NFL

NFL’s longest playoff droughts that could end this year, plus a new season of Netflix’s best NFL show is here

by
SaC Bot
July 8, 2025

Welcome to the Tuesday edition of the Pick Six newsletter!

If I sound tired, it’s because I stayed up all night trying to watch every episode of “Quarterback.” The second season of the Netflix NFL series was released at 3 a.m. ET, and yes, I have already written a long email to Netflix asking them to stop releasing shows at 3 a.m. ET.

Anyway, we’ll be taking a closer look at the new season of “Quarterback” in this newsletter, plus we’ll be ranking the six teams with the longest playoff drought based on who has the best chance of ending their drought this year.

As always, here’s your daily reminder to tell all your friends to sign up for the newsletter. To get them signed up, all you have to do is click here.

1. The NFL’s longest playoff droughts and which one has the best chance of ending this year

The NFL is known for its parity, and for most teams, that parity has worked. Over the past four years, 26 of the league’s 32 teams have made the playoffs at least once. That means there are exactly six teams that haven’t made the playoffs a single time since the NFL expanded to 17 games in 2021. Those six teams are the Jets, Falcons, Panthers, Bears, Colts and Saints.

Garrett Podell decided to rank those six teams based on who has the best chance of ending their drought this year. Let’s take a look at the top three teams on his list:

1. Falcons (Last playoff appearance: 2017). “The Falcons could take a big leap forward with 2024 eighth overall pick Michael Penix Jr. starting out 2025 as their quarterback instead of the aging Kirk Cousins.”

2. Bears (Last playoff appearance: 2020). “The Bears might be the NFL’s most-improved team this offseason. … If Ben Johnson can get Caleb Williams to trust his playmakers and get the ball out of his hands quicker — his average time to throw of 3.13 seconds was the fourth longest in the NFL last season — perhaps Chicago can return to the playoffs. It will be tough with the NFC North division sending three teams to the playoffs last season in the Lions, Vikings and Packers.”

3. Colts (Last playoff appearance: 2020). “Even though the Houston Texans have won the AFC South the last two years, the Colts have been right behind them in second place. …. Indianapolis’ offense is loaded with playmakers from former NFL rushing champion Jonathan Taylor to wide receiver Alec Pierce (the 2024 NFL yards per reception leader) to wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr. to first-round tight end Tyler Warren and more. It just needs consistency at the quarterback position.”

If you want to see Podell’s full ranking, you can check it out here.

2. Ranking rookie running backs by who will be the most productive

It was a big year for running backs in the NFL Draft with four of them getting taken in the top 40, marking the first time since 2018 that we’ve seen that happen. With so many running backs being selected at the top of the draft, there’s a good chance we could see of them have a huge impact this year.

With that in mind, Chris Trapasso decided to rank the rookie running backs based on who will be the most productive, and the name at the top of the list likely won’t surprise you.

1. Ashton Jeanty, Raiders (Round 1, sixth overall pick). “You’ve read all about Jeanty’s skills — he’s fast, rugged, and runs with tremendous power through contact. I don’t think enough is being made about his offensive coordinator, Chip Kelly, who is a madman in the run game. … The uber-talented Jeanty is going to be a focal point of the Raiders completely revamped offense in 2025, en route to finishing as the most productive rookie runner in the NFL.”

2. TreVeyon Henderson, Patriots (Round 2, 38th overall pick). “Henderson is a modern-day back coaches dream about, because of his three-down flexibility. He’s a rock in pass protection, runs hard with plus cutting skill between the tackles and, his speciality, generating huge plays as a receiver out of the backfield. … Everything about his game indicates the rookie is ready to produce like a veteran instantly in the NFL.”

3. R.J. Harvey, Broncos (Round 2, 60th overall pick). “At 5-8 and 205 pounds, he’s thick yet explosive — as evidenced by his 4.40-second time in the 40-yard dash and 38-inch vertical at the combine. The Broncos have Jaleel McLaughlin who plays with a similar style to Harvey, but the Broncos spent a top-60 pick on the former UCF back, and he’s more naturally talented. I expect Harvey to serve as Denver’s full-time feature back by November at the latest.”

You can check out Trapasso’s full ranking here.

3. Ranking NFL uniforms and throwback helmets

There will be a total 15 teams unveiling a new alternate uniform over the next month, and that run is going to start Wednesday when the Commanders and Saints become the first two teams this year to come out with a new alternate uniform.

Before the new ones get here, we thought we would rank the current alternate/throwback uniforms, so that’s what Jeff Kerr did. Here are the top three alternates on his list:

1. Dolphins‘ throwback uniform. “The best throwback uniforms in the NFL belong to the Dolphins. Miami’s classic uniforms date to their AFL days, the jerseys worn for the 1972 perfect season. The home aqua uniforms were top notch, but the white road uniforms are even better.”

2. Eagles Kelly green uniform. “Philadelphia wears the “Kelly Green” uniforms twice a season and could go back to that color if the Eagles ever design new uniforms. This throwback is one of the best in the league.”

3. Broncos’ orange crush throwback. “The ‘orange crush’ uniforms are one of the best in football, starting with the classic blue helmet and ending with the striped socks. These uniforms were a staple of the Broncos for decades before they were discontinued in the 1997 season for navy blue and orange.”

Jeff ranked a total of 21 alternate uniforms, and you can see his full list here.

4. ‘Quarterback’ returns to Netflix: Season 2 debuts with Joe Burrow, Kirk Cousins and Jared Goff

After taking a one-year hiatus, one of Netflix’s best NFL shows is back: The second season of “Quarterback” is available to watch starting Tuesday. The show follows three quarterbacks around over the course of a full NFL season. This year’s show features Joe Burrow, Kirk Cousins and Jared Goff, who were each followed by a camera crew over the course of the 2024 season.

