Hey, Commissioner Goodell, Try Telling Ray Lewis the NFL is Adding Two Games

Should the NFL expand it's season to 18 games? 

Initially, I was very gung-ho in saying YES, the NFL should add two regular season games and scrap two meaningless preseason games. 

The more I thought about it, the more I started to question the details involved in the decision.

How are teams going to deal with an increase of injuries?

The average lifespan of an NFL career is 3.52 years. I feel like I have had bowel movements that have lasted longer.

In Week 1 alone, two big name players were lost for the season because of injury (Grant, Jenkins).

Three more big names were concussed (Kolb, Witten, Bradley)

How do players prepare their bodies for the two added games? 

If you have 50 marquee players and three were lost in the first week, how many do you think would be lost if two more games were in play? Added roster players at the bottom won't make up for losses up top.

What about mandatory mini-camps? Would they still be mandatory?

Even though the preseason schedule would be reduced by two, the amount of committed time by the player would still be the same. 

Actually it wouldn't because we haven't factored in the extension of the regular season. If you aren't reducing the off/preseason commitment, then when do the players get some time of their own?

Ray Lewis is in his 15th season. Try telling him he will have less time to spend with his family in the offseason. 

Mandatory mini-camps shouldn't be mandatory anymore. There are many things teams can do to make sure their players are staying in shape throughout the off-season. 

What about the schedule?

If two regular season games are added, then it's probable that each team would have an additional bye week over the course of the season. 

What if a team clinches a playoff birth by Week 14 or 15?

For examples sake, let's say said team clinches in Week 14. Depending on when the second by week would be scheduled, the team that clinched may have as many as 6 games left.

Coaches have a difficult time as it is deciding whether or not to play their star players after they've clinched a spot in the postseason; that generally happens with two games left, not five or six.

So ultimately two preseason games would be eliminated and replaced by two regular season games that could turn out to be just as meaningless.  

Who gets the two added games? They would have to be non-division games right? 

Obviously we would all like to see more of the NFL regular season, but we need to ask ourselves at what cost?

If the decision were left up to you, the fan. 

You would... (please share in the comments section)