There is a way to win with an average QB but its not what we are doing. The trick to winning with an average QB is instead of going 'all in' every year, you hold something back some years, don't spend every dollar you can, cut loose some aging players whose days you know are numbered and eat the cap hits immediately. Tell your young guys to play hard, don't tank, but realistically some of the young unproven guys will be good and some will struggle and you will probably lose some games. Then you come out with high draft picks and lots of salary cap space. Then when you go all in again, starting from way under the salary cap, all in means a much bigger spending spree and war chest, coupled with a core of high draft picks, and bam you can even win with an average QB sometimes.

Champions often reload by rebuilding. Before the Bucs signed Tom Brady they were one of the furthest teams under the salary cap so they had a war chest to spend on Brady, Gronk, and other players. That was a rebuild. The best teams rebuild without you even knowing it. The 49ers carried over a ton of unused salary cap from year to year while the Saints max it out and accomplish less.