The new president of the NFL Players Association says his main goal in his new position is to prevent the players from accepting the status quo.
Except when it comes to the possible expansions of the regular season and the playoff field.
Eric Winston, an eight-year NFL veteran who is currently a free agent, was named as the NFLPA players' representative on Wednesday. He played his first six years with the Houston Texans before moving to the Kansas City Chiefs for one year and then the Arizona Cardinals in 2013.
In a question and answer interview with USA TODAY Sports, Winston was asked about the possibilities of expanding the NFL regular season to 18 games and/or expanding the playoff field to 14 teams.
He said he wasn't in favor of either.
"I can tell you 16 to 18's dead in the water. I won't let it happen," Winston told USA TODAY Sports. "I don't think any of these other guys are going to let it happen. It's a safety issue. Now, if you're start talking about playoff games, how is that structured? How is that worked out? What are we talking about here? How's that other team getting in? I think it goes to a broad structure and it speaks differently than we're talking about having 32 teams play two more games apiece. That's a very microscopic view of one more playoff team (per conference), and that's something that will be looked at and looked at hard by the players because there are some guys that might want it. But if it's some broad stroke, then we're probably not going to go for it."
The NFL has been looking into adding teams to create additional television revenue through adding one more playoff game in each conference. That idea, which has met with opposition from most NFL fans who like the current 12-team format, nevertheless is being considered as an additional revenue stream.
Not very many people outside the league had a positive opinion of adding two games to the regular season either. That idea also developed by the league in a brainstorming session on how to increase revenues across the board.The new president of the NFL Players Association says his main goal in his new position is to prevent the players from accepting the status quo.
Except when it comes to the possible expansions of the regular season and the playoff field.
Eric Winston, an eight-year NFL veteran who is currently a free agent, was named as the NFLPA players' representative on Wednesday. He played his first six years with the Houston Texans before moving to the Kansas City Chiefs for one year and then the Arizona Cardinals in 2013.
In a question and answer interview with USA TODAY Sports, Winston was asked about the possibilities of expanding the NFL regular season to 18 games and/or expanding the playoff field to 14 teams.
He said he wasn't in favor of either.
"I can tell you 16 to 18's dead in the water. I won't let it happen," Winston told USA TODAY Sports. "I don't think any of these other guys are going to let it happen. It's a safety issue. Now, if you're start talking about playoff games, how is that structured? How is that worked out? What are we talking about here? How's that other team getting in? I think it goes to a broad structure and it speaks differently than we're talking about having 32 teams play two more games apiece. That's a very microscopic view of one more playoff team (per conference), and that's something that will be looked at and looked at hard by the players because there are some guys that might want it. But if it's some broad stroke, then we're probably not going to go for it."
The NFL has been looking into adding teams to create additional television revenue through adding one more playoff game in each conference. That idea, which has met with opposition from most NFL fans who like the current 12-team format, nevertheless is being considered as an additional revenue stream.
Not very many people outside the league had a positive opinion of adding two games to the regular season either. That idea also developed by the league in a brainstorming session on how to increase revenues across the board.
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