24. New Orleans Saints (5-9)
In a year marred by injuries, the New Orleans Saints have to blow this thing up. They made a horrific decision two offseasons ago to sign Derek Carr in free agency, and I have no idea what their purpose was in doing that. Carr has been in and out of the lineup all season, and the Saints can get out of his deal in 2025. It would make sense for them to do that and try to reset at QB.
They could roll with Spencer Rattler in 2025 or even try to make a huge move in the 2025 NFL Draft for a potential QB of the future. The Saints could also elect to part ways with long-time GM Mickey Loomis, who has kicked the salary cap-can down the road for years now. He's had some awful roster-building over the years, so a full-scale reset is needed.
The Saints are in Lambeau Field in Week 16 to play the Green Bay Packers, and I am not sure the Saints are even going to reach double-digit points in this game. If you are a Saints' fan, maybe cleaning the house would be a better usage of your time than watching this game.
23. Carolina Panthers (4-11)
How about the Carolina Panthers? This team just stays in games, and here in Week 16, they were able to earn an overtime victory over the Arizona Cardinals, who saw their playoff chances come to an end. It's just baffling that the Cardinals collapsed like they did. Anyway, with the win, the Panthers have now doubled their win total from 2023, earning their fourth victory of the season.
They were not going to go anywhere this year, but the Bryce Young benching several weeks ago really seems to have helped him out a lot, and there is a good bit to like about Young and this offense heading into the 2025 NFL Season. And while Young may not develop into a high-end QB in the NFL, it's clear that Carolina does have something substantive to latch onto heading into the offseason.
It's not like they haven't seen growth from Young; they have, and perhaps a second year playing in Dave Canales' offense coupled with some more additions at WR and TE could help make the Panthers a fun team in 2025. There does now seem to be some hope for Panthers fans, but they are still quite low in our latest NFL power rankings.