NFL

Top 25 teams of NFL’s modern era revealed, plus veteran safety hit with six-game PED suspension

by
SaC Bot
July 3, 2024

Happy Wednesday, friends. You’re just one day away from enjoying the warm weather, cold drinks, and plenty of fireworks this Fourth of July, so let that be the motivator to get you through this final stretch of the work week. It’s Tyler Sullivan here to guide you through all the latest happenings in the NFL world before the holiday.

While we’re still a few weeks away from seeing our favorite teams open up training camp, there’s plenty of new to get to, so we’ll get right to it. Before we do, however, we ask you to subscribe to the newsletter right here and make sure to tell your friends to join as well.

1. Ranking the top 25 teams of the NFL’s modern era

One of the bright spots of the NFL being in its down period is that it does allow some of our writers to do a deep dive into various topics. Staff writer — and essentially our CBS Sports historian — Bryan DeArdo recently went back into the history books, looked back at every team in the NFL’s modern era (the past 58 seasons), and rolled out his rankings of the greatest teams to ever be assembled in that time.

While you may think that this could simply be a list of all the various Super Bowl champions, that’s not the case. DeArdo has a couple of teams that did not hoist the Lombardi Trophy in these rankings, including the 2007 New England Patriots at No. 8 overall.

DeArdo on the ’07 Patriots: You can’t have a non-championship season better than this one. In fact, the only thing the ’07 Patriots didn’t do was hoist the Lombardi Trophy. The only undefeated team during the NFL’s 16-game regular season format, the Patriots’ average margin of victory during the season was a gaudy 19.7 points. Brady set an NFL record for TD passes, while Moss’ single season record for TD receptions remains the all-time mark.

The defense included Hall of Fame linebacker Junior Seau, two-time All-Pro safety Rodney Harrison, and 2007 Pro Bowlers Vince Wilfork, Mike Vrabel, and Asante Samuel. The unit held 12 of their opponents to under 20 points, including their opponent in Super Bowl XLII: the New York Giants. The Giants’ pressure of Brady, along with a miracle helmet catch, prevented the Patriots from completing the greatest season in league annals.

As for who claimed the top overall spot as the greatest team in the NFL’s modern era? That went to the 1972 Miami Dolphins, the league’s only undefeated team.

DeArdo on the ’72 Dolphins: Nearly 50 years later, the ’72 Dolphins remain the NFL’s only perfect team. They featured a dominant “No Name” defense (led by Nick Buoniconti, Manny Fernandez and Super Bowl MVP Jake Scott) that allowed 17 points or less 14 times. Miami’s offense boasted the first pair of teammates to each run for over 1,000 yards in a season in Larry Csonka and Mercury Morris. When the Dolphins did throw, Miami fans were treated to the balletic play of Hall of Fame receiver Paul Warfield.

Hungry to avenge their 24-3 loss to the Cowboys in Super Bowl VI, Don Shula’s team did not lose a single game en route to defeating the Browns and Steelers (on the road, no less) in the playoffs before outplaying Washington in Super Bowl VII. Miami would have recorded the only shutout in Super Bowl history if not for one of the most iconic blunders in NFL history.

The Dolphins can continue to take pride in being the NFL’s only unblemished team, but the fact that they faced just one team (an 8-6 Chiefs team) that finished with a winning record during the regular season left them one spot off the top of this list.

Click here to read the entire article and see what other teams made the cut.

2. Veteran free agent safety suspended six games for PED violation

One of the notable news items that came down the wire on Tuesday afternoon was that veteran safety Tashaun Gipson has been suspended six games for violating the league’s performance-enhancing substances policy, according to ESPN. Gipson is currently a free agent but played for the San Francisco 49ers over the past two seasons

After going undrafted in the 2012 NFL Draft, the now 33-year-old had turned into a consistent starter throughout his 12 years in the league. Last season, he started all 16 of his regular-season games played for the Niners and had 60 tackles to go along with three pass breakups. He also started all three of San Francisco’s playoff games, including Super Bowl LVIII. Gipson was also named to the Pro Bowl back in 2014 when he was a member of the Cleveland Browns.

3. Ranking the top 20 corners for 2024

As we gear up for the 2024 season, we have been taking stock of each position group and rolling out our top 20 lists. Next up is the cornerbacks and it should come as little surprise to see New York Jets cornerback Sauce Garner remaining in his No. 1 spot in Jared Dubin’s rankings.

Here’s a look at Dubin’s top five:

Sauce Gardner, New York Jets
Patrick Surtain II, Denver Broncos
Jalen Ramsey, Miami Dolphins
Charvarius Ward, San Francisco 49ers
Trent McDuffie, Kansas City Chiefs

Chicago’s Jaylon Johnson was just outside of Dubin’s top five as he ranked No. 6 on his list.

Johnson was PFF’s No. 1 graded cover corner in 2023 after allowing a hilarious 33.3 passer rating on throws in his direction, with 10 times as many interceptions and pass breakups as touchdowns allowed. He gave up just 195 yards on 50 targets! He deservingly got paid this offseason, and with the Bears adding more talent around him, he should be in position to shine again next season.

To see his entire top 20 list, click here.

4. ‘Hard Knocks’ offseason edition highlights Saquon Barkley’s Giants departure

In case you missed it, “Hard Knock: Offseason with the New York Giants” debuted on Tuesday night and it gave us an insight into one of the biggest moves of this past free agent period. Of course, you know that star running back Saquon Barkley, who played his first six seasons in the league with the Giants, opted to leave the franchise for their NFC East rival Philadelphia Eagles. This opening episode, however, pulls back the curtain on that situation.

Assistant general manager Brandon Brown brought up how the running back position doesn’t hold as much value as it once did and that “certain positions have high dollar points because they’re positions of impact.”

When discussing the team’s offseason needs, general manager Joe Schoen also added that “running back keeps going down” the list and that the team needed to focus more on adding corners, pass rushers, and receivers.

New York decided against what they dubbed to be a “Hail Mary” play and deploy the franchise tag on Barkley. However, the front office was surprised that Philadelphia swooped in and signed Barkley to a three-year, $37.75 million deal that could be worth up to $46.75 million.

Once Barkley was off to Philly, Schoen then told Giants president John Mara that they could look for his replacement in free agency and use their No. 6 overall pick on another position of need/importance. After going through options like Austin Ekeler, Joe Mixon, Zack Moss, and Tony Pollard, the club ended up with former Texans running back Devin Singletary.

5. Ex-Jets employee suing the team over throwback logo

The New York Jets announced earlier this offseason that they are bringing back their “Sack Exchange” throwback jerseys on a full-time basis as their primary uniform. While that has excited Gang Green, it now comes with a bit of controversy. Jim Pons, who designed the logo of an airplane attacked to the team name “Jets” back in 1978, is suing the team and the NFL, according to a lawsuit obtained by TMZ.

Pons is seeking unspecified damages, the cancelation of the Jets’ trademark of the logo, and a ruling the team cannot use the logo without his consent and compensation.

“We are aware of the complaint,” the Jets said in a statement to the New York Post. “The mark in question has been registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office for nearly 50 years. The mark has been used continuously in numerous iterations since that time. We find this claim baseless and without merit.”