For 12 teams, the NFL season now enters its most exciting month.
For the other 20, plans can now be made for the 2017 NFL Draft, with the selection order set for non-playoff teams.
By virtue of their 1-15 record, the Browns will pick first if the season ended today.
(Oh my God, the season actually did end today, and we’ve been making this joke for six weeks. Now what will we do?)
They’ll be followed by the 49ers, Bears, Jaguars and Titans, as Tennessee nets a top-five pick from dealing with the Rams for Jared Goff.
The Jets, Chargers, Panthers, Bengals and Bills round out the top 10. There will have to be a coin toss at the combine for the 14th and 15th spots since the Colts and Vikings (who owe their pick to the Eagles) have identical records and strength of schedule numbers, since that’s used as the tiebreaker for draft order.
Here’s a look at the complete top 20, with the rest of the order to be filled in as playoff teams fall by the wayside.
1. Cleveland 1-15
2. San Francisco 2-14
3 .Chicago 3-13
4. Jacksonville 3-13
5. Tennessee (from Los Angeles) 4-12
6. New York Jets 5-11
7. San Diego 5-11
8. Carolina 6-10
9. Cincinnati 6-9-1
10. Buffalo 7-9
11. New Orleans 7-9
12. Cleveland (from Philadelphia) 7-9
13. Arizona 7-8-1
t14. Indianapolis 8-8
t14. Philadelphia (from Minnesota) 8-8
16. Baltimore 8-8
17. Washington 8-7-1
18. Tennessee 9-7
19. Tampa Bay 9-7
20. Denver 9-7