NFL has contingency for 16-team playoffs if COVID-19 cancels games; new minority hire plan
If the pandemic cancels games involving contending teams, the NFL is going to expand the playoffs again.
On a day Pittsburgh, the league’s only unbeaten team through nine weeks, put quarterback Ben Roethlisberger on the reserve/COVID-19 list, NFL owners approved a contingency plan to add two more teams to the playoffs if meaningful games are canceled due to the coronavirus.
Commissioner Roger Goodell held a virtual meeting Tuesday that also sent to the players’ union a proposal to reward teams with draft choices for developing minority coaches and executives who get hired by other teams to be head coaches, general managers or team presidents.
The league had already expanded its playoffs from 12 teams to 14 for 2020. That’s seven in each conference, with only the top seed in the NFC and AFC getting a first-round bye.
Tuesday’s unanimously approved plan will expand the playoffs again to 16 teams if the NFL cannot finish its full schedule of 16 games for each team with the allotted 17 weeks on the schedule, or with an additional 18th week added if necessary in early January. The league says the 16-team postseason would only happen if potential playoff team miss games because of the COVID-19 virus.
A 16-team format would eliminate any team getting a bye. The four division winners would host first-round playoff games against the bottom four seeds, the four teams with the best records in each conference that did not win their divisions. The format would be the one seed hosting the eight, the two hosting the seven, three versus six and four hosting five.
“Our objective is for all teams to safely and responsibly complete the regular season within our 17-week schedule and have a full postseason, culminating with the Super Bowl, with fans in the stands on Feb. 7 in Tampa,” Goodell said.
The Seahawks (6-2) currently hold the second seed in the NFC on a tie-breaker behind New Orleans (6-2) and ahead of Green Bay. Under the currently planned, 14-team playoff format, the second seed plays the seventh seed, the third hosts the sixth, and the fourth hosts the fifth. The lowest remaining seed after the first round plays at the top seed in round two.
Eight games remain in the regular season, including Sunday for Seattle at the Los Angeles Rams (5-3).
The minority coaching incentive system in the NFL, including its often-circumvented Rooney Rule, needs an upgrade. The league’s proposal to reward teams for developing candidate recognizes that.
Teams that lose a minority coach or executive to a head coach, GM or team-president job to another team will receive a third-round compensatory draft choice for two consecutive years.
The proposal headed to the players’ union for approval also says if a team losing minority coach and an executive to both a head-coach and GM or president job in the same year, that team will get a third-round comp pick for three years in a row.
“We all recognize we must do more to support development opportunities for minority coaches and all personnel,” Goodell said.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
This story was originally published November 11, 2020 at 7:16 AM.
