PFT: Goodell Interested In Launching New Developmental League

[WoodysGirl]

Posted by Aaron Wilson on March 25, 2009, 11:25 p.m.

With NFL Europe a defunct ghost of the past, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is brainstorming about establishing a new developmental league as he contemplates expanding the regular season and cutting into the preseason schedule.

According to the Associated Press, there’s no current agenda afoot to launch a developmental league. However, it’s definitely on Goodell’s wish list.

“The way we look at the developmental league would be mostly in the offseason where players could get those reps and then have the opportunity to play in the NFL as they work into the season,” Goodell said. “That’s the key. That’s what we did with the NFL Europe structure, for example. That would be valuable, I think, as you look at how we develop our players.”

Of course, NFL Europe was canceled in 2007 as it lost roughly $30 million annually.

Now, the league is concentrating on developing international interest by putting on regular-season games outside the United States.

Goodell said there was some confusion as to whether NFL Europe was intended to be strictly a developmental league or utilized as an international marketing tool.

“If it was a developmental league, it should be done for that purpose, for the purpose of developing players,” Goodell said. “So, the commercial aspects, the international aspects, I think those would become secondary.

“That was my issue primarily with NFL Europe was that, what objective was it trying to meet? Was it trying to develop players? Was it trying to grow our game internationally, trying to be a commercial success?”

Of course, Goodell’s desire to start a new developmental league will require cooperation from the NFL Players Association. And labor unrest is in the air in the NFL.

“In the 2006 extension of the labor agreement, we lost any support from the players in respect to funding,” Goodell said. “So, the economics became dramatically different. That was the major reason why we decided to terminate it.

“So, I think all of those things would have to be factored in and, of course, this would be part of the discussions of the collective bargaining process.”

It seems like such a long time ago that Kurt Warner was allocated to NFL Europe by the St. Louis Rams.

In 1998, Warner wound up leading NFL Europe in touchdown passes and passing yardage with the Amsterdam Admirals. His backup was future Carolina Panthers starting quarterback Jake Delhomme.

 

[theogt]

It's called the NCAA.

 

[theebs]

It's called the NCAA.

Or in some cases, the California penal league...

Or florida, texas, ny etc.....

 

[CATCH17]

I really hope the season stays at 16 games.

Goodell is going to wussify and screw this league up.

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

It's called the NCAA.

I hate the fact that div 1A college athletes are compensated with a scholarship worth ~$25k a year. When you are dealing with athletes from the big schools and they are taking in hundreds of millions of dollars in profits off of their labors, its tantamount to indentured servitude.

Factor in the rate of attrition of the sport and its usury plain and simple.

I hate the NCAA and will never support them directly or through proxy.

 

[theogt]

I hate the fact that div 1A college athletes are compensated with a scholarship worth ~$25k a year. When you are dealing with athletes from the big schools and they are taking in hundreds of millions of dollars in profits off of their labors, its tantamount to indentured servitude.

Factor in the rate of attrition of the sport and its usury plain and simple.

I hate the NCAA and will never support them directly or through proxy.

Hopefully they're getting an education as well, which is priceless. [/cornyness]

 

[CATCH17]

I hate the fact that div 1A college athletes are compensated with a scholarship worth ~$25k a year. When you are dealing with athletes from the big schools and they are taking in hundreds of millions of dollars in profits off of their labors, its tantamount to indentured servitude.

Factor in the rate of attrition of the sport and its usury plain and simple.

I hate the NCAA and will never support them directly or through proxy.

Or the fact they are so money hungry that they don't even have legit Champions.

 

[Stash]

I have no idea why the NFL hasn't capitalized on a minor league system at this point.

They'll do everything short of it, like the World League, NFL Europe, getting into the Arena League, the CFL, all of it.

Why the won't simply start-up a true minor league/developmental league is beyond me.

I'd watch a guy who had any sort of chance to play for the Cowboys and I'm sure other NFL fans would do the same with regard to their favorite team.

And they could either use the NFL logo or use a variation of it (like they do with the Desparados).

I think that would work better than the halfway attempts of the past.

 

[notherbob]

I became so disgusted with the NCAA and its idiotic decisions that I quit watching all NCAA events in all sports decades ago and will not watch any until they institute football playoffs to determine the champions instead of catering to the billionaire bowl sponsors.

 

[stardeep]

I have no idea why the NFl hasn't capitalized on a minor league system at this point.

They'll do everything short of it, like the World League, NFL Europe, getting into the Arena League, the CFL, all of it.

Why the won't simply start-up a true minor league/developmental league is beyond me.

I'd watch a guy who had any sort of chance to play for the Cowboys and I'm sure other NFL fans would do the same with regard to their favorite team.

And they could either use the NFL logo or use a variation of it (like they do with the Desparados).

I think that would work better than the halfway attempts of the past.

I'm with you, Stasheroo. The off-season is so long; I would watch every game -- and really enjoy it -- if the Cowboys had a farm team.

 

[Randy White]

mistake, imo, the NFL is making when it comes to this " developmental " leagues is WHEN they chose to play their games.

A developmental league would better serve the NFL if their season is played DURING the NFL regular season. Those games can be played during Thursday, Friday, and even Saturday nights. The reasoning behind it is that developmental leagues are supposed to do what it's name suggests: develop talent, and playing football year 'round, like an off-season schedule suggests, doesn't do that.

