Packers president unsure if playoff expansion close to passing

There has been some talk about expanding the playoffs to seven teams. One of the strongest advocates of expanding the playoffs is Packers president Mark Murphy, but he admits there are some hurdles to get over, like reducing the preseason.

“I think this one might be a little more challenging to get it done for this year, but we’ll see,” Murphy said, via Mike Vandermause of the Green Bay Press-Gazette. “Because I think a number of clubs want to see this tied into changes in the preseason.”

“The quality of play in preseason has really dropped off pretty dramatically over the last decade. We’ve looked at a couple different options.”

The concern is whether adding another team would water down the playoffs. The NFL currently only has 12 out of 32 teams make the playoffs making it far more exclusive than say the NBA, where 16 out of 30 teams make it.

“I think it’s more revenue, more teams contending for playoff spots, more excitement, more compelling games at the end of the season,” he said. “It would still be less than 50 percent of teams making the playoffs. You’d still have to earn it. This year in the NFC, Arizona would have made it, and they were 10-6. You want to make sure you don’t water down the playoffs.”