Category: NFL News

The New York Jets haven’t had much to brag about over the past 15 years, but they do finally have something to brag about now: The Jets officially hold the title of having the longest active playoff drought in North American professional sports. 

The Jets have gone 15 seasons without sniffing the playoffs. Going into the 2025 NFL season, they were tied with the Buffalo Sabres for the longest playoff drought in North American pro sports, but the Sabres clinched a playoff spot over the weekend, ending their drought at just 14 seasons, so the Jets now stand alone. 

When you think about it, it’s a drought that shouldn’t even be possible. The NFL thrives on parity: The league is literally designed to help the worst teams get better by giving them a higher pick in the draft, but the Jets have defied all the odds by NOT getting better. It’s almost impressive how long they’ve been able to stay bad. 

With the Jets now holding the title of the longest active postseason drought, now felt like a good time to take a look at the longest active playoff droughts in the NFL and then after we do that, we’re going to rank each team based on their chance of ending their drought this year. 

Over the past five seasons, 28 of the league’s 32 teams have made the playoffs at least once. So who are the four teams that have failed to make the postseason in that span? Let’s take a look: 

Longest active playoff droughts in NFL

Jets (15 seasons): Last playoff appearance came in 2010Falcons (Eight seasons): Last playoff appearance came in 2017Colts (Five seasons): Last playoff appearance came in 2020Saints (Five seasons): Last playoff appearance came in 2020

So will any of these droughts end this year? Let’s rank each team by their chances of getting it done. 

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Taylor Doll continues her Making Monsters’ NFL Draft series of podcasts with an interview with Tony Catalina, who covers Texas A&M for the Austin Statesman. They break down several Aggies prospects, including EDGE Cashius Howell, who has been linked to the Chicago Bears in some recent mock drafts. They also discuss wide receiver KC Concepcion, offensive tackle Trey Zuhn III, and others.

Howell (6’2.5”, 253) may not have the prototypical build for a Dennis Allen defensive end, but there’s no denying his ability to rush the passer.

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Catalina said that Howell’s first year after transferring from Bowling Green (2024), he was a situational pass rusher behind Nic Scourton (now with the Panthers) and Shemar Stewart (Bengals). “But this year, he [Howell] came in noticeably bigger. He came in noticeably stronger with a different type of attitude, different type of edge being the main guy with the most opportunities. I mean, he really never looked like a guy who came from the MAC, right?”

“Like playing at Bowling Green and then going to the SEC is just night and day as far as talent and effort. But, man, he really did explode on the scene.”

In 2025, Howell racked up 11.5 sacks, 14 tackles for loss, and 6 passes defended, while being named the SEC Defensive Player of the Year and a unanimous Consensus All-American.

Give Taylor’s show a listen in either of the embeds below, and let us know if you’d like any of the Aggies they discussed to end up in Chicago.

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Here’s Taylor’s full schedule for her NFL Draft…

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There has not been a running back chosen in the top five of the NFL Draft since the New York Giants took Saquon Barkley at No. 2 in 2018. But that drought – the longest in draft history without a top-five back — may well end in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft on April 23 from Pittsburgh, with the Tennessee Titans sitting at No. 4 and Notre Dame tailback Jeremiyah Love as the +145 favorite to be the choice there via DraftKings.

If you plan to bet on NFL Draft futures, check out the latest DraftKings promo code for the best offer.

We all know that running backs have been largely devalued in the NFL in recent years with more and more passing. The Raiders took Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty at No. 6 last year and he had a solid rookie year but didn’t get any Offensive Rookie of the Year votes or greatly help a terrible team in the grand scheme of things.

Teams have been able to find quality running backs in later rounds. Perhaps my Bears don’t win the NFC Central last year without the contributions from seventh-rounder Kyle Monangai out of Rutgers. Another seventh-rounder in Jacory Croskey-Merritt became the Commanders’ featured back. Perhaps as proof of tailbacks being devalued, one hasn’t won OROY since Barkley. The top finisher in voting last year was the Patriots’ Treveyon Henderson in third, and he was a third-round pick out of Ohio State.

The Titans, an NFL-worst 6-28 in the past two seasons, have been looking for a true No. 1 back ever since Derrick Henry left for Baltimore. They have a new head coach in defensive-minded Robert Saleh, and his offensive coordinator is former Giants head coach Brian Daboll. Tennessee already has its QB of the future in place in  Cam Ward, who was the No. 1 overall pick in 2025.

There is nowhere to go but up for the Tennessee offense after finishing 30th in points (16.7 PPG) and 31st in total yards per game (259.6). It marked the franchise’s worst scoring output since…

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Free agent offensive lineman Kenyon Green will work out for the Buccaneers on Thursday, Aaron Wilson of KPRC reports.

The Texans made Green a first-round pick in 2022.

Green, 25, started 14 games at left guard as a rookie but missed the 2023 season with a torn labrum in his shoulder. He started 12 games in 2024 before the Texans traded him to the Eagles in the 2025 offseason.

He spent time on the Eagles’ practice squad and later joined the Ravens’ practice squad but did not play last season.

Green has started 23 of 27 career games.

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Giants star defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence has requested a trade and will not participate in the team’s offseason workout program beginning Tuesday, per CBS Sports NFL insider Jonathan Jones.

Lawrence, 28, is entering the third year of a four-year, $90 million extension he signed in May 2023. At the time, the deal gave him the third-largest contract on a per-year basis ($22.5 million AAV) among interior defensive linemen, trailing only Aaron Donald and Jeffery Simmons. Now, however, that $22.5 million figure is tied for 11th at the position.

Lawrence’s extension followed a breakout 2022 campaign in which he recorded 7.5 sacks and earned second-team All-Pro honors. He repeated that recognition in 2023, and in 2024, he was again a Pro Bowler after posting career highs with nine sacks and eight tackles for loss.

In 2025, however, Lawrence managed just a half-sack despite playing all 17 games for the first time in his career. His 31 tackles were also a career low. He still ranked 11th among interior defensive linemen in Pro Football Focus grades, though it marked a significant drop-off from 2022-24, when he ranked second, first and third.

In October, former Giants star Carl Banks, now a team radio analyst, sharply criticized Lawrence, saying “nobody respects you anymore.” Lawrence fired back, noting how often he is double-teamed and calling Banks “delusional.”

Lawrence remains one of the game’s most disruptive interior forces, and his displeasure presents a notable early challenge for John Harbaugh in his first year with New York. On paper, the Giants have a talented defensive front, with Lawrence alongside Brian Burns (16.5 sacks, second-team All-Pro in 2025), 2025 first-round pick Abdul Carter and 2022 first-round pick Kayvon Thibodeaux. However, New York allowed a league-worst 5.3 yards per rush and finished 17th in sack rate in 2025. Harbaugh also brought in Dennard Wilson as the…

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