Pros & cons of an 18-game season

I'd add these two to the list:

- TWO bye weeks each season.

- Players are mandated to wear concussion-resistant helmets.

Jack,

I would love to see an 18 game season with two bye weeks for each team. I agree with all of your additions excluding the cutting back of OTAs, the rookies coming in early to TC and I think the IR rules shouldn;t be changed, maybe the PUP but not IR.

OTAs are voluntary and I think really help not only the rookies but players trying to make position changes, vets fighting for roster spots, and new coaches who are assessing talent and installing their playbook. Also moving them past April 15th is a bad idea. They are in perfect position as it is, I see no founded reason to move them.

Now, if the rookies are asked to come in early several things happen. They gain an edge on vets they are trying to beat out, because of this this free week would become voluntary for vets. This results in pressure for everyone who is not a solid starter to be there to fight for their roster spot. If you have a rookie week it will be open to vets and they will be pressured to be there so it is not much different than just having a longer TC for all but the elite players.

Also, as far as the IR rule are concerned I think they can make the necessary changes with modifications to the PUP list. With larger rosters IR becomes less of a concern and if teams gain to much room to stash players then players who get lightly injured and would normally be cut, and therefore have a chance to make other teams, would instead be stashed away and forced onto the bench when it is not necessary. A good example is a rookie who gets slightly injured on a team with a lot of depth. A team will want to hold on to its draft pick but what if they are saying the injury is more severe that it is. The rookie would then be forced to ride pine until, healthy, until someone else goes down. The IR is a hard thing to put players on and it needs to stay that way to protect the players. With an extended season I would like to see a 4 week PUP list and a 8 week PUP list. I think this should allow enough player management for the coaches to survive.

I think that an additional bye week for each team would be the biggest addition and good for all parties involved. Not only do the players get another week off late in the stretch but the NFL gets another week added to the broadcasting contracts which means more money for the owners even if some goes to the players. This helps make up for the larger rosters and should work well for all parties involved, fans included. 20 week regular season, 27 weeks of football, I think I would be in heaven.

I'm not quite sure what I would be getting out of an 18-game season that I don't already get out of a 16-game season, apart from two more chances to blow a playoff spot, tear Westbrook's ACL, and line owners pockets with some more revenue.

As you said, it isn't as simple as converting two preseason games into regular season games - there's a lot in sync right now that would need an enormous facelift in order to keep the game itself on track.

I'm not wholly against the idea, but it really should be up to the players and yes they should be fairly compensated. It seems there's always an extracurricular scapegoat for injuries: World Baseball Classic (Dice-K), preseason games (Portis), Olympics (Manu). These typically happen because the body is already so taxed from everything it has already endured - substituting two extra full contact regular season games in addition to the revamped OTA schedule, rookie camps, etc etc is only going to increase injuries and roster spots.

Who knows? By the time February rolls around, the NFC Champs could be starting Keanu Reeves under center with a sumo wrestler for a left tackle, but not because of a strike this time.

Well, as a greedy NFL fan I would never complain about more football, but it certainly changes the dynamics of everything else as you alluded to.

Also, from the perspective of a numbers guy, specifically as one who enjoys statistical debates, changing the length of a season throws a wrench into those debates. Now there's a third tier in debating career statistics, 14 vs. 16 vs. 18 game seasons, and the whole nine yards. Sixteen games feels right to me, but I don't think what I think matters. It's coming whether we like it or not.

Even with all these conditions, the quality of play will suffer early in the season. As a fan I don't want the game to be watered down with less talent and more depth. The NFL game is so difficult that teams are already alternating RB's and D-lineman.
That being said, the current system does not favor the fan paying for preseason games. The NFL must continue to open up revenue streams for teams (like ads on practice jerseys) and lower prices on preseason games.
It's natural for agents and players first reaction to be "As long as we get more money", without considering the long-term repercussions. Players careers will be shortened and teams will be more hesitant to give long contracts. I just don't see how less training time will prevent injuries and wear-and-tear.

Good read Jack, Thanks.
I thought everyone you talked to, made excellent points.

The one issue I think the NFLPA should stand absolutely firm on, (other than more pay, that should go without saying) is the expanded rosters. I personally think their too small now, with a 16 game season. But I too, like you, know the owners will balk at any expansion talk, especially if it's a significant number. Which it would need to be, if it's going to alleviate some of the wear and tear on players bodies.

Again good stuff Jack!

The one thing I still don't see anyone commenting on is the playoffs. Once we extend the schedule to 18 games it is a foregone conclusion that the owners are going to want to expand the playoffs to allow more teams in.

Right now whenever a team wins 11 games and doesn't get in there's always an outcry.

Just imagine what's going to happen if they move to an 18 game schedule. The propensity for 11 and 12 win seasons are going to increase.

Before you know it the NFL playoffs will be similar to MLB's and the NBA's.

I think I like the idea of a 17th game on a neutral site more than I like the idea of two 18 game seasons. I feel that this would allow more fans to have access to the NFL in games that matter and would eliminate teams giving up home games in order to play a game in London or Tokyo.

I also believe that players should benefit more than just a proportional per game increase. Not only are they playing two extra games, but they are giving up time off. Also, I'd like to see a bye week between the pre-season and the regular season in order to give them a chance to recover from the beating that they've taken.

Dan - Trying to compare statistics from the three different eras would be no more difficult than comparing them now. This isn't baseball, where it is the same game played from era to era. Heck, its even difficult to compare players that play in the same era under different schemes. Did Kurt Warner throw all of those TDs in St Louis because he was such a good QB or did he throw them because he was part of the Greatest Show on Turf? It's hard to say, because after a year or two of seeing that offense, defenses learned to adapt.

The other thing that irks me about this whole debate is that one of the reasons the NFL didn't want to change the OT rules is because the increased chance of injury and yet here they are seriously considering extending the season two more games!

Even with all these conditions, the quality of play will suffer early in the season. As a fan I don't want the game to be watered down with less talent and more depth. The NFL game is so difficult that teams are already alternating RB's and D-lineman.
That being said, the current system does not favor the fan paying for preseason games. The NFL must continue to open up revenue streams for teams (like ads on practice jerseys) and lower prices on preseason games.
It's natural for agents and players first reaction to be "As long as we get more money", without considering the long-term repercussions. Players careers will be shortened and teams will be more hesitant to give long contracts. I just don't see how less training time will prevent injuries and wear-and-tear.

How will an expanded season relate to what other teams are played? Perhaps a restructuring of who plays who should go along with a jump to 18 games. One option is to have each team play all the other teams in its conference plus those in its own division twice, and not playing teams from the other conference. This imposes a definite uniformity on each conference while keeping divisional rivalries intact, and the Super Bowl can now be said to be a true contest between conference champions.