The mechanics of ‘tanking’ an NFL game or series of games is seldom addressed by advocates of the strategy, which I think is pretty telling. That certainly hasn’t been addressed in this thread despite a series of probing observations and questions. These players and coaches aren’t EA Sports video game characters with AI brains.
I don't think tanking should be a thing, but just as a thought exercise:
Trading away better players for draft picks. (has downside risk of weakening your team overall, so even if you get that coveted pick, you have other holes to fill because of the trades)
Calling more higher-risk plays. Like, lots of blitzing, when you're not really that good at it. Lots of "unleash the dragon" long plays that will likely not work out.
Calling lots of gimmicky plays...fake punts, unnecessary onsides, wildcat, Edleman throwing to Cam..
Flip side: calling more vanilla plays. a very basic offense or defense. "We can't get creative until we have the fundamentals down".
Minor misuse of players...asking a short route guy to go long a lot. Or, an RB with bad hands to try to catch the ball. "We're trying to coach them up into new roles to improve their skillset and the team".
Problem is, down-low tanking depends on a small group of people (coaches and coordinators) knowing what's up. If the players don't catch on, then they think their coach has lost a step. "Maybe it
was all TB12", and even if you have 20 years of coaching dominance, it could be hard to get the clubhouse back (a lot of those players would only really have one or a few years with the current coach).
Also, I could even see Goodell taking stock, launching an "investigation", and actually accusing BB of tanking and docking draft picks (and fines) for "conduct detrimental" or something.