakdown just exactly how it left the team in ruin.
Which teams in the NFL made some recent big-time blunders?
Chicago Bears: Hiring Matt Eberflus (and then not firing him last offseason)
Nov 28, 2024; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Chicago Bears head coach Matt Eberflus looks at the scoreboard during their game against the Detroit Lions in the first quarter at Ford Field. Mandatory Credit: Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images
The Bears had a golden opportunity to clean the house after 2023. They were heading into an offseason in which they were set to have the number one overall pick—and the roster was seemingly starting to come together…
But instead of cutting their losses with Eberflus—a defensive-minded head coach who’s allergic to modern offense, struggles with player development, and seemed to be overwhelmingly unpopular with both the players and fans—they doubled down by keeping him in the Windy City.
Despite constantly showing signs that he could be the guy—if only he were in a better system to develop his skills… Justin Fields struggled mightily for two years under his watch, and when this NFL team had the chance to reset—they elected to keep the coach who stifled his growth and helped drive the franchise into the ground.
What made the decision all the more puzzling is they did it knowing that they were going to have another rookie quarterback in Caleb Williams under center… They invested the first overall pick in him but decided to saddle him with a terrible coach—forcing him into a “clean house” situation after his rookie season.
The crazy part about this is they did the exact same thing a couple of years prior to Fields during his rookie season when they kept Matt Nagy around!
Brutal decision-making… Chicago’s biggest mistake wasn’t just hiring Eberflus. It was keeping him.
Atlanta Falcons: Signing Kirk Cousins to a four-year, $180 million contract (2024)
Kirk Cousins (Photo by Kirby Lee-Imagn Images)
I mean, even at the time, this one had people scratching their heads and wondering what Atlanta was thinking.
The Falcons spent $180 million on a 36-year-old quarterback coming off a torn Achilles. Let that sink in.
Atlanta acted like they were one player away from Super Bowl contention. In reality, they weren’t even one quarterback away from a deep playoff run.
They had an elite running game, solid weapons, and a young defense but were still multiple pieces short of being a legitimate threat. Instead of building their roster organically, they panicked and handed Cousins a massive deal.
On the bright side, their contingency plan and quarterback of the future, Michael Penix Jr., looked sharp last year… but now he’s going to enter his first full season as a starter with the most expensive backup quarterback that the game has ever seen.
The shocking part is that Atlanta fell into this trap… we’ve seen this play out before. A desperate team overpays for a good, not great quarterback toward the end of their NFL career… and then spends years trying to undo the mistake.
They just might be able to speed through the “undo” phase, but we’ll have to see—because Cousins has tied up a lot of their financial resources going forward.
Cleveland Browns: Trading for Deshaun Watson and signing him to a five-year, $230 million contract (2022)
Browns QB Deshaun Watson throws as Dallas Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons closes in during the first half, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024, in Cleveland.
This might go down as the worst contract in NFL history—and while there were some skeptics at the time, to be fair to Cleveland—no one could see this level of destruction coming.
This team was desperate for a franchise quarterback, and instead of taking a deep breath and assessing their options, they threw everything at Deshaun Watson—a quarterback who had missed the entire 2021 NFL season and was facing more legal trouble than an entire season of Law & Order.
They gave up three first-round picks AND handed him a fully guaranteed $230 million contract, completely resetting the market in the process.
Watson has struggled to stay healthy, most recently tearing an Achilles, but to be honest—injuries aside, he never seemed particularly close to regaining form.
The Browns bet everything on Watson returning to his old form. Instead, they got a guy who pissed off their entire fan base and has either been hurt, underperforming, or both ever since—and now they’re handcuffed by one of the worst financial commitments in sports.
Jacksonville Jaguars: Hiring Urban Meyer as coach (2021)
As time almost expires, Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Urban Meyer looks on to the clock during the fourth quarter at TIAA Bank Field Sunday, Nov. 21, 2021 in Jacksonville. The Jacksonville Jaguars hosted the San Francisco 49ers during a regular season NFL game. The 49ers defeated the Jaguars 30-10. [Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union] Jki Cp Jags 49ers 09
Some coaching hires don’t work out. Others are so catastrophic that they almost permanently derail a franchise.
