NFL Reportedly Exploring Cutting Length of Preseason by Up to 2 Games

Another year, another round of rumors about the NFL's push to cut preseason games. Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reported the league is currently considering cutting the exhibition season by as many as two games, though talks are merely in the monetary stages now.

The NFL continues to generate revenue via preseason games, though the games are widely derided by fans and players alike. Much of that revenue comes by forcing season-ticket holders to pony up for preseason contests as part of their agreement, and it's still enough that the league won't make a move until a new revenue stream is in place.

As it stands, the likeliest options involve expanding the regular season or the playoffs. The latter option feels the most feasible, both from a public relations and collective-bargaining sense.

In today's cultural climate, in which many families are considering keeping their children away from football altogether, it'd be a hard sell for Commissioner Roger Goodell to introduce additional regular-season games.

It would undoubtedly cause a wave of criticism from media and fans who have become increasingly concerned with player safety. Late-season contests are already laden with so many injuries that some teams are unrecognizable from their Week 1 form.       

However, adding playoff teams adds the potential for the NFL to add games without alienating its fanbase. Only playoff-eligible teams will have games added to their schedule in this scenario, and rather than merely adding to their workload, these extra games could be seen as a reward. 

Moreover, the NFL would have the right to negotiate with its current broadcast partners for rights to the extra playoff games. That price alone may be enough to compensate for the loss of preseason contests.

Adding to the regular season would be trickier given the fact the NFL has a TV contracts in place through 2022. As starved as networks are for must-watch live programming, it might be better for the NFL to create a bidding war between them for playoff games than negotiate with them as a whole for more regular-season coin.

Still, it's best to take this news with a grain of salt. Goodell has been publicly saying for years that the preseason could be cut. Each year comes with calls from pundits and players for the exhibitions to be wiped out. It never happens. Everyone moves on to different things once the regular season starts, the whole thing is forgotten by November and then another "eureka" cycle comes around in August.

Could the NFL reduce the preseason? Sure. Will it happen? Recent history suggests not.

Follow Tyler Conway (@tylerconway22) on Twitter.