18 game schedule coming...What would you like to see the new format be?

[mooby]

If the NFL switches to an 18 game schedule I won't like it. I like it the way it is. 18 games means everything needs to be switched up. Bigger draft to supplement the bigger roster needed so your team can last 18 games, and I'm a big proponent of keeping the historical books in order. If we switched to 18 games I'm sure 3-5 guys would break 2k yards rushing every year. I don't want to see that. Plus shorter careers which is another negative.

Overall this is a bad idea. 16 games is already demanding enough. If Davy is right and this is just a tactical ploy in negotiations I will be happy.

[irish]

The NFL has a farm system that is completely free, it called college football. There is a 0% chance a team or the NFLwould take on the cost of a farm team/league when college fills the bill just fine?

[skinsguy]

Originally Posted by Buster

Ah, the good old days when the Phoenix Cardinals were in the NFC East... :cheeky-sm

Hah! More like the St. Louis Cardinals!

[skinsguy]

Originally Posted by mooby

If the NFL switches to an 18 game schedule I won't like it. I like it the way it is. 18 games means everything needs to be switched up. Bigger draft to supplement the bigger roster needed so your team can last 18 games, and I'm a big proponent of keeping the historical books in order. If we switched to 18 games I'm sure 3-5 guys would break 2k yards rushing every year. I don't want to see that. Plus shorter careers which is another negative.

Overall this is a bad idea. 16 games is already demanding enough. If Davy is right and this is just a tactical ploy in negotiations I will be happy.

Only flaw in your theory is that the league didn't always have a 16 game season. I don't see how this would affect historical books? Besides, if this was an issue, then the NFL probably wouldn't have ever went past a ten game regular season. Also, I'm not sure it would signify shorter careers. Each team would be able to career a larger active roster.

[MTK]

The league gradually went to 16 games over time, so going to 18 in the long run isn't going to be a big deal. Some day we'll be saying I remember when the season was only 16 games.

[Dirtbag59]

Originally Posted by mooby

Overall this is a bad idea. 16 games is already demanding enough. If Davy is right and this is just a tactical ploy in negotiations I will be happy.

No they honestly think it's a genius idea. And 'dey don't have to ask fo nobody permission uhuh.'

Goodell has pointed out that the league does not need approval from the players in order to extend the regular season.

Seriously I thought Goodell was suppose to serve as a go between for the owners and players. Not a white knight for the owners.

[Ruhskins]

I just hope that the NFL would increase the size of team rosters and gametime rosters as well. As some have mentioned, it would be nice to have special teams specialists on the teams so we can further reduce the risk of injuries. Granted that having more players in the roster would require increases in salary caps...if those ever come back of course.

[GusFrerotte]

To me the NFL is just watering down their product, and increasing the cost to the average fan. OK you have 2 more games, which will increase the likelyhood of serious injury to starters, or like some guys have said, to 2-4 worthless games where the scrubs play so the teams can rest their starters. You say the remedy to this is increase the roster size, fine, but I don't think two games is going to cover the cost of paying 8-10 additional players, leaving the owners with the sizeable profit they want. In addition to that, what are they going to do with the draft? Add 4-6 rounds or something? We all know anyone picked past the 3rd round is most likely practice squad fodder or most likely cut, so what is that going to do to the quality of the product? Also, is the average fan, going to be able to fork over the probable increase in ticket prices, etc? The NFL is going to self destruct over the long haul with this stupidity.

[aceinthehouse]

In all honesty,if they really want to go to 18 games a season,which I'm not so sure this is a ploy for leverage btw...The NFL has had 12 game seasons...14 game seasons (72' dolphins undefeated season and then 16 game seasons,which we've been with for quite some time now.

Since after the Strike season of 82' wasn't it...when we went 8-1 and won SB? I'll have to recheck my history there,but I believe it's been for about 30 years going on or close.

But the if the NFL is serious about this 18 games,then we might see some *new* expansion teams coming in then...Maybe a new team for every division or 8 *new* teams?

5 team Divisions like we've had before...That would be 8 Division games and then 10 games for the rest...I remember the St. Louis Cardinals used to be 2 extra wins for our Redskins..lol

Anyways...That would be 8 division games for the division.....5 games for the NFC Conference we play and then...and then an AFC Division for the other 5 games. 18 games....

