5 NFL franchises in disarray we can be thankful aren't the Lions (anymore)

For the better part of six decades, since their last championship in 1957, the Detroit Lions were a picture of disarray in parallel with dysfunction. Two future Hall of Famers (Barry Sanders and Calvin Johnson) retired early with gas left in the tank as the rampant losing became too much.

Sheila Ford Hamp became the Lions' principal owner in the summer of 2020, and she went about changing what was wrong.

The first big move was to fire head coach Matt Patricia and general manager Bob Quinn, after an ugly Thanksgiving Day loss to the Houston Texans. Then former Lions linebacker Chris Spielman was brought back to the organization in a multi-faceted advisory role. Spielman played a role in the hiring of general manager Brad Holmes, then came the hiring of head coach Dan Campbell.

So the Lions are no longer a poster boy for an NFL organization in disarray/dysfunction. For once, and probably for the foreseeable future, Lions fans can look at other organizations and be glad their team is not in that constant cycle of disarray and dysfunction.

Here are five franchises we can be thankful are not the Lions-not anymore.

5 NFL franchises in disarray we should be thankful aren't the Lions (anymore)

5. Jacksonville Jaguars

For some reason, the 2-9 Jaguars did not fire head coach Doug Pederson during their Week 12 bye. That's probably due to lack of suitable interim head coach options more than anything.

The Jaguars aren't in quite as much disarray as some others on this list. In a vacuum, a new general manager (likely) and head coach (all but a lock) will come into a situation that can be turned around quickly, with some young talent and a high draft pick in April. But owner Shad Khan has not hired well lately, so there's no guarantee he gets the new general manager hire right and that new lead executive hires the right head coach (trying to poach from the Lions might be a good idea though).

It seems like a lot longer ago than the 2017 season that the Jaguars reached the AFC Championship Game. A few AFC South titles have happened since, but that's nothing to write home about. The Lions got a close look at this year's Jaguars before they went to their bye, and they are surely thankful to not be in anywhere close to a similar place.

4. Cleveland Browns

The Browns, for some reason, gave Deshaun Watson a massive fully guaranteed contract after off the field issues cost him the entire 2021 season. Much to the chagrin of every other team in the league, by the way, even if that contract has since been ignored as a setter of the market value for quarterbacks.

To the surprise of pretty much no one, the Browns have not gotten much of any return on that bloated investment. Watson has made just 19 starts over the last three seasons due to injuries over the last three seasons, and his 2024 campaign is over due to a torn Achilles he suffered in Week 7. When he has been on the field, Watson has been one of the worst quarterbacks in the league by basically every measure.

What's more, the structure of his contract says the Browns are stuck with Watson for the duration of it (through 2026). And his status for the start of the 2025 season is naturally in doubt, and his availability at any point during next season is some level of a question mark.

The Browns tend to do dysfunctional things in general, so they may be on this list without the bad move to acquire and commit big money to Watson. But that move has turned out badly, so it gets the spotlight here.

3. Las Vegas Raiders

Poor Mark Davis. It seems like he tries so hard to be a good owner, but he just can't quite get it right. The Raiders are still (theoretically) a marquee NFL franchise, now calling Las Vegas home, they just don't have the wins to back it up. Maybe having Tom Brady as a minority owner can help fix things, but how much influence will he truly have? It could be a lot, but it's hard to say right now.

Some might say the NFL is better when the Raiders are good, with the franchise's ties to some of the game's iconic figures. Maybe we'll find out soon, again, what that looks like on a consistent basis. But there's a long way to go, and the path will not be easy. The Raiders are a poster boy for some level of disarray until further notice.

2. New York Giants

The choice to give quarterback Daniel Jones a long-term contract over running back Saquon Barkley was bound to turn out badly, and boy has it. Barkley looks revitalized this year with the division rival Philadelphia Eagles. Jones was benched so they could avoid triggering a big-money injury guarantee, then he unsurprisingly asked to be released.

In deference to having not shown enough patience with previous head coaching change a lot in recent years, owner John Mara gave dreaded votes of confidence to general manager Joe Schein and head coach Brian Daboll last month. But that was a few losses ago, and players are actively calling out coaches and the effort of other players after their 30-7 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 12.

The Giants are a bleep-show right now, and they have been to some level since they last won a Super Bowl. But they aren't No. 1 on this list, or even the biggest bleep-show that plays in their home stadium.

1. New York Jets

The Jets sold their soul to Aaron Rodgers when they traded for him, committing themselves to his whims and wants for as long as he was going to be their quarterback. It was easy to see how it might go bad, because it's the Jets and dysfunctional franchises do dysfunctional things, but bad and in disarray to this level was hard to comfortably foresee.

Rodgers suffered a torn Achilles a few snaps into his Jets' debut last season, and this year he has mostly looked like a hollowed-out shell of what he once was as a quarterback (as an almost 41-year old quarterback coming off a major injury might). Head coach Robert Saleh was fired after a 2-3 start to the season, and they're 1-5 with a markedly worse defense under interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich as they come off their Week 12 bye. As the bye week got going, general manager Joe Douglas was fired too.

There have all kinds of reports and rumors regarding Rodgers' future, what the Jets wanted to or are going to do with him (shut him down to a myriad of injuries? did owner Woody Johnson want to bench him?) and if he wants to play in 2025/if he wants to play for the Jets if he does. He took a run at shutting down all that stuff during his Tuesday appearance on "The Pat McAfee Show", calling out the reports and saying he's not sure about next year, but if he does play the Jets are his top option.

All in all, the Jets have gotten what they asked for when they courted and acquired Rodgers. He's not the only problem for a franchise that has the longest active playoff drought in the NFL, he's just been an extra tentacle of headaches and an easy way to put a new spotlight on the dysfunction that has existed for a lot of Johnson's tenure as owner.