NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said expanding the current playoff format "likely will happen at some point," though he said the league intends to be "really cautious." Appearing at a Jaguars-sponsored town hall meeting in Jacksonville last Friday, Goodell called the issue "tough" because the present system "works so well right now." He said, "We have 12 teams that qualify for the playoffs and what it does -- it’s not just the number of teams and the players, it is what it does to our regular season. ... You don’t want to lose the fact that every regular-season game is important, and only having 12 teams qualify -- which is the smallest of any of the professional leagues by far -- that’s a good thing for us." Goodell said the league believes it can expand the postseason "properly" from a competitive standpoint, though it is still "looking at the broadcasting side of it." He added, "Then there is the labor relations side of it too." Goodell: "We really like the balance we have of the importance of the regular season and the postseason, and you don’t want to mess with that balance” (JAGUARS.com, 4/1). PRO FOOTBALL TALK's Curtis Crabtree notes while the NFL "has a great thing here and they know it," adding two more teams to the postseason and "two more Wild Card round playoff games in January could add a significant amount of revenue to the league pie." The "temptation to chase that pay-day remains at the crux of the debates surrounding an expanded playoff" (PROFOOTBALLTALK.com, 4/5).
