3 NFL Teams That Should Blow it Up For a Dolphins-Style Rebuild

Prior to last season, the Miami Dolphins had the realization that the team as currently constructed had no way of being competitive in the near future. Not to say they were completely void of talent, but a few good pieces and a whole lot of bad ones is not a way to win football games. Thus, they made the conscious decision to turn those few good players into a pile of assets, amassing a handful of first round picks over the next couple of years from various teams.

While it's not what you want to hear, there are a few teams in a similar situation to the Dolphins one year ago. And it might serve them best to take the same route as Miami ahead of the 2020 season.

Let's take a look at three teams that should strongly consider blowing it up prior to the 2020 season and embrace the full rebuild.

1. Detroit Lions

While this is not what Matthew Stafford (entering his twilight years) or head coach Matt Patricia (on the hot seat) wants to hear, it might be the best for Detroit. Without much to hang their hat on roster-wise, the Lions could still get some solid return on players like Stafford, cornerback Darius Slay (who is already rumored to be on the trade block) and wide receivers Marvin Jones and Kenny Golladay. The Lions already have the No. 3 pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, and this would arm them with plenty of cap space and draft capital to make things a quick turnaround in the Motor City.

2. Atlanta Falcons

It seems like only yesterday the Atlanta Falcons were in the Super Bowl. However, since that appearance, the team has endured back-to-back disappointing seasons. Sure, Matt Ryan is still a top-10 quarterback when healthy and Julio Jones is arguably the best wide receiver in the NFL, but that simply hasn't translated into much winning of late. Both players could still return one or multiple first-round picks in a trade. Atlanta has little cap space to improve an already struggling team (projected $4.3 million, No. 30 in the NFL) and doesn't pick until No. 16 in the 2020 NFL Draft. Falcons' fans and staff surely want to make another couple of runs at a title with Ryan and Jones leading the way, but they simply might not have the resources to surround them with enough talent to do that.

3. Carolina Panthers

Christian McCaffrey was a beast in 2019, and was clearly the best running back in the NFL. However, he might be the lone bright spot on this Panthers team. Carolina just hired Matt Rhule as their head coach, giving him a massive seven-year deal, so the organization seems to understand that turning this team into a contender could be a long process. Quarterback Cam Newton's future with the franchise is already questionable, at best, and McCaffrey will be in line for a massive extension soon. After losing star linebacker Luke Kuechly to retirement earlier this offseason and having a number of notable contributors possibly being lost to free agency, Carolina has the chance to start all over and let Rhule rule all (pun intended), even if that means trading Christian McCaffrey. He would fetch a massive haul and could set them up with assets galore moving forward.

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David Kaestle is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, David also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username davekaestle. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.