Phinsider Question Of The Day 03/28/2021

As we noted in last night’s PQOTD post and as Kevin noted in his own post this morning the NFL is more or less on a crash course towards a 17 game schedule starting this coming season. The option for this was written into the latest collective bargaining agreement and most everyone, I think, knew that it was only a matter of time before the owners opted for it in a way to make more money. The understanding that I have, from what I have read is that with all the television contracts being redone recently, minus NFL Sunday Ticket, that any extra games, aka the 17th game being added, will require each network to anti up extra cash for the extra game.

Now the biggest issue I see with this happening, now that everyone is sure that it is going to happen this year, is that we have an off-balanced season as to the number of games. As far as records or other things that the schedule determines like who wins a division or makes the playoffs it should not matter or change anything in any real way other than you can’t go .500 anymore, at least for now. The issue is that some teams will have more home games some seasons than others and to that end, and given the greed of the NFL as a whole does anyone really think that it's very long before the owners are pushing for a full 18 games to once again balance the schedule as far as home and away games?

I think the union will fight it like hell but in the end, the people that hold all the dollars make all the rules and the owners will get their way. They will make some BS concessions in an attempt to appease the players and the union but the players are going to have the stance that it’s far less safe for players to play extra games. We all know that playing football at any level comes with a high level of risk that only rises as the players get bigger and stronger and faster as they transition from high school to college and then on to the pros. The owners and the league always claim that player safety is their priority but money will always talk more than the well-being of any companies employees.

There is the argument that the players also do not have to make the decision to play such an unsafe game and the fact that they are very well compensated but there has to be a happy middle ground where both can get what they want without seeing some of the horrible long-term outcomes that we have seen with certain players. The other answer to these concerns that we are likely to see is more major rule changes. Some things probably should change and if they do not change the spirit of the game and at the same time reduce serious injuries, especially head injuries, then I think we are all for them. But like me, many other fans of the game are concerned that at some point you will change the game so much that we no longer recognize it as the same game that we all love.

So tonight’s Phinsider Question Of The Day is do you see this move to the 17th game per season as just a stepping stone for what the owners most likely really want, 18 games, and do you favor this move, or do you think it’s a bad idea and we were already fine with 16 games? What effect do you think this will have on the players and/or the game in the long run and is this once again an example of the NFL overplaying their hand or do you think they will find success on the new road they have decided to take?

Give us your thoughts below-

As this is a nightly post (when there is not a live game thread) also feel free to not only discuss the question/topic of the day but to use this as a live thread where the rules are pretty wide open, and you can discuss nearly anything so long as your continue to follow the site rules. Speaking of site rules the three rules that come with a zero-tolerance policy are that we do not allow ANY personal attacks against your fellow ‘Phins fan or even a troll from another site. Flag it and walk away, do not get yourself banned over another’s stupidity. Beyond that, there is no discussion or even references to anything remotely religious or political. There are plenty of sites for those discussions elsewhere but this is not and never will be one of them.