6 Teams with the Worst Outlook for the 2024 NFL Draft
Some teams have positioned themselves for a franchise-altering NFL draft in the 2024 offseason. Then there are others that aren't in the best position to move the needle with their crop of picks.
Draft picks are among the most valuable resources when it comes to building a roster. The ability to add young, talented players on team-friendly rookie deals is a key component, but they can also be used to bring in veterans who can push a group to the next level.
Some teams are bound to pay up for aggressive moves they have made that leaves them without a bounty of picks in this year's draft.
Then there are others who have a desperate need to address but aren't in a good position to take the top prospects in their current draft slot.
Here, we'll take a look at six teams that don't have a lot of draft capital, find themselves in a disadvantageous draft slot to address a pivotal need or a combination of both.
The teams are listed in alphabetical order, but they all have a disappointing outlook when it comes to one of the landmark events of the offseason.
Carolina Panthers
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The Carolina Panthers paid a hefty price to trade up for Bryce Young in last year's draft, and it only looks more expensive after the 2023 season.
Just a reminder, here are the parameters of that trade:
Bears Receive: WR D.J. Moore, No. 9 and No. 61 picks in 2023, first-round pick in 2024 (No. 1 overall), 2025 second-round pick
Panthers Receive: No. 1 pick in 2023 (QB Bryce Young)
One year later, the Panthers are coming off a 2-15 season with a rookie quarterback who ranked 29th in Total QBR and threw for 11 touchdowns to 10 interceptions in 16 games.
There's no denying this trade doesn't look good for Carolina in retrospect. It isn't just because C.J. Stroud had a much better season than Young, it's still too early to know how they will stack up.
The real problem is that the Panthers have a lot of needs to get a true sense of what their quarterback can do. The offensive line and receiving corps were both inadequate last season.
The 2024 draft is full of receivers and offensive-line help. The latest big board from the Bleacher Report Scouting Department features six wide receivers and 10 offensive linemen in the top 32.
However, the Panthers aren't scheduled to be on the clock until the No. 33 pick, and they don't have much ammunition to move up the board with just six total selections.
Cleveland Browns
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The Cleveland Browns are bordering on Les Snead's infamous "forget them picks" territory with their 2024 draft capital. They are last in the league in Tankathon's draft power rankings with only two picks in the top 100 and six selections in total.
Three of those six picks are in the sixth and seventh rounds.
Cleveland is still paying a hefty price to bring in Deshaun Watson. The former Houston Texans quarterback has yet to pay off, but the Browns have clearly built a roster capable of contending for a Super Bowl if the signal-caller can find his old form. Their first- and fourth-round picks belong to the Texans.
They also traded away picks in this year's draft for Za'Darius Smith and Deion Jones.
Draft picks are going to be a valuable resource for Cleveland moving forward. The cap continues to rise, but so do Watson's cap hits. It will likely continue to utilize restructures every season, but it still pushes money into future years.
The Browns have some work to do to get under the cap for 2024. As it stands, they are $20.6 million over it, per Spotrac.
General manager Andrew Berry has made aggressive moves to get the Browns to where they are. It's minimized the impact they can really make in building their roster through the draft this year.
Denver Broncos
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The Denver Broncos are no longer paying for the Russell Wilson trade and still have a gloomy outlook when it comes to the draft.
It starts with the fact that they weren't quite bad enough to land a top-10 pick. They're slated to pick 12th, but they have a need at quarterback which could complicate matters. They are expected to release Wilson on March 17, which will open up a need at the position.
However, multiple QB-needy teams will be drafting ahead of them. The Bears and Commanders are likely to draft Caleb Williams and Drake Maye in some order. That would leave the Patriots, Falcons and Vikings as candidates to take a signal-caller before Denver gets on the clock.
Add in the Raiders as a competitor to trade up for one, and the Broncos need a lot of things to fall into place for them to land someone like Jayden Daniels, who is the third quarterback on our big board.
The Broncos don't have a great draft haul in terms of pick volume, either. They traded away their second-round pick for Sean Payton and only have multiple picks in the fifth round where they hold the 143rd and 145th picks.
Denver is another team that could use more picks to help with its cap situation. It is $25.7 million over the cap and that's before it releases Wilson and inevitably takes on a major dead cap charge.
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Las Vegas Raiders
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The Las Vegas Raiders' overall draft haul doesn't look bad at first glance. They have nine total picks and aren't sitting out any of the seven rounds.
Even with three of those nine picks coming in the seventh round, they have decent draft capital.
The primary issue for Las Vegas comes from the fact that it desperately needs a new quarterback and it's in a terrible position to get one. As with the Broncos situation, multiple teams could be targeting QBs beyond the first two in the top 10.
The Patriots, Falcons, Vikings and Broncos could all be looking for new signal-callers and all pick ahead of the Raiders at No. 13.
Our scouting department only has three quarterbacks ranked inside of the top-32 prospects, but J.J. McCarthy, Michael Penix Jr. and Bo Nix could make their way into the first-round conversation based on positional scarcity.
The Raiders are a team with a lot of answers at important positions. They finished the season 8-9 despite a terrible start under Josh McDaniels, who was replaced by Antonio Pierce who did well enough to earn the full-time job.
If you could find a quarterback with higher upside than Aidan O'Connell, you'd feel good about what Vegas can do.
Unfortunately, the Raiders' draft position means they are going to have to make a potentially reckless trade to move up or talk themselves into a less-than-conventional first-round quarterback prospect with their pick.
Miami Dolphins
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Trading back from the 21st pick should be a strong consideration for the Miami Dolphins. They are one of the teams that could benefit most from having rookie contracts on the books but are pretty light on selections.
The Dolphins rank 31st in Tankathon's draft power rankings in part because they don't have a third- or fourth-rounder.
They were stripped of a first-round pick in 2023 and their third-round pick in 2024 after violating the NFL's rules on tampering.
Their fourth-rounder was used as part of the trade to acquire Bradley Chubb. The star edge-rusher ended up missing the final two games of the season, including the playoff game against the Chiefs because of a torn ACL.
If Miami doesn't trade back to add another pick, it will have to wait 101 picks between its second and third selections.
It's not an ideal scenario for a team that is 30th in cap space, according to Spotrac. It is $51.2 million over the cap on the books right now.
New York Jets
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The New York Jets don't have it all bad. They have the No. 10 overall pick, but it puts them in a bad position to address their biggest need and they only have one other selection (No. 72 overall) in the top 100.
What they need more than anything is a left tackle they can feel good about inserting into their lineup on Day 1. Even if Aaron Rodgers had stayed healthy, it would have been hard for anyone to have success behind the Jets offensive line.
This draft has two left tackles who profile as easy Day 1 starters. Joe Alt and Olumuyiwa Fashanu are fifth and sixth, respectively, on our big board. It's a strong class for tackles in general, but there's a drop-off after those two.
JC Latham is next on our big board (No. 13 overall), but our latest mock draft has the Jets making the bet on Amarius Mims (No. 23 overall) with the 10th pick. Mims is a high-upside pick, but he was only a one-year starter at Georgia who had to have tightrope surgery on his ankle and only played seven games.
The Jets don't have to take a left tackle. They really have a need at both tackle spots, but it would be ideal to find an answer for the blindside if they are going to spend a premium pick.
They'll miss the second-rounder they gave up in the Rodgers trade too. They need a receiver to complement Garrett Wilson, and there should be plenty of quality ones who come off the board from where they would have picked in the second round to when they get back on the clock at No. 72.
Visit B/R's NFL Scouting Department hub for scouting reports on all of the top prospects.
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