Preseason length

[redbuck]

It seems to come up on every broadcast, especially the dull ones. But there seems to be a very widespread opinion that the preseason should be shortened. Agree?

Owners want 10 home games so it's hard to convince them to go with my hope - 2 preseason, 16 reg season. I don't want to lengthen the regular season because the more games, the less meaningful each game is. So what's the solution?

[Argonaut Fan]

How do the players feel? Is there general disklike of preseason games for them? You would think that they wouldn't want to risk their season in a meaningless game.

[football junkie]

This could become a key issue in the next Collective Bargaining Agreement. I think the owners and vendors are going to have to "take one for the team." Because I think the players' union is going to make a serious issue of there being way too many pre-season games and way too many two-a-days in training camp.

How many star players do we have to see injured every year? How many teams have to lose key players every year? How many millions are teams and players and insurance companies willing to lose because of these injuries?

This could get ugly.

[Argonaut Fan]

Anyone know if there has been a player vote, or anything like that? I can imagine that some like the prep time, but lots of others hate the risk.

[football junkie]

I think Clinton Portis summed up the player's position perfectly the other day when he questioned why he had to play in a meaningless game and get injured in it and maybe miss valuable regular season playing time and endanger his career.

There are several opposed economic interests here. But I'm not sure how long they're going to be opposed. The owner and vendors want 10 home games so they can make more money. But what happens if the insurance companies that underwrite NFL contracts start writing in provisions stating that if a player gets hurt in a preseason game that the insurance company won't pay the team the player's salary? Then the team owner -- who has a guaranteed contract with the player is paying millions out of pocket and the profits from the extra home games are completely eroded -- like the insurance companies have been being burnt for a few too many years now.

I don't know if there's been any player survey.

But I know if players know that insurance companies won't insure their contracts if they play in preseason games -- you can pretty much put a swift end to them entirely. Some sort of compromise is going to have to be reached to minimize the chance of player injury -- and the millions of dollars in losses those injuries cause.

[Argonaut Fan]

Portis' point of vue is evident. What I was wondering, was how the "average" player felt. Portis probably feels this way because he is a star, and doesn't feel that he needs to work hard to earn his spot. But others, without the "natural ability" that Portis has, might feel that they need the game minutes of pre-season to get warmed-up for the real season.

Its usually true that the opinion of a star player is rarely shared by all players in the league.

[football junkie]

I think with year long mini-camps and a six week training camp leading up to NFL regular season opener that teams now have a better idea than they did in the past what they have on their teams.

If players show up in the voluntary off-season mini-camps and perform and do the same in the mandatory off-season mini-camps and then come in to training camp and practice well and play well in say two preseason games I don't think much of anything would be missed in terms talent evaluation and or players trying impress coaches.