“Tanking” is when a sports team loses, usually with the intention of getting a high pick in the player draft after the season ends. Winning would probably not put the team in playoff contention, so the team “tanks” the current season to prepare for the following season.
 
Dallas Cowboys football beat writer Mike Fisher coined the term “organic tanking” on Twitter on November 27, 2015. The Cowboys weren’t intentionally tanking games, but they were resting veterans and playing younger players to get better “organically,” even though the younger players would make more mistakes.
 
     
SB Nation
What actually is tanking, and which NBA teams actually do it?
By Mark Deeks on Jan 10, 2014, 10:52a 85
(...)
“Tanking,” as we are to understand it, is a team’s intent to do less than everything it can to win. It is a concerted effort over several months (and perhaps several seasons) by a team to deliberately not be as good as it could be. It is considered cheap, disingenuous and dishonest, the byproduct of a flawed system where a team can be rewarded for being bad and where deliberately losing is thereby a strategic decision.
 
Twitter
mike fisher ✭
‏@fishsports mike fisher ✭ Retweeted Victor lopez
#Cowboys won’t ‘throw away.’ I call it #OrganicTanking mike fisher ✭ added,
Victor lopez @Victor87320
@fishsports do you think garrett will throw this season away and aim for a high draft pick or risk 88 or 82 for nothing
10:40 AM - 27 Nov 2015
     
Twitter
Joe ॐ
‏@JoeWBrush
@fishsports “Organic tanking”  I like it!
6:33 PM - 27 Nov 2015
Grapevine, TX
 
CBS Local (Dallas-Fort Woth, TX)
Dez Doubtful As Cowboys ‘Organic Tank’ Takes Shape
December 25, 2015 6:19 PM By Mike Fisher
IRVING (105.3 THE FAN) – Dez Bryant insists that he wants to play and the Cowboys insist that they’re offended by the suggestion that they’d do anything but go all-out to win at Buffalo on Sunday.
 
So no, they’re not “tanking.” But yes, what I’ve termed on 105.3 The Fan as “organic tanking” is absolutely in play.
(...)
Lose on purpose? No. priorities in addition to winning – like protecting dinged-up veterans and eyeballing young prospects and hey, if you happen to lose, “lose with valor”?
 
Yessir. That’s “organic tanking”: you don’t lose on purpose … It just kind of happens.
 
Twitter
BitterBeardFace
‏@BitterBeard1
@fishsports big thanks for giving me my two favorite football terms of the year..organic tanking and referee-play
12:25 PM - 25 Dec 2015
   
Blogging the Boys (Dallas Cowboys)
Cowboys Are In Full “Organic Tanking” Mode
By Tom Ryle  @TomRyleBTB on Dec 30, 2015, 6:30p
The final game for the Dallas Cowboys is shaping up to be one where the team is stacking the deck against itself. Given the fact that Washington is also in a position to rest some players to prepare for the postseason, the final game of this sad season may look more like a preseason affair than anything else. And that is a good thing.
 
Mike Fisher coined a great term for this: Organic tanking. The team still goes out and plays hard, but without a proven NFL level quarterback or their biggest playmaker, Dez Bryant, who is now going on IR, the team is going to be hard-pressed to get a fifth win this season no matter who lines up against them on Sunday. That means that the opportunity exists to take a good look at a lot of down-roster players to add more data that can be used to make decisions once the season ends.