34 teams, 18 games, 2 more wild card teams ?

All those things lead to a poorer product on the field.

That's irrelevant.

IMO, there are plenty of players out there at every position except QB to add two teams.

This talk about an expansion is just Goodell trying to play nice by BSing the fans and city officials in St. Louis and San Diego. It's becoming more and more evident every day that the Rams are counting down the days until they can go back to LA, and the Chargers may end up going north on I-5 right around the same time.

quote:

Originally posted by chickenboy:
IMO, there are plenty of players out there at every position except QB to add two teams.

It's far more feasible in the NFL than say, the NBA, but team depth would take a massive hit. Take a look at the Packers this year- our biggest complaint was that they had too many guys on the field that weren't good enough- Zombo, Walden, Peprah... how much worse would the league be if there were 25 teams that have incompetant players like that on the field?

But the part that wold take the biggest hit is coaching. While you could say that the talent would defnitely get watered down on the field, the biggest impact would be on the sideline, IMO. Coaching in the NFL matters more than in any sport.

quote:

Originally posted by FreeSafety:
All those things lead to a poorer product on the field.

And more money to the owners and players. Money wins every single time. It will happen. Still don't see a London franchise though. The logistics...

I wouldn't mind seeing an 18 game schedule and an expanded roster. I would also like injured reserved players able to come back any time they are ready.

And...get rid of two preseason games.

quote:

Originally posted by FreeSafety:
All those things lead to a poorer product on the field.

Very true.

There's alot of things about the NFL that are better than in the pre-salary cap era. But the one thing that to me has sort of taken a little of the fun away is the inability of teams to stay together for very long. In an ideal world, the Pack would have been able to keep Cullen Jenkins, Nick Barnett, Brandon Jackson, etc. for a couple more years, but due to free agency and the salary cap, teams have to let key guys walk every year.

Free agency and the cap has certainly kept the NFL interesting, but it has diluted the product overall. And some veteran players that could still help a team are looked on as lepers as their cap number is just too high. That's been an unfortunate part of the new NFL these past 15-18 years or so.

Going to 34 teams is going to dilute the product some more.

I've never been a big fan of expanding the playoffs. I like the elite character of the teams that have the honor of going to the playoffs. I just don't want to see 8-8 and 7-9 teams in the playoffs every year.

I do like the idea of getting rid of the bye, so i'm at a bit of an impasse with myself.

quote:

Originally posted by Music City:
... how much worse would the league be if there were 25 teams that have incompetant players like that on the field?

On the surface it seems like the product would be watered down but it would also give opportunity to develop to the next 106 best football players in the world. Out of that pool I have no doubt stars would be found.

It also seems like it doesn't matter who a team puts on defense anymore. The rules are so far tilted in the favor of the offense it seems near impossible to build a defense that can dominate.

So if they go with 34 teams what cities get the teams? It goes without saying the NFL wants Los Angeles badly but what other city gets a team? San Antonio? not sure is the Cowpies and Texans want another Texas based team. Las Vegas? maybe but will a professional team really want to be so close to gambling?

quote:

Originally posted by chickenboy:
IMO, there are plenty of players out there at every position except QB to add two teams.

Offensive line would be even worse than QB. You want more dead quarterbacks, keep adding more teams.

As long as Rodgers is not KO'ed I'm all for seeing more QBs get concussed. I miss the old Stan Humphries days.

quote:

2 more WC teams: I actually like this idea... get rid of the bye week.

Agree. F the bye week.

quote:

Originally posted by The Heckler:
So if they go with 34 teams what cities get the teams? It goes without saying the NFL wants Los Angeles badly but what other city gets a team? San Antonio? not sure is the Cowpies and Texans want another Texas based team. Las Vegas? maybe but will a professional team really want to be so close to gambling?

I believe there are many MN fans that would love to gain a professional team.

i knew that was coming, ...