The NFL is expected to add two playoff teams and reduce the number of teams getting a playoff bye in the next collective bargaining agreement, and that agreement could be completed within a week, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Wednesday night.
According to the report, league sources indicated to ESPN the proposal would have seven teams from each conference qualify for the playoffs, up from six. Only one team from each conference would receive a bye in the wild-card round, down from two teams.
Under the current transformational CBA proposal that NFL owners are pushing for, there would be more drama at the end of the regular season…and six – six! – games on wild-card weekend. Imagine three wild-card games on Saturday, then three more Sunday. — Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) February 20, 2020
Under the current transformational CBA proposal that NFL owners are pushing for, there would be more drama at the end of the regular season…and six – six! – games on wild-card weekend. Imagine three wild-card games on Saturday, then three more Sunday.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) February 20, 2020
Had that format been in place for the 2019 season, the Pittsburgh Steelers (8-8) and Los Angeles Rams (9-7) would have made the playoffs. The addition of a proposed 17th regular-season game could have furthered altered that scenario.
“That’s been agreed to for a long time,” a source familiar with the CBA talks told Schefter about the popularity of the proposed playoff changes. “There wasn’t a lot of disagreement to that issue.”
According to Schefter, the teams that get the first-round bye would get postseason pay for that weekend of rest, something that does not happen under the current CBA.
More on the transformational CBA proposal now on the table, per sources: As part of the new deal, players go from 47% share under current deal to 48% share at 16 games, and then to 48.5% share if they go to 17 games, shifting $5 billion of revenue to players’ side. — Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) February 20, 2020
More on the transformational CBA proposal now on the table, per sources: As part of the new deal, players go from 47% share under current deal to 48% share at 16 games, and then to 48.5% share if they go to 17 games, shifting $5 billion of revenue to players’ side.
The biggest sticking point in recent weeks when it came to hammering out a new CBA was reportedly over whether the league would add the 17th game to the regular season. Schefter reported that is still one of the “final issues” to be worked out, and that a 17th regular-season game would not be added to the schedule until 2021 at the earliest..
The current CBA was ratified in 2011 and is set to expire following the 2020 season.
“I’d be very surprised if there’s not a new CBA for the new league year,” a source told Schefter.
Had the playoff structure now on the table for the 2020 season been in effect this past season, the Steelers and Rams would have been in the postseason, playing on wild-card weekend.https://t.co/1eeUzVIbyB — Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) February 19, 2020
Had the playoff structure now on the table for the 2020 season been in effect this past season, the Steelers and Rams would have been in the postseason, playing on wild-card weekend.https://t.co/1eeUzVIbyB
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) February 19, 2020
–Field Level Media (@FieldLevelMedia)
The San Francisco Giants will look to further close the gap in their all-time rivalry with the visiting Oakland Athletics when they seek a second straight win Wednesday night in…
The Cleveland Guardians and Los Angeles Angels will play the third game of their four-game series Wednesday night in Anaheim, Calif., as the Guardians try to rediscover their offense. Cleveland’s…
The Los Angeles Kings are playoff-bound for the first time since the 2017-18 season. The Kings (43-27-10, 96 points) punched their postseason ticket Tuesday night when Dallas defeated Vegas in…
Guardians, slumping Franmil Reyes take on Shohei Ohtani’s Angels
Playoff-bound Kings seek to keep Kraken reeling
Six-man rotation kicks in as Astros, Cristian Javier face Rangers
Jason Robertson, Stars can lock up playoff berth vs. Coyotes