The best ways to fix the currently unfixable NFL Preseason

The NFL Preseason is a necessary evil. Nobody is happy with it and yet it still exists in its present form. But what if there was something we could do about it?

The past weekend’s third preseason game is traditionally the “highlight” of NFL action in August because it’s the closest thing to a real dress rehearsal for teams.  It’s when you’ll see starters play the most with the highest intensity. But even then, it’s not really anywhere close to what you would get for a full regular season game.

Fans should be irate that they have to pay full price for games. Even an article on NFL.com, NFL DOT COM, has this to say about the joys of paying to watch your favorite players wear baseball caps and stand on the sidelines a lot:

The biggest scam in sports has to be season-ticket holders being forced to pay full price for two preseason tilts.

Biggest scam in sports!!! There’s a lot of competition out there for that title, but paying full price for preseason games certainly deserves to be in the conversation.

So fans lose. Lots of players lose too. Just count the huge injuries that take place during the preseason and the number of players that miss significant time, or even an entire campaign, because of a serious injury in a game that doesn’t count.

The league obviously doesn’t hold preseason games in great regard, given the cancellation of the Hall of Fame Game and the push to expand the regular season. This is how NFLPA director George Atallah reacted to the latest idea to add a regular season game instead of a preseason game and take every team overseas.

HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA 😂😂😂😂😂 https://t.co/cbkZYQOeyR

— George Atallah (@GeorgeAtallah) June 29, 2016

Nothing says "committed to player health and safety" like wanting to add more contact to the offseason and a 17th regular season game abroad

— George Atallah (@GeorgeAtallah) June 30, 2016

The preseason calendar for the National Football League is the ultimate Catch-22. As our own Ty Schalter wrote earlier this year, there appears to be no good way to fix the NFL Preseason. Because at the end of the day with all of these negatives against it, the teams still need the games to take an extended look at the players on their roster that really do need the game action.

But what if there was a way?

I was thinking about how to fix the NFL Preseason after a couple conversations the last two weeks with Shreveport sports radio host Tim Fletcher as we were apoplectic over why someone like Drew Brees or any other accomplished NFL veteran needed to risk injury to play in meaningless games. Especially after hard work in training camp, team scrimmages, and other activities during the summer, it just seems like way too much risk for way too little reward.

On the flip side of the coin, there are undrafted rookie free agents and other young players that can earn jobs through their play in the preseason. Look at Dak Prescott, who may just earn himself the No. 2 QB job for the Dallas Cowboys — which will turn into a starting gig with Tony Romo’s injury — and secure a pretty bright future in the league based off his performances the last couple weeks.

WOW. 😱
Jason Witten had no business catching this ball.

And it gives Dak Prescott another TD! #DALvsSEA https://t.co/ffukeStgLw

— NFL (@NFL) August 26, 2016

So why not make the preseason specifically for them?

Here’s how to fix the NFL preseason:

1) All players with five years or more NFL experience are exempt from preseason games

Let’s go back to my favorite team, the Saints, for this example. With this rule in place, you might think that there’d be nobody left to play preseason games. Not true. The Saints currently have 60 players on their 90-man roster who have less than five years experience. That’s significantly higher than the 53-man roster that will be taken into Week 1.

With this in place, the players who really do need the preseason game time — rookies just coming into the league or young players fighting for roster spots — get to play all of the action. And they get important developmental time that won’t be provided during the regular season. Think of the “four years or less” plan as a kind of hybrid between what we think of as the NFL preseason currently and a true NFL developmental league, which doesn’t really exist.

This plan also eliminates one of the top complaints about preseason games: veteran players risking injury.

Goff trips.
Goff falls.
Goff fumbles…@Chiefs recover! #KCvsLA https://t.co/CiYcgQtDvI

— NFL (@NFL) August 21, 2016

2) Move the preseason games back a week to allow some increased space and roster flexibility

Right now the NFL roster timeline goes like this:

July 30: Teams report to training camp
Aug. 30: Teams cut rosters from 90 players to 75 players
Sept. 3: Teams cut rosters from 75 players to 53 players
Sept. 4: Practice squads (up to 10 players) are established
Sept. 8: NFL season begins

There’s no excuse for NFL preseason games to still be happening in September. None. And yet, the NFL preseason drags on until the week before the regular season begins. With our new model, why not move the preseason back, allow the younger players to earn their roster spots, and then give teams more time to work with their 53-man rosters instead of having to decide just hours before they’re to take the field in games that count?

In our new and improved preseason, the games will get moved back to run through the four weeks of August to allow a bye week before the start of the regular season. Then the roster cuts will take place in one swoop at the end of the preseason instead of in two waves. That way, teams have two full weeks together with their 53-man rosters and practice squads before the season begins and the veteran players who didn’t have to play can have time to work with their new colleagues.

3) Play games regionally and lower prices

Teams are already beginning to play scrimmages in new locations, with the Cleveland Browns playing in the famed Horseshoe in Columbus as one notable example. Last Thursday, the Dolphins played a home preseason game in Orlando’s Citrus Bowl and the good news is that over 45,000 Central Florida fans showed up.

Announced attendance for Thursday's Dolphins-Falcons game in Orlando was 45,974. Good showing for neutral-site preseason game …

— Greg Auman (@gregauman) August 26, 2016

Season ticket holders had the option of refunds if they didn’t want to make the trip to watch. (Not that anyone would blame them.) And through it all, the NFL somehow survived playing a preseason game at a neutral site without declaring bankruptcy the next day.

In truth, preseason tickets are only worth a couple value meals on the secondary market, but that’s OK! If the NFL moved preseason games to regional locations to reach fans that can’t always make it to regular season games, there’s a good chance they’d recoup a lot of money through gaining new fans for their teams. And they’d win a whole lot of positive PR points around the country by playing preseason games in new venues at reduced ticket prices with the purpose of attracting new fans.

Imagine the Seahawks playing their two preseason games in Eugene and Spokane. Or the Steelers going to Morgantown and Happy Valley. The possibilities are endless for trying to grow fanbases and build goodwill.

Fans and players — and who knows, maybe even the league — will be much more receptive to NFL preseason games if we all accept them for what they really are. While this plan may seem like a pipe dream (asking the NFL to sacrifice one cent of revenue is probably a non-starter), it’s a way to add value to the NFL preseason for the players who need it, the league, and the fans. Of course, that probably means it’ll never happen. But a guy can dream in the dog days of summer, right?