And considering they brought in Meyer during the first overall pick, Trevor Lawrence’s rookie season—and what we’ve seen take place since—there is no argument that the decision to bring in the renowned college coach wasn’t the latter.
Meyer didn’t just fail—he melted down in dramatic fashion, seemingly making this NFL team worse on a weekly basis.
He lost the locker room immediately, picked bizarre fights with his own players, and showed zero understanding of how the NFL worked.
And, of course, there was the off-field embarrassment—skipping team flights and partying at bars, and it got so bad he allegedly kicked his own kicker during practice.
The one good decision Jacksonville made? Pulling the plug before he could do more damage.
But still, they completely wasted a year of Trevor Lawrence’s development and set their quarterback—and the franchise back in a major way.
Tennessee Titans: Swapping out A.J. Brown for Treylon Burks in a trade with the Eagles (2022)
Tennessee Titans wide receiver Treylon Burks (16) runs against the Chicago Bears during the third quarter at Soldier Field in Chicago, Ill., Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024.
You might not know it if you watched how their offense functioned the past couple of years, but there was a time that Tennessee had a pretty promising group coming into form under Mike Vrabel.
It was centered around the run game and Derrick Henry, but the Titans had a surprisingly effective passing game, largely thanks to their bonafide wide receiver 1, A.J. Brown—exactly the type of player NFLteams should be building around.
So naturally, they refused to pay him—in part because their GM seemed to have personal conflicts with the young wideout, and shipped him to Philadelphia, where he continued to ascend, eventually winning a Super Bowl.
To make matters worse… they tried to replace him with Treylon Burks, which has been a catastrophic failure in its own right.
By getting rid of Brown, they torpedoed their passing attack and sent the franchise straight into a rebuild after years of promise.
New York Jets: Drafting Zach Wilson (2021)
Dec 17, 2023; Miami Gardens, Florida, USA; Miami Dolphins defensive tackle Zach Sieler (92) sacks New York Jets quarterback Zach Wilson (2) during the first half at Hard Rock Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports
If you want a case study of how one draft pick can set a franchise back half a decade, look no further than the Jets selecting Zach Wilson second overall in 2021.
Wilson was completely overwhelmed from the jump, proving time and time again that he lacked the pocket presence, accuracy, or leadership to be a starting QB in the NFL.
But instead of cutting bait early, the Jets kept giving him chances—and it completely wrecked the competitive window that uber talented defense had opened. They built up an elite defense, stockpiled weapons, and yet spent years being sunk by some of the worst quarterback play the league has ever seen.
Which, of course, took them to where they are… reeling from a divorce with an aging Aaron Rodgers, near the top of the NFL draft, bottom of the standings, and established one of the most dysfunctional teams in the game today.
Philadelphia Eagles: Drafting Jalen Reagor over Justin Jefferson (2020 draft)
Aug 12, 2022; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Jalen Reagor (18) against the New York Jets at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
Okay, this one is a bit of an outlier because it didn’t ruin the Eagles exactly, considering their recent success. But this decision was so baffling that it has to be included.
To Howie Roseman’s credit, the Eagles have more than bounced back from this disaster. But make no mistake—this was a disaster.
It was one of the most baffling draft decisions in recent memory. Justin Jefferson was a stud at LSU, a can’t-miss prospect coming off one of the most dominant college seasons ever. Jalen Reagor, meanwhile, was viewed as a raw speedster with questionable hands and route-running ability.
Jefferson, of course, immediately became one of the best receivers in the NFL, meanwhile Reagor was a total bust, failing to establish himself for this team and getting dumped to the Vikings for scraps just a couple of years later.
The Eagles were able to course-correct, landing A.J. Brown in a trade and hitting a home run with DeVonta Smith in the draft. But imagine if they had just picked Jefferson in 2020 what this offense could’ve looked like.
