Bad Blood, Good Games Promise to Make NFC East the NFL's Nastiest Division Again

A recent telling exchange demonstrated how the NFC East will be the NFL's most glorious reality show this fall.

Giants general manager Dave Gettleman attempted to justify his remarkably dumb decision to draft Duke quarterback Daniel Jones sixth overall by claiming two teams were ready to jump ahead of the Giants at No. 17 to take him. That forced the Giants to take him earlier than they desired.

"I know for a fact there are two teams that would've taken him in front of 17," Gettleman said. "I know that for a fact."

Except, he didn't know it for a fact. He couldn't have. Teams guard their draft boards like they are nuclear footballs.

Rather conveniently, leaks quickly spilled in the media about the identity of the two teams: the Broncos and Washington. But Washington wasn't going to have it. Team president Bruce Allen said Gettleman wasn't telling the truth. 

"We picked the player we wanted to pick," Allen told NFL Network's Lindsay Jones of quarterback Dwayne Haskins, who Washington selected at No. 15. "I'm almost positive Dave has no clue what our draft board would be. I don't know which draft boards he knows, but he doesn't know ours."

This wasn't just a snitty dust-up between a terrible front-office executive (Allen) and a clueless one (Gettleman). This was a sign of things to come in the NFC East.

Decades ago, the NFC East was the nastiest division in football. It produced numerous Hall of Famers, some of the best coaches in history (such as Joe Gibbs and Bill Parcells) and Super Bowl winners. Play on the field was a test of physical strength and stamina every week. And surrounding it all was a healthy hatred the teams had for one another every Sunday.

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It was the closest thing the NFL has ever had to a college conference, and all of the rivalries that exist within. When coaching the Eagles, the late Buddy Ryan was once accused of setting up a bounty system against the Cowboys.

The NFC East once epitomized what fans loved about the game—grace, skill and nastiness. But like the rest of the league, the healthy dislike the franchises had for each other has since dissipated.

Until now.

The NFC East is setting up to be giant again. No, not like it once was; those days are gone. But it could get close.

There will be some spectacular play, particularly in Dallas and Philadelphia. Stars like Dak Prescott, Ezekiel Elliott and Carson Wentz will need to carry the competitive-relevance flag for the division.

"Everything we were about was improving from where we were this year," Cowboys owner Jerry Jones told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram's Clarence E. Hill Jr. "There is no reason. There is no tangible reason we shouldn't be expected to be better than we were last year."

Hall of Fame Cowboy Emmitt Smith added that "all the pieces are in place" for a Super Bowl team. And he is correct.

The Eagles and Cowboys already battled for division supremacy last year, and it was glorious. Dallas won seven of its last eight games down the stretch. Two of those wins came over Philly, the most memorable of which was a 29-23 Dallas overtime victory that featured Amari Cooper scoring the Cowboys' final three touchdowns.

If all goes according to plan, we should see a lot more of that this fall: Dak-Wentz, two solid defenses, star offensive players and a return of the fire that once set the division apart. It's going to be good.

That brings us to the other reason the NFC East promises to be so fun—bad blood.

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Yes, Haskins was an excellent pick, but Washington is still lacking in talent. The Giants are even worse. Yet the draft set off sparks between the two teams that promise to color their on-field battles.

How motivated will Haskins be to stick it to the team that passed on him in the draft? How much will the Giants fight to honor all that Eli Manning has accomplished for the franchise? Will Manning even be in the huddle? (More than a few teams think it's a matter of when, not if, Manning gets benched for Jones.)

The games may be train wrecks, but the storylines and the drama should be enough to get us to tune in.

Welcome back, everyone, to the NFC East (almost) the way it should always be—a wonderful, beautiful, gorgeous mess of a reality show.

Just getcha popcorn ready and enjoy it.

Mike Freeman covers the NFL for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter: @mikefreemanNFL.