Mike Florio breaks down profit-focused NFL ownership for hampering player development with 18-game seasons: "The owners don't care"
Mike Florio has agreed with the premise that having fewer preseason games to increase the number of regular season games will harm player development. But as a seasoned observer, he admitted that the owners are unlikely to care about this line of argument for preserving the current schedule.
Mike Florio wrote,
"Yes, having only two preseason games (and 18 regular-season games) will hurt player development. No, the owners do not care. The owners care about profit. That’s not a criticism or a judgment. It’s a fact. More money in, less money out. Plain and simple."
Mike Florio also pointed to the existence of college football as a training ground for NFL players and a supply that outstrips the demand. That led him to conclude,
"Player developments doesn’t even register in the conversation, as far as those who own the teams are concerned. Players will develop another way. Or they won’t. There are 53 roster spots per team, and supply will always outweigh demand. If the reduction of the preseason to two games (or, in time, the elimination of it for a 20-game regular season) keeps some players from becoming the best players they can be, so what?"
Mike Florio gave the example of NFL Europe, a kind of minor league, which they refused to fund as it did not generate enough income.
"The owners proved that 17 years ago, when the plug was pulled on NFL Europe. Dating back to the World League of American Football (which the NFL debuted in 1991), this spring-football minor league created important development opportunities for players, coaches, executives, officials, everyone. And if it was making enough money, it wouldn’t have been shut down."
Mike Florio's analysis of owners follows Dan Campbell's comment
Dan Campbell, head coach of the Detroit Lions, initially raised the question about player development if the number of preseason games is reduced. He had said,
“That’s another game, but if you reduce a preseason game you’ve got all these young guys you’re trying to develop. You look at what we were able to do with some of our young guys last year, and how important they were to us winning, but there’s a process to it. And so if you don’t get them developed or get them enough reps to where they help you, then that’s the only thing, that’s what you lose.”
But if Mike Florio is to be believed, the coach's consternation will follow on deaf ears and one will see an 18-game regular season sometime in the future.