NFL makes offer to NFLPA to play zero preseason games

As the NFL and the NFLPA continue to progress towards setting all the protocols they need in order to get the 2020 NFL preseason started, it’s being reported that the league has given in to one of the union’s demands.

According to Adam Schefter (among other sources), the NFL has made the offer to the NFLPA to play no preseason games before the regular season starts in September. Instead, there will apparently be a longer “acclimation” period for strength and conditioning before the rest of camp gets underway.

After the league slashed the preseason schedule to two games a couple of weeks ago, the players continued to push to have the preseason games eliminated completely. As a part of the give-and-take of the negotiations between the two sides, it appears that the league has given in on this one.

The players that are going to be the most affected by this, it would appear, are late-round draft picks and undrafted free agents. With just 14 actual practices and no opportunities to put preseason game reps on tape, those youngsters are going to have to make a hell of an impression in Training Camp in order to get coaches and GMs to select them over the veterans that will be out there. It also makes me, as a Minnesota Vikings fan, wonder exactly what the benefit of having a 15-member draft class was in the wake of something like this. I know that fans have high hopes for a lot of those guys, and hopefully they’ll get their opportunities.

One has to wonder if there will be other accommodations made in order to compensate for that sort of thing, such as potentially expanding practice squad sizes, or even the size of the active roster. I’m assuming those are the sorts of things that are being discussed as well.

We already knew that we weren’t going to be getting the All-Important Third Preseason Game™ and the I Can’t Believe They Charged Full Price for Tickets for This Fourth Preseason game. Now, it appears likely that we’re also not getting the Let’s Knock the Rust Off First Preseason Game or the This Almost Looks Like Football Again Second Preseason Game, either.

What are your thoughts, folks?