What the NFL Can Learn from European Football

For the first time in what seems like forever, there are a plethora of bad teams in the NFL. Parity surely hasn't died (see: Cincinnati Bengals), but a chasm may be developing.

Maybe the NFL is getting a little too convoluted. Maybe having 32 teams bogs down competition a little. Maybe owners in Detroit, St. Louis, Oakland, and elsewhere need a bit of motivation to field a strong team year in and year out.

The NFL needs to institute a policy of relegation. Lucky for them, I've already come up with the solution.

First, the AFC/NFC idea is out. The divisions that share the same directional name join (i.e. teams from the AFC and NFC North combine to make the North Division), leaving the league with four divisions.

After the combination comes the separation. The two worst teams in each division are relegated to the NFL's second-tier league—we'll call it NFL-B. Using the current standings, Detroit, Cleveland, Tampa Bay, Tennessee, Washington, Buffalo, St. Louis, and Kansas City will be sent packing.

The 24 teams remaining in the NFL battle it out in the same manner the 32 teams currently do. A team plays each of its divisional foes twice (home and away) while battling every team from another division once. As per current scheduling standards, inter-divisional games rotate every year.

This structure would ensure the continuation of many rivalries (Chicago-Green Bay, Denver-Oakland, New York Giants-Dallas, etc.) while introducing the potential for new rivalries, like a bi-yearly battle between the Giants and Jets.

Division winners will automatically enter the playoffs. Unlike the league's current format, however, the six best non-division winners would fill the remaining playoff spots, regardless of division affiliation. The teams with the two best regular-season records would receive first-round byes.

In NFL-B, the eight relegated teams would play a double round-robin schedule (with each team playing every other team at home and on the road), with the four best records earning a spot back in the NFL. In the case of a single region having two of the top four marks, the team with the better mark would be promoted.

Using this year's example, if Washington and Buffalo both sported top-four records in NFL-B, but the Bills had the better record, Buffalo would return to the NFL's East Division while the Redskins would remain in NFL-B.

Conversely, the last-place teams from each NFL division are relegated to NFL-B to fill the four spots vacated by the promoted teams.

The rift in monetary gains seen in Europe wouldn't be relevant in the bi-divisional NFL. High-dollar TV deals would still be given out to teams in both levels of the league. Time conflicts could be resolved by moving NFL-B games to an different kickoff time or, possibly, an entirely new day.

In an effort to prevent permanent relegation, the eight teams in NFL-B would receive the top eight draft picks in April's draft. Draft order would be determined the same way it is now, with the first eight picks being handed out to NFL-B teams exclusively.

The new batch of divisional games would bring even more excitement to an exciting regular season. Instead of playing once every four years, the Colts and Saints would clash twice a year. The same can be said about the Steelers and Packers, Cowboys and Patriots, and Chargers and Cardinals.

Even more, the threat of relegation would prevent teams with poor records from giving up on a season. If relegation were to be installed at the conclusion of this season, the 0-6 Titans surely wouldn't be coasting come December.

The old saying says, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it," but would it be such a bad thing to improve a product in danger of slipping a notch or two?