Minor League NFL: One Step Toward The NFL Fixing a Lot Of It's Problems

Yes, I can hear you. You are already screaming that this could never work. I think you are wrong, and that is why I am here to explain my case.

I want to get the biggest complaint out of the way so we can get our work done: Yes, there is an injury risk with putting your players in a minor league program. It does in fact work in the National Hockey League, widely considered a more dangerous sport than football. Enough said.

As owners and players continue to butt heads about money, length of seasons, more money, and well, even more money, there is still an always-running discussion about the quality of the product on the field. The NFL is by far the most popular sport in America, and has become a 365 day industry of entertainment. The fans know what each player is doing at all times, every struggle is magnified in the public eye, and untested rookies are given massive amounts of money to fail miserably and disappear completely from existence.

In a league where lower-end players are cast aside because of injuries or roster limits, talent gets wasted away in free agency limbo because there is no system for player development. Picture the ability for your favorite team to take a few of their "not needed for a couple years" rookies, struggling veterans, and players returning from injury, and put these players into a league comparable to MLB's Triple-A, NHL's minor league, and NBA's D-League. These players can still remain competitive and showcase their talent at a league level all it's own.

It's a guarantee that there is a market for it. The minor league programs of the other professional sports help reach out to smaller markets that are a great distance from a big league team. It succeeds well in baseball because all the top name prospects and future ESPN stars are developed in the minor league system. Not only can these players develop their skills within the team's general coaching philosophy, but they bring excitement and attention to the community where they are located.

Picture all of this now with the NFL. It would operate as only one level of a minor league, as opposed to the multiple levels in MLB. Options could be to start with one shared team per division, with 8 total team leagues, or just run with 32 different teams. Either would work very well. The NFL could even be kind enough to give Los Angeles a minor league football team (okay, had to throw in some humor).

Clearly there would be lots to work out with this system. Would it be simple enough to expand the draft more rounds each season in order to fill these teams? What share of the salary pool would these players receive (already a nasty issue)? How many times can a team pull up or send down a player?

Since I happen to be a Packer fan, I'll use them as an example. Let's say that there are two call-up points during the season, one early and one late. A player like current Packer PUP list running back James Starks is left off the final 53-man roster because of injury. Instead of going on the PUP list, he is allowed to join the Packers' minor league team until week 6, when some call-ups can be made. It could also work like baseball in that the minor league season would run at the same time as the NFL, but with a shorter season. When the minor league ends, NFL teams can expand rosters from 53 up to 60 for the final 4 weeks of the season and the playoffs. This cuts down on injury concerns, and fans get to see some of the top prospects that are lighting up stats in the minor leagues.

Yes, certainly many questions to this system, and I'm not the one to come up with those answers. But in my honest opinion, the NFL, America's top sport, still looks for ways to expand their fan base and raise the level of competition. Dumping off each team's "practice squad" and forming a minor league system would be a great idea for the National Football League and its fans.