Joe Burrow’s NFL scheduling idea: Genius or foolish?

NFL fans are used to being all-in on the season from September-February, and that won’t change anytime soon. However, Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow took it upon himself to suggest a format change to the season that he thinks will benefit the players, the league and the fans.

It seems like it’s going to be a question of if, and not when, the NFL regular season will expand to 18 games. ESPN reminded fans that this notion has been present and gaining steam since 2010. In 2021, the NFL took one step closer to reaching that magic number, as a 17^th regular season game was added.

The Bengals’ star passer had an idea for when the next elongation of the NFL schedule takes place. Appearing in the Pardon My Take Podcast, Burrow proposed the addition of a second bye week for every team if the league goes to 18 games.

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“That’s not easy adding that extra game,” he told the podcast. “Obviously, it would be great for revenue, but I feel like adding that bye week if you’re going to have the 18-game schedule is pretty critical for our bodies.”

It’s interesting to hear a prominent player advocate for player safety while others would focus on revenue generation. It’s also important for that discussion to take place now, as opposed to right on the precipice of when an 18^th game would be added.

When the NFL Players Association agreed to add a game in March 2020, the process to get to a decision was deemed a little haphazard. The Guardian reported that the final vote to add a regular season game was 1,019 to 959 in favor, but a lot of players chose to abstain or missed the deadline to make their voice heard. After the fact, it was brought up that this might not have been what the majority wanted.

The NFL won’t eliminate games, so what’s done is done, but it’ll be important for players like Burrow and others to get their ducks in a row before the next important vote happens down the line.

Burrow embraced the idea of an 18^th regular season game, which would push the completion of the season back one week. That’s an important difference in the eyes of many, as the President’s Day holiday usually falls on the Monday of that week. Most Americans would theoretically have the day after the Super Bowl off if the league went to an 18-game season.

Burrow didn’t stop there. He also floated the idea of a league-wide bye, where the entire NFL was off for one of the two proposed bye weeks in an 18-game season. This would be a notable change, as the rest of the NFL plays when certain organizations are on bye.

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Expanding on the idea of a league-wide bye, Burrow gave the idea that the Pro Bowl should be moved to the Sunday of that all-encompassing bye week. This is similar to what other major sports leagues like the NBA, MLB and NHL do in their schedule, as their All-Star games are played in the middle of the season. The NFL Pro Bowl is currently played the week before the Super Bowl.

“Because I think that would give more ratings for the Pro Bowl and then it would also give everybody that bye week going into the last six games of the year,” Burrow told Pardon My Take.

The Pro Bowl has undergone a huge makeover in recent years, as the NFL has done away with a traditional football game. Players are now involved in different skills competitions that are graded collectively between the AFC and the NFC.

If Burrow’s idea were to come to fruition, it would be intriguing to see whether the flag football portion of the Pro Bowl is kept. Many players might not want to risk pulling a hamstring or getting banged up in a meaningless exhibition as their team looked to make a playoff push in December and January.

A lot of people seem to be on board with Burrow’s ideas. Medium gave the plan a ringing endorsement, while Bolavip called it the perfect plan.

WEEI’s “Gresh and Fauria” show didn’t like the proposal, as they called it a “terrible idea.” Christian Fauria is a former NFL player, and said in a radio segment that he would accept an 18-game season “over his dead body.”

Do you think Joe Burrow’s idea for an 18-game NFL season and a mid-season Pro Bowl is a smart one? Let us know what you think by leaving a comment!

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