Expanded NFL playoffs all about the profits, not the product

First, the good news: The NFL and NFLPA appear close to finalizing a new collective-bargaining agreement. That means that fans of the most popular league in the country should see business hum along without interruption.

Now, the bad: Based on current reports, part of the deal includes an expanded postseason, one with seven qualifiers from each conference.

What, you thought that was a good thing? Wrong. The NFL playoffs should not be trifled with. The current setup works perfectly, and it serves to further underscore the importance of the regular season. The two first-round byes in each conference are coveted, and the season’s final weeks are always chock-full of games with do-or-die stakes.

This change would bring the NFL closer in line with the NHL and NBA, where over half the league makes the playoffs. That’s a bad thing. In 2019, a 14-team field would have included the Steelers in the AFC and the Rams in the NFC.

Anyone who watched the Steelers knows they weren’t a playoff-quality outfit, not without Ben Roethlisberger. The Rams? They couldn’t beat the Steelers. Both teams likely would have been shredded in their first-round matchups.

Teams fall just short of the postseason every year, and it stings. Fans are disappointed, and players lose out on the potential for a few playoff bonus checks. That’s how it should be. The current system makes for predictable intrigue in the sense that at least four new teams have made the postseason every year since 1990. That kind of turnover is a good thing, particularly for a league that prizes parity above all else. More teams in the field likely means a reduction in year-to-year turnover, and that’s bad for the product.

The system is not broken, so why is the NFL trying to fix it? Money, of course.

A seven-team field with just one bye means six games on Wild Card Weekend, up from the current four. That’s a 50 percent increase. Couple it with a 17-game schedule, also likely with a new CBA — though not slated to start until 2021 — and everyone gets richer. For the players, it means that $5 billion could be headed their way.

About the only good thing that will come of this is the fact that the NFL’s meaningless preseason would be shortened from four games to three. Still, the league could have done that without changing the playoffs or adding to the regular season.

It is telling that the owners are the ones pushing for the playoff and regular-season alterations. That should tell you all you need to know about the motivation behind these proposed changes. The spin might be all about making more excitement for fans, but it’s really about creating more wealth for a select few.

This is about greed, nothing more. The NFLPA is on board, so long as it feels the players will be getting their fair share. At some point, though, constantly reaching for more profit will backfire. What happens at the next CBA? An 18-game schedule? Two more teams added to the playoff mix? Why stop there? Why not do away with the preseason altogether, play 20 regular-season games and have 18 teams make the playoffs?

Call me old-fashioned, naïve or a combination of the two, because I’m pining for an NFL where the status quo is good enough, where making the playoffs is an accomplishment, where everything isn’t about the bottom line, but that’s where I am.

American sports fans are playoff-obsessed, but watering down the field will make me less interested, not more. Even the inevitable major upsets here and there aren’t worth the trade-off. These gripes will fall on deaf ears, however. As usual with the NFL, it’s full steam ahead when it comes to making money. It’s the league’s only true purpose, and one it pursues with vigor.

Remember that while you’re celebrating more playoff games and an expanded regular season. You might like the changes, but they’re not for your benefit. With the NFL, they never are.