Detroit Lions: Would you rather be a Dolphins fan?
By Robert Jones
What rebuilding team would you swap franchises with?
Rebuilding isn’t the worst thing that can happen to a team if the right regime is in charge of it. In the case of the Detroit Lions, we can only hope that the right people will be in charge this offseason.
However, since we are still mired in the season, are there any other bottom-dwelling teams that we as fans are jealous of because of their ability to get the job done right?
There are some teams that could provide a decent blueprint, but there are also teams just as bad off as the Lions. Take the New York Jets or Giants. Both teams supposedly have their young franchise quarterbacks and coaching staffs in place to lead them back to contention.
Yet all the talk is that the Jets who may suffer the ignominy of becoming the third team ever to go 0-16, after the Lions and Browns, might use the first pick in next year’s draft to take Clemson’s coveted passer Trevor Lawrence.
I’m not even a big Sam Darnold fan, but he hasn’t proven to be bust yet. Of course, he hasn’t become a star either. And the Giants are plain old awful.
The Cowboys lost Dak Prescott and their defense stinks. The Eagles seem like they should be better, but they aren’t, New England is having some post-Brady struggles, Both the Texans and Jaguars aren’t any good, and the Broncos can’t score or play defense with any consistency.
None of those teams are really any better off than the Lions and it would be a move sideways to trade franchises with them.
Meanwhile, the Chargers have pieces on defense and it certainly looks like they may have found their franchise quarterback. Joe Burrows has played well for the Bengals and Cincinnati may actually have a future, while the Panthers rebuild is off to a solid start, and year two of the Kliff Kingsbury project in Arizona has looked pretty good.
At the moment all of those teams have much more of a future than the Lions and I wouldn’t argue with anyone who wanted to trade franchises with any of those rebuilding squads. But there is one other team I would prefer to switch with.