NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell drew a strong reaction when he talked about expanding the playoffs to 14 or 16 teams earlier this week. It's not the first time the topic has come up, but NFL.com's Albert Breer explained Friday that the details surrounding this proposal will be different.
Breer reported that this playoff expansion talk will come as part of larger considerations to reformat the NFL season. Any proposal for adding postseason games likely would come with the elimination of some preseason games, perhaps with a move to a 16-and-2 format with just two preseason weeks.
Goodell often has spoken about the poor quality of NFL preseason games. The most likely scenario would be to lop off two weeks entirely.
Breer reported there was no discussion about expanding the playoffs at the meeting in Dallas this week; the idea simply was introduced. It will be discussed further at the league's annual meeting in March.
When the concept first was broached in 2006 by then-Kansas City Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt, fellow NFL owners quickly turned it down. Perhaps Goodell publicly floated the idea to see what the reaction would be. From what we can tell, it hasn't been positive.
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