NFL Reportedly Proposes to Players to Shorten Preseason to 1 Game Amid COVID-19

The NFL has reportedly proposed shortening the 2020 preseason to one game as part of its latest offer on health and safety.

Tom Pelissero of NFL Network reported the game would be played during the scheduled third week of the preseason. The NFLPA has been pushing for the elimination of the entire preseason over concerns with safety amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The NFL has already formally canceled Weeks 1 and 4 of the preseason. The league and ownership will meet at 2 p.m. ET Monday in an attempt to formalize safety plans to propose to players, per ESPN's Adam Schefter.

ESPN's Jeff Darlington reported there are some players who want one preseason game, particularly those on the fringes of rosters. The preseason contest could act as a sort of one-game audition.

It's an understandable dichotomy between the NFL's haves and have nots. Stars and those with secure roster positions have no reason to want to play a preseason game and endure the risks (travel, hotel stay, etc.) that come with playing a meaningless game. Players battling to make rosters see the chance to audition for teams that would not otherwise see them play. Without it, their chances to make an NFL roster could come down to just one team.

The NFL likely also sees benefits in doing a trial run on game protocols during the preseason in an effort to avoid any hiccups once real games begin.

Despite having a four-month offseason to hammer out details, the NFL and NFLPA continue to negotiate safety protocols down to the wire, with rookies reporting and camps slated to begin July 28. The NFL's failure to have protocols in place despite every other major professional sport doing so speaks to the league's apparent downplaying of the virus and wishful thinking it could move forward with a status-quo 2020 season during a pandemic.