Expanded schedule

[gbgary]

Of course it is. Media attention draws eyeballs to sponsors ads. It is a business after all. With FA and the draft, the NFL found a way to fill the quiet time between the SB and training camp.

but it's really not filled and it's just as quiet. i just think they could wrap that stuff up a lot sooner than they do. they lose the attention high they're on by letting so much time pass between sb and the draft. keep the rush going. the teams already know who they want. get to it.

 

[Poppa San]

but it's really not filled and it's just as quiet. i just think they could wrap that stuff up a lot sooner than they do. they lose the attention high they're on by letting so much time pass between sb and the draft. keep the rush going. the teams already know who they want. get to it.

You've got to give the super Bowl teams a chance to catch their breath. End of February is combine. Start of League season in March is FA period. Also run into the March Madness dominating the sports pages. Early April is MLB opening day. All the schools that do their pro days. After the draft, except for signings, the NFL would disappear from the front page until camp opens. Now it is two months. Earlier draft would make that longer and bump into the other media interests.

 

[Half Empty]

who cares about that?

I thought you were talking about keeping the NFL in the forefront (although I was concerned with the fans' interest). If we agree that there is the SB, then the draft, then training camp as the only major points of interest in that period, then sliding the draft one way or the other necessarily creates a longer 'dead' period on the other side.

 

[adambr2]

but it's really not filled and it's just as quiet. i just think they could wrap that stuff up a lot sooner than they do. they lose the attention high they're on by letting so much time pass between sb and the draft. keep the rush going. the teams already know who they want. get to it.

So then you'll just have a dead period from March til August instead.

The way they do it is fine IMO. A month off after the season, then free agency, and then the draft. Then by the draft teams have a pretty good idea of what their immediate needs are that they didn't address in free agency.