NFL owners passed a measure to potentially expand the playoffs to 16 teams in the event the entire regular season schedule is not played as currently planned due to the pandemic, but it was not without some significant brushback. League sources said there is a vocal minority of owners who were very much against the measure, and it is unlikely to be a precursor to any future expansion of the postseason field.
The league had already negotiated the expansion of the playoff field to 14 games for the 2021 season -- well before Covid began altering the landscape of professional sports -- which had some detractors as well within league circles. But adding one extra playoff game in each conference, obviously significantly increases revenue, and it eventually passed despite concerns about having below .500 teams in the playoffs with perhaps more regularity.
The addition of an eighth team as part of the proposal to reseed and alter some tiebreakers in light of a season that finishes with fewer than 256 games played was seen as even more controversial and though it did pass, those not in favor of it have made it clear how strongly they oppose it. Those ownership groups do not want it to be viewed as any sort of trial balloon or precursor to more playoff expansion, league sources said, even if everyone in the 2021 playoff field ends up having winning records.
"It's a slippery slope we shouldn't easily go down," said an executive with one team who opposed the proposal. "We aren't the only ones pushing back on it."
Thus far the NFL has not had to cancel a game due to the pandemic, but it is happening with greater frequency in the college game, and the number of Covid cases and deaths continues to soar in many states. The NFL and NFLPA continue to speak regularly about ways to continue to try to keep the season on track but know that the number of players and staff who contract the virus will undoubtedly increase as we get into the winter months.
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Expanded NFL playoffs in case of shortened season had strong opposition, not a harbinger of things to come - CBS Sports
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