NFL Considers Cutting Preseason to Three Games

The NFL scouting combine doesn’t just herald the unofficial start to a new football season, it also coincides with the competition committee meeting. This season, the main point of discussion appears to be the reduction of the league’s preseason to three games.

Green Bay Packers president Mark Murphy, a committee member since 2012, was in favor of the changes that would allow his team to play one less preseason game in 2016. As it stands, the Packers will meet the Colts in the Hall of Fame game, meaning the rule change would restrict those two teams to just four games, while every other franchise would play only three.

“I think there would be support for three,” said Murphy. “Rather than playing that fourth game on a Thursday…don’t play a fourth game and then you’d have an extra week. We’ve looked at different models, but I think that’s the one that makes the most sense.”

“You’re giving up some revenue, but it’s one of the worst things we do,” he continued. “The move we made on variable [ticket] pricing helps a little bit in how preseason is viewed, but especially that fourth game is kind of a throwaway.”

Murphy is referring to the perceived price gouging the NFL engages in when it comes to preseason action. For too long, football-starved fans continued to pay full price for lacklustre affairs featuring backups, roster hopefuls and a generally poor quality exhibition. And while some compromise has been met, even the Packers front office can’t justify the extra money weighed against the increased risk of injury.

And who can blame them? Last preseason, the team lost the offense’s most important player outside of Aaron Rodgers, #1 receiver Jordy Nelson, to a season-ending ACL tear. The game in which he was injured, a week three affair against Pittsburgh, also saw All-Pro center Maurkice Pouncey go down for the year. The Steelers also lost two kickers to bookmark the preseason, and were forced to start the woeful Josh Scobee for a quarter of the regular season.

It’s hard to picture the fans kicking up much of a stink over this change, either. The exhilaration that comes with the return of football is quickly met with apathy as viewers realise a game played by nobodies ultimately means nothing.

If the NFL can get kickoffs moved forward in the interests of “player safety”, surely this one is a no-brainer.