Big changes coming for the NFL

by **JMP** Thu Feb 20, 2020 9:06 am

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000001102482/article/nfl-owners-to-meet-thursday-to-discuss-cba-talks

NFL owners will meet in New York on Thursday to discuss the status of labor negotiations with the NFL Players Association, NFL Network's Michael Silver reported Wednesday. The players will discuss the owners' proposal via conference call on Friday, NFL Network's Tom Pelissero added.

If all goes well during the next 48 hours or so, Silver added, a new collective bargaining agreement between the league and the NFLPA could be ratified before the start of the new league year on March 18.

The new proposal gives the league the option to expand the regular-season schedule to 17 games, Pelissero and NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported. The likeliest time at which that lever would be pulled is in 2022, Silver added.

...

In addition to adding a regular-season game and shortening the preseason to three games, as expected, the new proposal would expand the playoff field from 12 teams to 14 teams in 2020. That means only one team per conference would earn a bye.

I like the 17-game season, especially if they kill the antiquated weekly inactive list. Not sure if they will, but that would be great.

I don't like 7 teams per conference making the playoffs. To me, that waters down the playoffs. Only one team having a bye is interesting, but the 7th team really increases the chances of a bad team making the postseason. The 8-8 Steelers would have made the playoffs this season, and that's just not right IMO.