8 NFL Players on Bad Teams with the Most on the Line to Close 2023 Season
In this season's parity-drenched NFL, few teams can count themselves out of contention in the middle of November.
However, a quarter of the league is 3-6 or worse right now. Those eight teams are probably done for this year, but that doesn't mean they don't have players who are super-incentivized to perform down the stretch.
Here's one standout example from each squad.
Arizona Cardinals (2-8): WR Marquise Brown
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Marquise Brown went over 1,000 yards two years ago with the Baltimore Ravens before being traded to the Arizona Cardinals.
Since then, though, he's failed to build on a promising third season and become the star many hoped to see when he was a first-round pick in 2019.
Now in the $13.4 million option year to wrap up his rookie contract, the 26-year-old is facing a make-or-break scenario ahead of his first experience as a free agent.
The good news is he's getting veteran quarterback Kyler Murray back from injury and there's still a decent chance he makes a run at 1,000 yards (he has 468 and four touchdowns through 10 games).
The bad news is he's been held to fewer than 50 yards in five consecutive outings, he's averaging a career-low 5.8 yards per target and is on pace to drop half a dozen or more passes for the third time in his five-year career.
It's now or never for Hollywood.
Carolina Panthers (1-8): Edge Brian Burns
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Like Brown, Brian Burns is a 2019 first-round pick slated to hit free agency at the conclusion of his option year this season.
And while the Carolina Panthers edge defender has a stronger resume in general than Brown and many others in his situation, he's recorded just three sacks since the season opener in Atlanta and his numbers are projected to decline in what's been a trying season for the team.
He's by no means flirting with bust status. Heck, the 25-year-old is already a two-time Pro Bowler. But this hasn't been a statement season for a player tipped to become a superstar before the completion of his entry-level deal.
Unfortunately, Burns has been dealing with injuries for much of the year and missed Week 10 due to a concussion. But he is on track to return soon and will have to get back on his A game or risk losing out on big bucks in Carolina or elsewhere in the 2024 offseason.
Chicago Bears (3-7): QB Justin Fields
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The three quarterbacks on this list are no-brainers, starting with Justin Fields in what's been a frustrating third season under center for the talented but arm-challenged 2021 first-round pick of the Chicago Bears.
The 24-year-old is still under contract through 2024, but the Bears have to decide whether to exercise his guaranteed fifth-year option this upcoming offseason. The team holds two potentially prime first-round picks for April's NFL draft and might decide to bail on the Ohio State product if he can't show some significant signs of progress for the rest of the season.
Fields' cause is not being helped by the fact that he hasn't played in over a month. But even prior to suffering a thumb injury, his QBR had plummeted from 56.3 in 2022 to 39.1 this year.
His rate-based passing numbers were up slightly for the second consecutive year, but the Bears still had one of the league's worst offenses and won just one of his six starts to kick off the year.
Fields appears set to return when the Bears visit Detroit on Sunday. Progress there and at Minnesota the following week would set the tone for a potentially strong post-bye run from Weeks 14-18.
We'll see if that happens and whether it's enough to save Fields' starting job.
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Green Bay Packers (3-7): QB Jordan Love
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The last two regular starting quarterbacks for the Green Bay Packers spent more than a quarter century combined in the role, but Jordan Love is at risk of going one-and-done as their go-to signal-caller.
Expectations are always high in Green Bay, but the 25-year-old just isn't getting it done. The 2020 first-round pick ranks dead-last among qualified passers with a completion rate of 58.7 percent for a Packers team that is out of contention with seven losses.
The trajectory ain't great, either. Love had a 118.7 passer rating in his first two games but just 72.5 with 10 interceptions and eight touchdown throws since.
Yes, the Packers have him locked up through 2024 and there's little to gain financially by moving on before them. But if the Utah State product can't show something more in the next eight weeks, the team will likely pursue stiff competition for him in the offseason.
Los Angeles Rams (3-6): WR Tutu Atwell
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The breakout for third-year Los Angeles Rams receiver Tutu Atwell looked like it might have been coming when he caught six passes for 119 yards in the season opener. Since then, though, his numbers have gradually declined.
The 24-year-old averaged 50.3 yards per game in the next three weeks, but that has dropped to 20.8 in the last five weeks. Cooper Kupp's return to the lineup was a big factor, but it's also discouraging that Atwell's per-target production has been generally woeful.
The Louisville product also has another year remaining on his rookie contract, but without an uptick in production and efficiency between now and the end of his third season, you wonder if the Rams might look elsewhere for a third option in the receiving corps.
Things have to change quickly, because Atwell somehow produced just 13 yards on seven targets in the Week 9 loss to the Packers.
New England Patriots (2-8): QB Mac Jones
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The last of the three disappointing recent first-round picks at quarterback is Mac Jones, who appears to be running out of opportunities with the New England Patriots.
The 25-year-old's rate-based numbers have declined for a second consecutive season following a decent rookie campaign, and head coach Bill Belichick won't commit to keeping him in the starting role following the team's Week 11 bye.
It's hard to fault him for that considering Jones has a 76.1 passer rating in three consecutive Pats losses, with the team scoring just 13.3 points per outing during that stretch. The support might not be through the roof, but it's not so weak that this should be the AFC's lowest-scoring offense.
At this point, it's hard to imagine the Alabama product can do much to salvage his fifth-year option, but there's a chance he'll still have a shot to remain in the mix for 2024.
New York Giants (2-8): S Xavier McKinney
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We wrap this up with a pair of defensive backs selected in the second round of the 2020 NFL draft who are trying to cash in on second contracts this offseason but haven't exactly blown away potential suitors up to this point.
First, there's New York Giants safety Xavier McKinney, who had trouble staying on the field in two of his first three NFL campaigns and has now gone 25 consecutive games without an interception after picking off five passes in a six-game span as a sophomore in 2021.
The 24-year-old has been a tackle machine the last couple weeks, and his PFF grades are solid altogether, but he doesn't make enough impact plays and his injury history is a concern.
It's imperative McKinney remains on the field and makes a standout play or two between now and early January, or he could be left fighting for another half-decent shot somewhere else in the spring.
Tennessee Titans (3-6): CB Kristian Fulton
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The other DB is Kristian Fulton, who seemed to come into his own as a sophomore and third-year cornerback with the Tennessee Titans in 2021 and 2022, but he has struggled mightily in coverage at the worst possible time as his rookie deal expires in 2023.
The 25-year-old has been beat on more than 70 percent of the passes thrown into his coverage and has surrendered an opposing passer rating of 104.9. He's also been held without an interception in nine outings.
The LSU product has also had his struggles with injuries, so the overall picture is cloudy as the Titans embark on a home stretch that will decide the fate of plenty of starters beyond this season.
Fulton's career could easily still go either way, but the next couple months will be telling.
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