Bill Belichick Suggests NFL Draft Lottery Following NBA Model to Counter Tanking

Despite Bill Belichick's shift from the NFL to college football, the eight-time Super Bowl champion coach still has ideas on how to improve the NFL.

During his appearance on The Pat McAfee Show on Monday, Belichick proposed that the NFL should shift to a draft lottery system similar to the NBA's to prevent teams from tanking.

"I was never involved in (tanking) but I don't know what happens somewhere else. It's different than the NBA. The NBA kind of rectified that by having a lottery. So even if you're the worst team, you're not guaranteed the first pick," Belichick said (1:28:00 mark). "In the NFL, that's not quite the case. If you are the worst team, you do get the first pick."

The lottery system could potentially eliminate tanking in the NFL. Belichick's main point, per Awful Announcing's Ben Axelrod, was the benefits of preventing teams from having a direct path to the No. 1 pick, especially when college football draft classes feature clear No. 1 overall quarterback prospects.

"Personally, I don't think it would be a bad idea for the competitiveness of the sport to do something similar to what basketball does with those lottery picks," Belichick said. "Then we wouldn't be having this conversation — well we might be having it, but there'd be other circumstances besides just your record. There'd be actually a lottery part of it. But that's not a decision for me to make, that's just a suggestion."

The discussion followed the New York Giants' chaotic 45-33 victory over the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday and the potential impact it could have on the 2025 NFL Draft order. The New England Patriots, Belichick's former team, enter Week 18 as frontrunners to secure the No. 1 pick, per NBC Sports Justin Leger.