Big Changes Could Be Coming To The NFL Offseason

ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that the NFL is considering some major changes to the offseason calendar.

Some the changes would include:

• Pushing the Scouting Combine back to early March
• Pushing the free agency back to early April
• Pushing the NFL Draft back to early May
• All teams start training camp on the same day

Schefter adds that the idea here is to simply “make football relevant over longer period” and include one large event in each of these months.

The NFL already has a foothold on television rating while the regular season is in progress, but this could clearly take the offseason to a heightened level.

Schefter mentions that these changes would lead to “bigger ratings” and “bigger dollars,” which is most likely how they’ll be selling the proposed changes to the NFLPA, who will have to agree to any adjustments.

We’re obviously a big proponent these changes, as the NFL offseason is especially of interest to us. We would also like to see them push back the NFL trade deadline even further, so that teams would have a greater incentive to make a trade that could lead to a playoff run. As of now, the trade deadline is far less interesting than either the NBA or the MLB’s.

Starting the offseason in February could lead to more interest in both the Senior Bowl and the East-West Shrine games. On top of that, it could pave the way for the 18 game season that the owners have been trying to negotiate in recent years.

The NFL clearly has their eyes set on total domination and appears to willing to be aggressive in positioning themselves to maximize their current position. We’ll have to see what comes this in the next few months.