Maybe bring back the OLD NFL teams from the History Books...with new unis,colors and all that..
Pottsville Maroons: Pottsville Maroons - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Frankford Yellow Jackets: Frankford Yellow Jackets - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Providence Steam Roller: Providence Steam Roller - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Canton Bulldogs: Canton Bulldogs - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

sorry...
I'm an NFL historian...lol

[GusFrerotte]

I think the owners are just trying to get back their money from their bad investments such as the unneeded new stadiums, etc. Ford Field is gorgeous, but there really wasn't a dire need to even build it. I know they only leased the Silverdome, but it held a lot more people and most of the paying fans were from Oakland Co anyway. The facility was already rather modern, etc. Did Dallas really need a new stadium with the largest HD jumbotron? Now, the state and local govts coughed up a pretty penny to chip in for these modern marvels, but the owners put up a ton of $$$$$$$$$ themselves, and these investments really haven't paid off. They need to do what any other corporation has done and that is to cut costs, but they have themselves become almost "too big to fail". Take the NFL Network for instance. Sure it is cool to have your own network, but why even bother since you have 3 major media outlets paying YOU to show your product on TV? THe costs to run a 24/7 network has to be staggering, and any advertising might cover that cost, but the profits can't be that great. In short, what I am saying is the NFL just has gotten to big for itself, too big to sustain this type of spending, and it is coming up with harebrained schemes to get back into the black. THe NFL in the summer of '07 or '08 asked the US Govt for a billion dollar bailout to cover operating expenses, and with these stadiums, it is already partially subsidized by state and local govts. Time for the NFL to trim the fat.

[skinsguy]

Originally Posted by Ruhskins

I just hope that the NFL would increase the size of team rosters and gametime rosters as well. As some have mentioned, it would be nice to have special teams specialists on the teams so we can further reduce the risk of injuries. Granted that having more players in the roster would require increases in salary caps...if those ever come back of course.

Yes, the rosters would be increased.

[mooby]

Originally Posted by skinsguy

Only flaw in your theory is that the league didn't always have a 16 game season. I don't see how this would affect historical books? Besides, if this was an issue, then the NFL probably wouldn't have ever went past a ten game regular season. Also, I'm not sure it would signify shorter careers. Each team would be able to career a larger active roster.

I'm not stupid, I know the NFL used to have a 12 game season, then it went to 14, and now to 16, so it's only fair they eventually started looking at 18. But why? The season is long enough, and if you can't figure out that adding 2 games a season will shorten a career then I can't help you.

Let's say your dominant NFL player's career lasts 9 seasons. This is just an example because we all know depending on the position they play they can play much longer than 9 seasons at an effective level. Well 9 seasons with 16 games is the equivalent of 8 seasons with 18 games. And look at that current stats. Most guys experience wear and tear through a 16 game season. Going to 18 games is not only going to give 2 more full games that they could get seriously injured in, but that's 2 more games of wear and tear. You can't tell me players experience the same amount of wear and tear in 2 preseason games as they do in 2 regular season games.

My whole point at the historical books aspect is that stats lose their meaning. 2k rushing seasons will become annual, 5k passing seasons as well too. Now granted only the top 3-5 guys might have a shot at getting that far, but I would rather have it the way it is now, something extremely hard to achieve, rather than it becoming a yearly thing.

Skinsguy your argument that the NFL never would've gone past 10 games if that was an issue is flawed. For one, the years when the NFL played 10 games, etc., is an entirely different era than it is today. I'm talking not as many teams, so obviously not as many games, and back then there was room for expansion, not just bringing new teams into the league but there was room for a bigger schedule as well. We already have 32 teams, a 16 game marathon schedule that already takes enough of a toll on these guys. These guys can't get into better shape, as the majority of NFL players work out year round to keep their bodies in peak physical condition. Their is no way they can get into so much better shape so as to better withstand the hits and the wear/tear of an 18 game schedule.

The only reason this is being brought up is money. There's no concern for any of the players, all the owners wanna do is get rid of preseason games that don't make money for them by replacing them with 2 games that will maximize revenue. And a 2 game preseason? I wouldn't mind shortening it to 3 games but 2 is not enough to get your starters ready to play and give enough time to evaluate players trying to make the cut.

[irish]

Originally Posted by skinsguy

Yes, the rosters would be increased.

The owners didnt want a roster increase but they have decided to give in and add 1 roster spot. I suspect the players union will want a bit more than that.

[Alvin Walton]

Its high time this has happened. Pre-season is irrelevant and boring. Why people pay tickets to watch a game that doesnt count, played by mostly scrubs is beyond me. The NFL season seems to get shorter every year. I'd approve the max amount of roster increase they can get. As far as player durability goes, yea thats an issue I dont think can be resolved other than with player supplementation from an increased roster. But when I see how huge these guys's salarys are, well I have a hard time sympathizing with their pain. The NFL pays monstrous amounts of money to kids that are fresh off the turnip farm and these kids know it. There will never be a shortage of players.

[SmootSmack]

I'm not sure I could handle two extra weeks of Game Day threads.

As a fan I'm honestly pretty apathetic about adding two regular season games. I don't know I just can't get excited about it