NFL future rankings for bad teams: Sorting 12 struggling franchises by tiers, from hopeful to hopeless

We're 10 weeks into the NFL season. More than half the league is likely still considering potential playoff scenarios or even planning for the Super Bowl. There are 20 teams with four or more wins, and all of them are within a game or two of the playoff picture, so they should still be thinking about that.

Then there are the 12 other teams. They have three or fewer wins and they're probably thinking more about the future than they are about the present. So that's what we're going to do, too. We're going to take those 12 teams with three or fewer wins and rank their future prospects, considering both the short term (next season) and the long (the next 3-5 years). 

We're separating these 12 teams into three tiers: A long way away (the worst teams); Need something fresh (the middle of the pack); and Closer than you think (self-explanatory). Without further ado...

A long way away

12. Las Vegas Raiders
11. New Orleans Saints
10. Cleveland Browns
9. New York Jets
8. Tennessee Titans

These are teams that are almost entirely bereft of talent, either by design or by circumstance. 

We have the Raiders last because they basically have two players (Brock Bowers and Maxx Crosby) who are worth building around and not much else. They seem to be considering abandoning their new coaching staff after just one year. And their quarterback situation with Geno Smith is looking like a nightmare. 

The Saints also lack talent, but they at least have more clarity about their quarterback situation: they need to go out and find a new one. The same is true of the Jets and Browns. And they're all in the mix for top-five draft picks. We have the Saints, Browns and Jets ahead of the Raiders due to the financial and coaching situations, which seem preferable to where Vegas is at right now. New York and Cleveland are ahead of New Orleans here because of the draft-pick situations, where they each have multiple first-round picks coming their way via trade, in addition to their own selections.  

The Titans look like possibly the worst of these teams right now, but it's better to know who your potential quarterback of the future is rather than having to go find one. Cam Ward has struggled for a lot of this season in a horrendous situation, but he's also put some throws on tape that exemplify why he went No. 1 in the first place. Maybe it doesn't work out and Tennessee drops back further, but all of these other teams still need to go looking for something. 

Need something fresh

7. Miami Dolphins
6. Arizona Cardinals
5. Atlanta Falcons
4. New York Giants
3. Washington Commanders

The Dolphins already fired their general manager and are clearly in need of a reboot of some sort, whether it be a top-to-bottom overhaul, including a new coaching staff, or just a revamp of the defense. They also might need to think about a new quarterback if Tua Tagovailoa doesn't play much better down the stretch of the season. But they still have guys like DeVon Achane, Jaylen Waddle and more, so there's not nothing to build around here. 

The Cardinals already have a pretty solid defense. They have some offensive skill guys who can make plays. It seems like they need to (and are going to) make a change under center, and if they land on the right guy, they could make a move into a higher tier and find their way into the back end of the playoff picture by next season. 

Atlanta's defense has been quite good at times this season, and it seems like the Falcons have finally found a couple of good pass rushers in the draft. They also have Bijan Robinson and Drake London around whom to build things on offense. But there are questions about what they have in Michael Penix Jr. and they're out a first-round pick next year, so we're keeping them behind New York and Washington here.

Jaxson Dart and Jayden Daniels have both flashed some high-end ability, with Daniels reaching the higher heights as a rookie. New York has more to build around elsewhere on the roster (Dexter Lawrence, Andrew Thomas, Malik Nabers, Cam Skattebo, Brian Burns, Abdul Carter). However, we will still lean toward the more talented quarterback, who produced at an even higher level, when it comes to adjudicating which team has a brighter future -- especially when both appear to be equally significant potential injury risks. Plus, the Giants still need to bring in a new coaching staff and we don't know how that will go.

Closer than you think

2. Dallas Cowboys
1. Cincinnati Bengals

These two teams are essentially a legitimate defense away from being real playoff teams. They have two of the most explosive offenses in the NFL, and still can't manage to win games because they simply can't stop anybody. If either one of them can figure out a way to level up defensively, they could quickly make a move up their standings in their respective conferences. Maybe not all the way to the top, but certainly into the playoff picture. All it would take is competency -- not even necessarily getting to above average. 

Dallas is probably closer to achieving that than is Cincinnati, but the certainty of the Joe Burrow-Ja'Marr Chase-Tee Higgins trio sticking together nudges the Bengals ahead of the Cowboys because a) Dak Prescott is older and presumably closer to age-related decline than is Burrow; and b) we don't know whether or how long George Pickens will be sticking around.