10 NFL teams doomed to be worse in 2016

Not every team in the NFL will be as good as it was the year before. Here are 10 NFL teams doomed to be worse during the 2016 NFL season.

The NFL has had great parity over the years, rewarding teams with poor seasons with high draft picks to help establish competitive balance. Still, the elite franchises tend to be the ones that are well run, while the bottom-dwellers typically succumb to all manner of mismanagement. And even when a few teams seem on the rise, that can’t happen without others falling in their place.

With teams like the Oakland Raiders, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Tennessee Titans all looking to improve on somewhat disappointing campaigns a season ago, there are a handful of clubs that are almost certain to take more than a few steps backwards in 2016.

Some of these teams on the fall will be worse because of their inability to keep key rotational players in free agency, essentially crippling their once dominating depth. Others will have to deal with the retirement of marquee players or stark regressions in a former All-Pro’s level of play. Still others will start to see cracks in the foundation of what was once a tight group now struggling with new ingredients in an ever-changing locker room.

Here, then, are 10 NFL teams that are essentially guaranteed to have worse seasons in 2016 than they did a year ago.

Next: 10. Seattle Seahawks.