John Mitchell is the closest. He should act like it.

John Mitchell already won his week. He scored 118.2, Greer scored 69, and if you count a game that is finished he is 2–2. That is the closest thing to the field among the teams on the wrong side of the board. The plan is one upgrade at running back, accepted in Sleeper before the Thursday night kickoff after week 10, without touching the player who makes the roster worth having in a dynasty.

1. Stop talking like the season is a project.

A 2–2 team with ten games left makes a six-team playoff every year if it keeps winning half of them. He does not need to find himself. Cousins had 22.6, Hubbard had 24.9, Flowers had 17.8, and Bowers had 14.6. Herbert had 9.56 on the bench, so this was the week to start Kirk. It was also one week. The job from here is to add a back he trusts in December, not to rebrand the quarterback decision every Tuesday.

2. Bowers is not the chip.

If a plan starts with moving Brock Bowers, it is the wrong plan. Flowers is the other piece you hate to lose and should not volunteer. Baker is out and on IR, so the quarterback room is Cousins, Herbert, and Wentz until that changes. You do not dump Herbert because Cousins had a day, and you do not dump Cousins because Herbert is the name people prefer. You need both until Baker is back. The future you are short on is a second back next to Hubbard. Braelon Allen, Tracy, Justice Hill, and Kendre Miller are the current attempt at that, and they are why the roster is still a step behind the teams in front of him.

3. Sutton and a second to Hefner. Herbert can wait.

His 2026 first is already with Morgan. He does have two extra 2026 seconds, one of them Hefner’s, and those are the picks he can spend. Bowers is not a sweetener. Flowers is not the opener. The offer is Sutton or Godwin, plus one of those seconds, for Judkins. Hefner has Taylor, Henry, and Judkins, Saquon is out, and A.J. Brown is on IR, so a receiver he can start is the thing he does not have. Najee is the smaller version of the same call if Judkins is a no. Odunze only goes in if the back coming back is Taylor or Henry, and even then Mitchell should sleep on it. Odunze, Flowers, and Bowers are the future. A one-year push that misses is just a thinner roster next summer. Fuss is the other fit, and not this week. Fuss needs a quarterback and has the backs. Mitchell is not offering Herbert while Baker is out and Cousins just won the game. When Baker is back, Herbert for Warren is a conversation, and it still has to be accepted before that Thursday night kickoff. Thomas cannot be the other side of either deal.

4. You just scored 118. You do not need a splash on Tuesday.

He just scored 118, which puts him at the back of the waiver order, and that is fine. The wire will not have the back this roster is missing, and a late claim is not going to beat the teams that scored 69 and 76. He puts a name in if someone inherits a job and the teams ahead of him pass. He does not drop a real player the morning after a win to chase one.

5. Stay near .500, and buy. Don’t drift into a sale.

Three wins in the next six games makes him 5–5, and at 5–5 he is a buyer. The buy is Sutton or Godwin and a second for a back. Bowers stays. One win in that stretch makes him 3–7, and at 3–7 he can listen on a veteran receiver. He still does not move Bowers or Flowers unless the package is a young back he would rather have for the next two years. He is not that team today. The roster that just beat the team everybody wanted needs a second back, and the charter does not leave the window open past the Thursday after week 10.