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Originally Published: March 26, 2009
More games, more wild cards loom
Owners' meetings also set labor talk agendas
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By John Clayton
ESPN.com
Archive
The agenda for the NFL's annual owners' meeting appeared light at the start. As often happens, significant items emerged.
Momentum built to expand the regular-season schedule to 17 or 18 games. Owners hit the jackpot with a reported four-year, $4 billion extension with DIRECTV. The competition committee succeeded in getting the support for a handful of rules involving safety.
Here are the 10 things we learned at the NFL owners' meeting, which concluded Wednesday in Dana Point, Calif.
1. Among owners, there appears to be more support to expand the regular-season schedule from 16 games to 18 rather than 17. Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft are the biggest proponents of going to 18 games. Economically, they like the additional revenue opportunities. Many of the high-revenue teams are in agreement. Commissioner Roger Goodell has been properly pushing the concept of more regular-season games for about a year. He sees the four-game preseason as outdated and not up to NFL standards. Coaches play starters only about six quarters in the preseason games anyway. Once the league tests the economic viability of 18 games with the players and the broadcast networks, the NFL can expand the schedule.
2. If the regular season goes to 18 games, owners will explore the chances of adding more playoff teams. Extra playoff games would add more value to the network television contracts because playoff games carry high ratings. Until the regular season is expanded beyond 16 games, don't expect any change. A couple of years ago, the Patriots and Kansas City Chiefs were pushing for more playoff games, but support was so minimal that those efforts have ceased. Having the San Diego Chargers make the 2008 playoffs at 8-8, while the Patriots missed a wild card at 11-5, confirmed the arguments of those favoring more postseason games. The NFL wants teams with winning records in the playoffs. By the way, don't expect an expansion of the regular season until 2011 at the earliest.
3. If the NFL goes to a 17-game schedule, the owners are set in how the extra home game will be handled. For competitive balance, the extra home game would be alternated between conferences. The NFC, for example, would get nine home games one year. The AFC would get nine home games the next year. The imbalance of the 17-game format, though, has some owners leaning toward the 18-game idea because it's competitively cleaner.
4. The draft-order revision based on how a team does in the playoffs is long overdue. The rule change breezed through with 32-0 support. Under the old rule, all 32 teams drafted in reverse order of their regular-season records, regardless of how the playoff teams finished. Under the new rule, the wild-card round losers get picks 21-24 and the divisional-round losers get 25-28 (based on regular-season records). The championship-game losers get 29 and 30. The Super Bowl loser drafts 31st. The Super Bowl winner selects 32nd. Having the San Diego Chargers draft 16th ahead of an 11-5 Patriots team that didn't make the playoffs is an injustice. Having the Indianapolis Colts drafting 11 spots behind the Chargers after losing a playoff game in San Diego isn't fair, either. Going to the playoffs is a reward for the season. The NFL is all about parity, and the teams that don't make the playoffs should get a better chance to improve in the draft than the playoff teams.
5. The Jacksonville Jaguars might as well forget the idea of pushing for a rule change about playoff seedings. For the second consecutive year, the Jaguars pulled their proposal of having wild-card teams get playoff home games if they have better records than division winners. NFL owners believe in division winners being rewarded with home games. It maximizes the importance of divisional games against a team's true natural rivals. It gives home fans the confidence they will get a home game in the first round of the playoffs if their team wins the division. Often, wild-card teams have better records because of easier schedules. Plus, in the past couple of years, wild-card teams have fought through the three-game rigors of being on the road and going to the Super Bowl. The current format isn't broken.
6. Safety in the NFL outweighs complaints about the game's getting too soft, and that's a good thing. Defensive players feel as though they are being cheated by the Tom Brady rule, which didn't require a vote. In that change, a defensive player such as Chiefs safety Bernard Pollard can't lunge from the ground and hit the knees of a quarterback. The quarterbacks are too important to suffer potential career-ending knee injuries for the sake of defensive bravado. Special-teams coaches are irate that the three-man wedge has been banned on kickoff returns, but the competition committee has stats and tape that show severe neck injuries and concussions from having one defender crash into a three-man wedge. Anyone questioning the validity of outlawing forearm and shoulder hits made on defenseless receivers should see the damage done to players such as Anquan Boldin. The Arizona Cardinals star suffered numerous broken bones to his face on a high hit in the end zone when he was unable to defend himself.