You set up a 16 teams developmental league ( two NFL parent clubs per team ) with two 8 teams conferences and 4 divisions of 4 teams. The season would initially be composed of 10 regular season games ( each division team playing each other twice for a total of 6 division games, plus 2 games from within conference, plus 2 out of conference games ), 2 playoffs games, and 1 championship game. Only the 4 division winners make it to the playoffs. The season would start on the 3rd Thursday of September ( meaning all rosters must be set by no later than September 1st, to give time to players being sent down from the NFL training camp to get used to their new systems ), and end with the championship game on the second Saturday of December.

The developmental rosters would consist of 46 players, no more than 20 players provided by each parent club who holds their exclusive rights plus 6 unsponsered players, eligible to sign with any club at any time. The developmental players could be called up to the NFL at any time before the playoffs begin, and those who are, could be automatically replaced by an " unsponsered " player if the parent club chooses to do that or by an unsigned player they choose to sponsor.

Players participating in the developmental league who's rights do NOT belong to any NFL club cannot be more than 5 years out of college or draft class, if they declared early, and cannot be signed to longer than 3 years contracts, unless they're draftees signed to original NFL contracts. Unsponsered players do not have restrictions of age or out of school/draft timeline.

:starspin

 

[Randy White]

I'm with you, Stasheroo. The off-season is so long; I would watch every game -- and really enjoy it -- if the Cowboys had a farm team.

You don't want Cowboys developmental players playing in the off-season. You want them in camp ( wether is in Dallas or in minor league team ) training. An NFL season is, roughly 24 weeks ( including pre-season and playoffs- if they make it ) That's 6 months out of the year in constant training and playing. Now you add another 4 to 5 months to that ( with an off season schedule ) and what you end up with is a beat up player who's burned out before he's reached his prime.

That's one of the main reasons why NFL Europe players seldom made any impact.

 

[TellerMorrow34]

I wouldn't mind a developemental league cause I actually enjoyed watching NFL Europe games cause it gave me something to watch in the offseason.

I do hope they keep the season at 16 games though. There's really no need to go to 18 games.

 

[Randy White]

I wouldn't mind a developemental league cause I actually enjoyed watching NFL Europe games cause it gave me something to watch in the offseason.

I do hope they keep the season at 16 games though. There's really no need to go to 18 games.

I disagree.. 4 and 5 NFL pre-season games are a waste. It doesn't do anybody any good.

Of course, the bad news in moving to an 18 games season is that all present stat records would likely be in danger of being broken ( hello, Emmitt ), but then again, that was also true when the league moved from 12 to 14 and then from 14 to 16 games a year.

 

[CF74]

Here's an idea. How 'bout we increase the roster size to 60 players and have a practice squad league that plays 5 games, 2 playoff games, and one championship game.

 

[HoleInTheRoof]

A "developmental" league?

Boring.

 

[big dog cowboy]

With NFL Europe a defunct ghost of the past, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is brainstorming about establishing a new developmental league

Who is going to run it? Vince McMahon?

 

[jazzcat22]

Who is going to run it? Vince McMahon?

I'm sure Deion will be campaigning for it before too long.....

 

[joseephuss]

I disagree.. 4 and 5 NFL pre-season games are a waste. It doesn't do anybody any good.

Of course, the bad news in moving to an 18 games season is that all present stat records would likely be in danger of being broken ( hello, Emmitt ), but then again, that was also true when the league moved from 12 to 14 and then from 14 to 16 games a year.

Four or five pre-season games are too many. They should be cut down by 2 games, but I don't want to see 2 regular season games added. What do you gain by cutting 2 pre-season games and replacing them with 2 regular season games? In those 2 pre-season games the players probably see less than 25% of the action. Now they want to add 2 games where the same players will see 100% of the action. I think you end up with more injuries that way. I think the grind of 16 regular season games is the upper limit. Adding more would really wear down the players.

I think after cutting 2 pre-season games then they can add a second bye week. That will help teams stay healthy.

I also don't think they need a full developmental league. I would like larger rosters and practices squads. That keeps players with their teams learning the same systems and getting acclimated to their team mates.

 

[jswalker1981]

mistake, imo, the NFL is making when it comes to this " developmental " leagues is WHEN they chose to play their games.

A developmental league would better serve the NFL if their season is played DURING the NFL regular season. Those games can be played during Thursday, Friday, and even Saturday nights. The reasoning behind it is that developmental leagues are supposed to do what it's name suggests: develop talent, and playing football year 'round, like an off-season schedule suggests, doesn't do that.

You set up a 16 teams developmental league ( two NFL parent clubs per team ) with two 8 teams conferences and 4 divisions of 4 teams. The season would initially be composed of 10 regular season games ( each division team playing each other twice for a total of 6 division games, plus 2 games from within conference, plus 2 out of conference games ), 2 playoffs games, and 1 championship game. Only the 4 division winners make it to the playoffs. The season would start on the 3rd Thursday of September ( meaning all rosters must be set by no later than September 1st, to give time to players being sent down from the NFL training camp to get used to their new systems ), and end with the championship game on the second Saturday of December.

The developmental rosters would consist of 46 players, no more than 20 players provided by each parent club who holds their exclusive rights plus 6 unsponsered players, eligible to sign with any club at any time. The developmental players could be called up to the NFL at any time before the playoffs begin, and those who are, could be automatically replaced by an " unsponsered " player if the parent club chooses to do that or by an unsigned player they choose to sponsor.

Players participating in the developmental league who's rights do NOT belong to any NFL club cannot be more than 5 years out of college or draft class, if they declared early, and cannot be signed to longer than 3 years contracts, unless they're draftees signed to original NFL contracts. Unsponsered players do not have restrictions of age or out of school/draft timeline.

:starspin

They are already doing something like this. It is the UFL, they are going to take players that are released from teams at the end of preseason and they will play till December than the players could join an NFL team in time for the end of the season and playoffs.