Joe Burrow has the perfect plan for the NFL to fix the Pro Bowl

The Pro Bowl stinks. It's OK, this is a safe space, we can admit it. Nobody likes the Pro Bowl — not the players, and certainly not the fans.

Ratings for the Pro Bowl have decreased every year since 2018, and it seems that the conversation around the event has only gotten more toxic in recent years. It's for this reason that the Pro Bowl game itself doesn't even exist anymore. Instead, the NFL has replaced it with a series of skills competitions in the last two years, though that's done nothing to slow the drop in ratings, which still went down for the fifth year in a row.

There are many reasons for the Pro Bowl's decline. Risk of injury is at the top of the list, and with injuries and salaries at all-time highs, there's little incentive for players to give even a modicum of effort in the game. Much like the NBA All-Star Game, this has resulted in a game that seems more a joke than a serious competition among the game's best players. Rather than show off some of the world's most incredible athletes in a head-to-head clash, these events have all the intensity of The Puppy Bowl.

Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow has a solution, and it makes a lot of sense. In a wide-ranging interview on the Pardon My Take podcast, Burrow suggested that if the NFL is serious about moving to an 18-game schedule, then there should be two bye weeks for each team, including a league-wide bye during which Pro Bowl festivities will be held, ideally around Week 13.

Joe Burrow's Pro Bowl suggestion makes too much sense not to happen

There are a lot of good ideas in this interview, and the Pro Bowl becoming an in-season event is just one of them. Burrow isn't suggesting bringing back a full-contact game, but having a celebration of the game's best players in the middle of the season, instead of right before the Super Bowl when nobody cares, would still be a great move.

The change would also be great for player safety, because let's be honest, the NFL is going to go to 18 games at some point, but the league's track record on protecting its players is spotty at best. Having a league-wide bye week later in the year would not only give players a chance to rest and recover after three months of games, it would be good for the quality of late-season and playoff games, as there's a better chance of having healthy players playing when it matters most.

Major League Baseball, the NBA, and the NHL all have in-season All-Star weekends, with varying levels of success and fan interest. The NFL is the most popular league in the country by far, though. You can't tell me this move wouldn't reinvigorate the Pro Bowl, while also having some important side benefits.

NFL insiders have speculated that Roger Goodell could retire as NFL Commissioner when his contract runs out in 2027. Burrow will still be in his playing prime at that point, but if he has more good ideas like this, maybe he could pull double duty.