7. The four-year, $4 billion deal between the NFL and DIRECTV doesn't mean the NFL is planning for a lockout to break the NFLPA in upcoming labor talks. The deal shows the NFL still can sell its product in a tough economy. The DIRECTV deal gives owners a $1 billion war chest in case of a lockout in 2011. If there is no football in 2011 because of a lack of a collective bargaining agreement, the owners still get the $1 billion for that season. But, DIRECTV also was able to lock up the NFL for satellite exclusive rights for four more seasons and get the rights to an 18-game schedule if the NFL expands the regular season. DIRECTV already was paying $700 million a season. It was the smart business move. While this contract gives the NFL owners plenty of revenue in case of a lockout, it's just a smart extension of a good deal that works for them. In summing up the owners' meeting, Goodell said the intent of the league and owners is to get a deal with the players to grow the game. You can believe that, because having no football for any period of time is not good for either team owners or players.
8. Seeing the interest in Jay Cutler might have convinced Denver Broncos coach Josh McDaniels to try to mend his relationship with the star instead of trying to trade the quarterback. As many as 10 teams were interested in Cutler, but all they could do is get word to the Broncos about their interest. It became pretty clear Cutler could have become the hottest trade commodity in the NFL in more than a decade. Once he got to the meetings, McDaniels continued to try to text or call Cutler. Now, Cutler is considering going to the Broncos' facility. McDaniels, despite failing to ease Cutler's anger about interest in Matt Cassel, is willing to work with his quarterback. Expect trade considerations to subside in the next two weeks.
9. West Coast teams feel slighted even more after the East Coast teams received attention in future scheduling formulas. Starting in 2010, you won't see the Patriots or the New York Jets -- for example -- getting West Coast road trips to Oakland and San Diego in the same season. But there's no change for AFC West and NFC West division teams. They have two AFC or two NFC road trips to the East Coast or Midwest each season unless the AFC West and NFC West are scheduled to play each other. That AFC West versus NFC West alignment happens every four seasons. The complaints of West Coast teams about 10 a.m. PT starts to accommodate East Coast viewers, however, weren't addressed or changed.
10. Owners started setting agendas and priorities with their important labor talks with the NFLPA. Player costs have soared to $4.5 billion and owners are concerned about the economy and the last CBA extension. The NFL wants labor peace. It wants to fix a broken rookie contract system that has allowed top greenhorns to get contracts worth $11 million a year. It is concerned about the uncapped year in 2010. Without a CBA in place, a lockout could occur in 2011. Internally, some owners want a better formula for revenue sharing. The NFL has a year to resolve these problems.
Senior NFL writer John Clayton covers the NFL for ESPN.com.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?columnist=clayton_john&id=4017569
More games, more wild cards loom
Owners' meetings also set labor talk agendas
Comment Email Print Share
By John ClaytonESPN.com
Archive
The agenda for the NFL's annual owners' meeting appeared light at the start. As often happens, significant items emerged.
Momentum built to expand the regular-season schedule to 17 or 18 games. Owners hit the jackpot with a reported four-year, $4 billion extension with DIRECTV. The competition committee succeeded in getting the support for a handful of rules involving safety.
Here are the 10 things we learned at the NFL owners' meeting, which concluded Wednesday in Dana Point, Calif.
1. Among owners, there appears to be more support to expand the regular-season schedule from 16 games to 18 rather than 17. Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft are the biggest proponents of going to 18 games. Economically, they like the additional revenue opportunities. Many of the high-revenue teams are in agreement. Commissioner Roger Goodell has been properly pushing the concept of more regular-season games for about a year. He sees the four-game preseason as outdated and not up to NFL standards. Coaches play starters only about six quarters in the preseason games anyway. Once the league tests the economic viability of 18 games with the players and the broadcast networks, the NFL can expand the schedule.
2. If the regular season goes to 18 games, owners will explore the chances of adding more playoff teams. Extra playoff games would add more value to the network television contracts because playoff games carry high ratings. Until the regular season is expanded beyond 16 games, don't expect any change. A couple of years ago, the Patriots and Kansas City Chiefs were pushing for more playoff games, but support was so minimal that those efforts have ceased. Having the San Diego Chargers make the 2008 playoffs at 8-8, while the Patriots missed a wild card at 11-5, confirmed the arguments of those favoring more postseason games. The NFL wants teams with winning records in the playoffs. By the way, don't expect an expansion of the regular season until 2011 at the earliest.
3. If the NFL goes to a 17-game schedule, the owners are set in how the extra home game will be handled. For competitive balance, the extra home game would be alternated between conferences. The NFC, for example, would get nine home games one year. The AFC would get nine home games the next year. The imbalance of the 17-game format, though, has some owners leaning toward the 18-game idea because it's competitively cleaner.
