SmashMouth

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said recently that the NFL is looking at ways to make the preseason better for its fans and most would point to cutting the number of preseason games as the place to start.

It appears that point of view is taking hold. Mark Maske of the Washington Post reports that people familiar with the league’s thinking are “increasingly convinced” the preseason will be shortened in the near future.

Losing those games would cost teams revenue, which has led to a concurrent discussion about expanding the regular season. That notion has been met with strong resistance from the NFLPA and Maske reports that the league is shifting gears in response.

Maske reports that expanded playoffs will be the “likely focus” of future talks about cutting preseason games. He adds that the league believes they could act to cut the playoffs and increase the playoffs on its own, but that current consideration of a move is being done within “the context of bargaining between the owners and the NFLPA” on a new Collective Bargaining Agreement.

The potential change would give each league seven playoff teams while eliminating one of the two byes currently handed out. It’s expected that one of the six first round games would be played on Monday night.

PFT