Las Vegas Raiders: Hiring Josh McDaniels as Head Coach (2022)
Oct 30, 2023; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Las Vegas Raiders head coach Josh McDaniels checks his play sheet on the sidelines during the fourth quarter of their game against the Detroit Lions at Ford Field. Mandatory Credit: Lon Horwedel-USA TODAY Sports
The Raiders had something to build on after making the playoffs in 2021 despite all the chaos of the Jon Gruden scandal. They had a tough, battle-tested roster, a quarterback in Derek Carr who could get them to the postseason, and a solid interim head coach in Rich Bisaccia, who had the locker room completely bought in.
But instead of trying to build on that team-centric ethos, they brought in one of the biggest egomaniacs that the NFL has ever seen in Josh McDaniels—and it went just about as bad as one could expect!
This was a disaster from the start. McDaniels came in and immediately alienated key players. He ran an outdated offense and made mind-boggling in-game decisions, and by the time he was mercifully fired midway through his second season, the Raiders were in complete disarray.
The locker room hated him. The fans hated him. Even ownership clearly had no faith in him—cutting ties well before his contract was up.
McDaniels set them back years—in fact they are still in ruin because the team had to gut its roster, cycle through quarterbacks, and start all over. Just a brutal decision that should’ve never been made.
New York Giants: Resigning Daniel Jones to Contract Extension (2023)
Nov 10, 2024; Munich, Germany; New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones (8) is pressured by Carolina Panthers cornerback Dane Jackson (23) in the second half during the 2024 NFL Munich Game at Allianz Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
One solid season. That’s all it took for the Giants to talk themselves into giving Daniel Jones a $160 million contract.
They convinced themselves that Brian Daboll had “fixed” him. That the turnover-prone, inconsistent quarterback they had seen for four years had suddenly transformed into a franchise guy just because he played well in a run-heavy offense and won a playoff game against a fraudulent Vikings defense.
Predictably, Jones came crashing back down to Earth in 2023. He was bad when healthy and couldn’t even stay on the field.
The Giants have now paid him a fortune despite pretty much having to start looking for his replacement almost immediately as the performance was never even close to coming together.
To add insult to injury, losing their star running back, Saquon Barkley, to their hated rivals, the Philadelphia Eagles, was a by-product of this decision… And he went on to win a Super Bowl there in his first year with their rival NFL team! That one has to hurt.
Luckily, they did have an out this year and have effectively hit the rest button, but man, what a disaster the decision re-signing Jones turned into… And it was all captured on Hard Knocks for the world to see too!
Indianapolis Colts: Trading First- and third-round Picks to the Eagles for Carson Wentz (2021)
Indianapolis Colts quarterback Carson Wentz (2) presses on one of his eye black strips during the second quarter of the game on Sunday, Jan. 9, 2022, at TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville, Fla. The Indianapolis Colts Versus Jacksonville Jaguars On Sunday Jan 9 2022 Tiaa Bank Field In Jacksonville Fla
This… was a bad one. Indy sent a conditional second that turned into a first and third-round pick to the Eagles for Carson Wentz—a quarterback who had just gotten chased out of the city of Brotherly Love after an ugly season, as he continued to struggle to regain form after a fate-altering ACL injury.
With the Colts for the 2021 NFL season, Wentz’s numbers did improve, but he faded massively down the stretch and struggled in all of the key moments that the team needed him most as they made a playoff push.
When all was said and done, Indy missed the playoffs, and instead of getting a potential franchise guy, they got another one-year disaster, for which they are still paying the price.
Because this move didn’t just set Indy back a year—it sent them into a full-blown QB spiral. From Wentz to Matt Ryan to Sam Ehlinger to Nick Foles to Gardner Minshew… they even had to resort to Joe Flacco!
Even now, they have tried to get younger by investing in Anthony Richardson through the draft, and that, too, has been a disaster. The Colts have now spent years scrambling for an answer at quarterback—and the decision to invest in Carson Wentz so heavily no doubt kickstarted it.