4. The draft-order revision based on how a team does in the playoffs is long overdue. The rule change breezed through with 32-0 support. Under the old rule, all 32 teams drafted in reverse order of their regular-season records, regardless of how the playoff teams finished. Under the new rule, the wild-card round losers get picks 21-24 and the divisional-round losers get 25-28 (based on regular-season records). The championship-game losers get 29 and 30. The Super Bowl loser drafts 31st. The Super Bowl winner selects 32nd. Having the San Diego Chargers draft 16th ahead of an 11-5 Patriots team that didn't make the playoffs is an injustice. Having the Indianapolis Colts drafting 11 spots behind the Chargers after losing a playoff game in San Diego isn't fair, either. Going to the playoffs is a reward for the season. The NFL is all about parity, and the teams that don't make the playoffs should get a better chance to improve in the draft than the playoff teams.
5. The Jacksonville Jaguars might as well forget the idea of pushing for a rule change about playoff seedings. For the second consecutive year, the Jaguars pulled their proposal of having wild-card teams get playoff home games if they have better records than division winners. NFL owners believe in division winners being rewarded with home games. It maximizes the importance of divisional games against a team's true natural rivals. It gives home fans the confidence they will get a home game in the first round of the playoffs if their team wins the division. Often, wild-card teams have better records because of easier schedules. Plus, in the past couple of years, wild-card teams have fought through the three-game rigors of being on the road and going to the Super Bowl. The current format isn't broken.
6. Safety in the NFL outweighs complaints about the game's getting too soft, and that's a good thing. Defensive players feel as though they are being cheated by the Tom Brady rule, which didn't require a vote. In that change, a defensive player such as Chiefs safety Bernard Pollard can't lunge from the ground and hit the knees of a quarterback. The quarterbacks are too important to suffer potential career-ending knee injuries for the sake of defensive bravado. Special-teams coaches are irate that the three-man wedge has been banned on kickoff returns, but the competition committee has stats and tape that show severe neck injuries and concussions from having one defender crash into a three-man wedge. Anyone questioning the validity of outlawing forearm and shoulder hits made on defenseless receivers should see the damage done to players such as Anquan Boldin. The Arizona Cardinals star suffered numerous broken bones to his face on a high hit in the end zone when he was unable to defend himself.
7. The four-year, $4 billion deal between the NFL and DIRECTV doesn't mean the NFL is planning for a lockout to break the NFLPA in upcoming labor talks. The deal shows the NFL still can sell its product in a tough economy. The DIRECTV deal gives owners a $1 billion war chest in case of a lockout in 2011. If there is no football in 2011 because of a lack of a collective bargaining agreement, the owners still get the $1 billion for that season. But, DIRECTV also was able to lock up the NFL for satellite exclusive rights for four more seasons and get the rights to an 18-game schedule if the NFL expands the regular season. DIRECTV already was paying $700 million a season. It was the smart business move. While this contract gives the NFL owners plenty of revenue in case of a lockout, it's just a smart extension of a good deal that works for them. In summing up the owners' meeting, Goodell said the intent of the league and owners is to get a deal with the players to grow the game. You can believe that, because having no football for any period of time is not good for either team owners or players.
8. Seeing the interest in Jay Cutler might have convinced Denver Broncos coach Josh McDaniels to try to mend his relationship with the star instead of trying to trade the quarterback. As many as 10 teams were interested in Cutler, but all they could do is get word to the Broncos about their interest. It became pretty clear Cutler could have become the hottest trade commodity in the NFL in more than a decade. Once he got to the meetings, McDaniels continued to try to text or call Cutler. Now, Cutler is considering going to the Broncos' facility. McDaniels, despite failing to ease Cutler's anger about interest in Matt Cassel, is willing to work with his quarterback. Expect trade considerations to subside in the next two weeks.
9. West Coast teams feel slighted even more after the East Coast teams received attention in future scheduling formulas. Starting in 2010, you won't see the Patriots or the New York Jets -- for example -- getting West Coast road trips to Oakland and San Diego in the same season. But there's no change for AFC West and NFC West division teams. They have two AFC or two NFC road trips to the East Coast or Midwest each season unless the AFC West and NFC West are scheduled to play each other. That AFC West versus NFC West alignment happens every four seasons. The complaints of West Coast teams about 10 a.m. PT starts to accommodate East Coast viewers, however, weren't addressed or changed.
10. Owners started setting agendas and priorities with their important labor talks with the NFLPA. Player costs have soared to $4.5 billion and owners are concerned about the economy and the last CBA extension. The NFL wants labor peace. It wants to fix a broken rookie contract system that has allowed top greenhorns to get contracts worth $11 million a year. It is concerned about the uncapped year in 2010. Without a CBA in place, a lockout could occur in 2011. Internally, some owners want a better formula for revenue sharing. The NFL has a year to resolve these problems.
Senior NFL writer John Clayton covers the NFL for ESPN.com.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?columnist=clayton_john&id=4017569
