Roger Goodell Says He Doesn't Believe NFL Teams Intentionally Tank

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell doesn't believe the league has a problem with teams "tanking" for future draft position.

"I don't think any team tanks, I really don't," Goodell said Monday, per Rich Cimini of ESPN.

The discussion interestingly came at the New York Jets training camp, an organization that parted with several notable veterans from last season who were still contributing on the field.

After releasing starters Brandon Marshall, Eric Decker, Darrelle Revis, David Harris and others, even those still on the roster see signs of the organization's plans.

"It's hard to argue [with] that when everybody else sees all the stuff that's going on," receiver Quincy Enunwa previously said of the team tanking, per Zach Braziller of the New York Post.

However, Goodell believes this is just a normal part of rebuilding.

"I think teams, depending on where you are, go through transitions," Goodell said. "They are looking to sort of say, 'We need to build more talent here, we'll do it through the draft. Let's let some of our veteran players go and develop some of our younger players.'"

NFL teams certainly aren't quite as transparent about their intentions as, say, the NBA, where the Philadelphia 76ers openly tanked for top young players over the course of a few seasons. However, there is a clear benefit of finishing with the worst record in the NFL.

The Cleveland Browns added a potential game-changing player in Myles Garrett after finishing 1-15 last season. Recent No. 1 picks like Andrew Luck and Jameis Winston appear to be franchise quarterbacks who helped turn around organizations.

With a 2018 NFL draft class that is loaded with quarterback talent like Sam Darnold, Josh Allen and Josh Rosen, it would certainly benefit the Jets to end up with one of the first picks in the draft.