NFL Owners Want 17-Game Schedule, Expanded Playoffs, and World Domination
One woulda thought that hatred of the NFL's pre-season games could bring this country together in these troubled times.
Especially when season-ticket packages include mandatory purchase of at least some exhibition games.
Even more especially when the spreads are out there on teams that don't care about winning those games, making it more worthwhile to bet on acey-deucy, snail races, and vending machine miracles.
Fortunately, that cabal of 1%ers have taken it upon themselves to heal this festering issue by proposing a way to make even more money rescue fans from enduring it any longer.
And that would be to make their players endure an even longer season, for a slight bump in pay, of course.
Simple, right?
But what if two-thirds of the NFLPA membership doesn't think that's an especially good idea due to additional wear and tear on their overall health?
Oh, the humanity!
It's now odds-on the NFL owners are going to put those demands on the table for the upcoming collective bargaining negotiations to replace the current agreement, which has a year to run.
More details: Under the current CBA proposal that NFL owners are pushing for, the playoff field would be expanded to seven teams, while the regular season would be increased to 17 games per team, and the preseason shortened to three games per team, per sources.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) February 19, 2020
And that doesn't include details in the fine print.
It's just as odds-on that the players are gonna have enough mixed feelings about it that an early two-thirds majority will be a reach.
Their proposed playoff expansion would mean only the team in each conference with the best record would get a bye, as opposed to the top-two seeds under the current format.
Thus, the 2-seed would play the 7-seed, the 3-seed would meet the 6-seed, and the 4-seed would get the 5-seed, with the higher seeds playing at home.
So a lotta 8-8 and 7-9 teams will get extended life, as if they deserve it.
The NFLPA will be gauging membership sentiment within the next couple of days.
Feel free to pore over the points by clicking on each document in their tweet and click again once it opens. This'll enlarge them for your reading convenience:
The NFLPA has sent all players a fact sheet that covers the highlights on the current proposal for a new Collective Bargaining Agreement. A lot to go through here.. pic.twitter.com/tzOhyLOmhY
— Darren Heitner (@DarrenHeitner) February 21, 2020
One point of contention jumps out immediately:
How would players be compensated for a 17th game if they signed contracts based on a 16-game schedule? Basically, under proposed CBA, they'd get an extra game check, but it'd be capped at $250,000, per sources. So the highest-paid players would play for less than usual.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) February 20, 2020
The scrutiny will start there and get down to numbers crunching on other aspects of the owners' offer, including but not limited to the actual value of increasing the players' revenue share from 47% to 48.5%.
Then there's the health issues. It appears there will still be only one bye week in order to maintain the season's 18-week timeframe. That'll get pushback, too.
The ownership's hot air in their proposal will produce a lot of that.
Hard no on that proposed CBA.
— JJ Watt (@JJWatt) February 21, 2020
On top of it all, even though their plan will reduce the exhibition schedule from four games to three, there's no guarantee that season ticket buyers still won't be required to pay full boat for at least two of them, like most teams demand now.
This negotiation's gonna be in for a long haul.