The show should be fascinating because all three guys will be bringing a unique angle to the table:

Kirk Cousins. During the first episode of the show, Cousins admitted he probably wouldn’t have signed with the Falcons if he had known they were going to draft Michael Penix Jr. in the first round last year. “If I had the information around free agency, it certainly would’ve affected my decision,” Cousins said. “I had no reason to leave Minnesota with how much we loved it there if both teams are going to be drafting a quarterback high. In a later episode, Cousins also reacted to being benched for Penix.
Joe Burrow. It’s somewhat surprising that Burrow agreed to do this, because he’s notoriously private. The Bengals QB was dealing with multiple issues in 2024, including the fact that his house got robbed. After the robbery, which took place in December, Burrow said he considered moving. “We’ll see if I end up moving or not,” Burrow said on the show. “Now the whole world knows where I live now. But that hasn’t been very fun to deal with.” The Bengals QB also revealed that he ended NOT buying a Batmobile due to the robbery. “I didn’t end up getting the Batmobile because I just had other things I wanted to deal with at that point,” Burrow said.
Jared Goff. During the series, the Lions quarterback spent some time talking about what it’s like to go from unwanted with the Rams to being a star in Detroit. “It kind of brought me from this moment of picking up the pieces to being reinvigorated with this energy, like, ‘Oh, this is what it feels like to truly be wanted and have the guys behind you. I hadn’t felt that in some time,” Goff said.

All eight episodes of “Quarterback” were released Tuesday and they’re currently available on Netflix. The show first debuted back in 2023 with Patrick Mahomes, Kirk Cousins and Marcus Mariota. In 2024, Netflix had to call an audible because they couldn’t find any quarterbacks who wanted to participate, so they ended up doing the show on receivers last year.

5. Asante Samuel Jr. is still a free agent: Top landing spots for the former Chargers cornerback

When free agency started in March, Asante Samuel Jr. was viewed as one of the top cornerbacks available. (He actually ranked as the 46th-best free agent in Pete Prisco’s top 100.). With NFL training camps right around the corner, Samuel is still unsigned, but that’s not a huge surprise. The former Chargers corner underwent neck surgery in April, and teams are likely waiting to make sure he has a clean bill of health before showing any serious interest.

Once Samuel is cleared, there will likely be several teams interested, so Tyler Sullivan decided to take a look at a few possible landing spots.

Cardinals. “Arizona has used second-round picks in each of the past two NFL Drafts to bring in corners. Max Melton came to town in 2024 but started just three games as a rookie. Meanwhile, the Cardinals drafted Will Johnson in the second round this past spring out of Michigan. At just 25 years old at the start of this season, Samuel Jr. would still bring youth to the position group, but also some much-needed starting experience as well.”
Vikings. “The Vikings surrendered 239.8 passing yards per game last season, which was the fourth highest in the league. This offseason, they saw the secondary take a hit with the departures of cornerback Stephon Gilmore (15 starts in 2024) along with safety Camryn Bynum in free agency. … Bringing Samuel in would give the Vikings another opportunity to hit on a low-cost veteran free agent who helps maintain Brian Flores’ defense as one of the top in the NFL.”
Raiders. “The secondary has the potential to be an Achilles’ heel for the Raiders this season. Third-round rookie Darien Porter could factor into one of the starting spots on the boundary, but there’s not much promise beyond that. … Adding Samuel Jr. would give the Raiders another dice roll as they look for stability in the secondary. And they’ll need it playing in an AFC West division that consists of Patrick Mahomes, Justin Herbert and Bo Nix.”

One team Samuel likely won’t be signing with is the Dolphins and that’s because his dad — former NFL corner Asante Samuel Sr. — ripped the franchise during a recent podcast. If you want to know what the elder Samuel had to say, we’ve got the details here, along with the rest of the younger Samuel’s landing spots.

6. Extra points: Patrick Mahomes has been getting advice from a rival

It’s not the busiest time in the NFL, but there’s still a lot happening, so I went ahead and put together a small roundup for you.

Patrick Mahomes has been talking to Tom Brady. The Chiefs QB says he has been talking to Brady a “Good amount” this offseason. “I’ve actually talked to Tom a good amount this offseason. It’s cool that he wants to give me advice. He doesn’t have to be like that. He’s such a good dude.” It’s no surprise that Mahomes is taking advice from a seven-time Super Bowl winner, but it is somewhat surprising that he’s talking so much with the owner of a rival AFC West team (Brady is a partial owner of the Raiders). You can check out Mahomes’ full comments on Brady here.
Kansas still trying to woo the Chiefs. The state of Kansas has not given up on stealing the Chiefs from Missouri. Kansas has offered to pay up to 70% of the cost of a new stadium if the Chiefs are willing to relocate. The offer was supposed to expire on June 30, but it has now been extended one year. The Chiefs want to stay at Arrowhead, but if they can’t get any financial help to upgrade the stadium or build a new one, they may eventually consider the offer from Kansas.
Former Cowboys tight end dies. Pettis Norman, who spent 11 seasons in the NFL, including nine with the Cowboys, passed away this week at the age of 86. One interesting note about Norman is that he served in the Texas Army National Guard during his first seven NFL seasons. He led a fascinating life that you can read about here.
Chase Claypool plotting NFL comeback. After spending the 2024 season out of the NFL, the former Steelers‘ second-round pick is aiming to make a return this year. “I am back to being the strongest and fastest I’ve ever been,” Claypool wrote on social media. “And couldn’t be more excited to step back out on the field and let my actions speak for themselves.” You can check out more on Claypool here.