Tanking is not an option for the Lions, not because it goes against the culture, but because it won’t work

It’s fools gold. Don’t fall for fools gold

Mike Payton — Detroit Lions Beat Writer
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I get it, Detroit Lions fans. If the Lions don’t make it into he playoffs with 15 wins, they couldn’t possibly do anything once they get there.

That’s the way people felt about the 2007 New York Giants, too, but we all saw what happened there. I understand that there’s this feeling that the Lions might as well throw up the white flag on this season and just tank for a higher draft pick, but that’s just not an option.

As the headline says, it’s not a culture thing. It’s not the Lions saying “we won’t lose on purpose because we believe in ourselves and what we’re building.” They just won’t get much out of it.

The Lions are pretty much locked into their draft position in the 2026 NFL Draft right now

If the season ended today, the Lions would have the 17th pick. They’ve had this pick for about a month now. The only way they can really go is down, unless they win and keep winning. Trying to go up in the draft will be hard, even if they lose out. There will likely always be a good number of teams worse than them.

I ran a bunch of different experiments, and the highest I could get the Lions was the 14th pick, and to get them there, I had to do a bunch of things that will never happen. Like the Raiders beating the Texans, for example. In what world does that happen? The only way tanking works for the Lions is if the teams worse than them find ways to win games that they’re just not equipped to win.

So, tanking is not something the Lions want to do, and it’s not something they can benefit from. Moving a few spots up in the draft won’t make much of a difference. So either make the playoffs or wind up with the 17th pick. Those are the two most likely options for the Lions right now.

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