"Tanking" in the NFL

[Whatever]

(12-03-2023, 02:04 PM)Millhouse Wrote: It's also difficult to sit a vet or limit their playing time when there are incentives in their contracts. Imagine being told we need to play a younger guy to give him experience, but you probably won't hit that 'mark' to make an extra million or two. I'm going to assume that doesn't resonate well with players, and doesn't make it easier to bring in free agents either.

Players understand that this is a thing.  Joe Thomas once said in an interview "You can play to win now or you you can play to win later."

A lot of it is up to the coaches to balance the fine line.  You may encourage players to sit with injuries they would normally try to play through.  You may focus on reinforcing your basic plays and dial back on more exotic stuff.  

With players, you have to have some rational explanation as to why changes are being made.  For example, it's easy to explain Battle starting for Scott or Brown getting RB2 carries over Williams and Evans because the performance hasn't been there.  It's a lot more difficult to give Carman or Smith a shot at RT because Jonah is in a contract year and hasn't played badly.