midwestpatsfan

So I have been thinking about a way that the NFL could have a minor league system that would keep fans interested as well as make money and this is what I came up with.

Each team has players that did not see a lot of playing time for a variety of reasons, be it injury, veteran in front of them, learning system, etc.

After the draft, teams will have at or close to 90 players on their roster.

What if each team could create a roster from players who did not play a certain % of snaps last year and they could play in an 8 game season or something like that. Younger coaches from each teams staff could be the coaching staff as a develepmental league for coaches as well.

The draft could be moved up and with the new slotted system of pay and players signing faster, those new drafted guys could be on the team as well.

I realize that injuries could be a concern to my system, but injuries can happen at any time, it is a risk, yes, but the development of guys might be worth it.

I think a system like this would work better than say the NFL Europe because fans would still recognize and learn more about "their" guys, not just one or 2 guys scattered on several different teams.

Just off the top of my head, guys from the Patriots that would fill out this roster before the draft would be:
Brian Hoyer, Ryan Mallett
Shane Vereen, Stevan Ridley
Donald Thomas, Kyle Hix, Marcus Cannon
Ron Brace, Josh Barrett, Ras-I-Dowling, Marquis Cole, Jermaine Cunningham, Britt Davis.
there are more, I just can't think of the names, but hopefully you get my point.

Would you watch this type of minor league nfl?

Rob0729

The now defunct NFL Europa says hello.

Sorry, but the NFL tried this and it failed. There are some mediocre leagues that have failed or on life support like the UFL that are similiar to this and there isn't a market for it.

Besides, the league is even less likely to do it now with the new CBA limiting the length of new contracts even more and the possibility of the league looking to introduce more expansion teams in Los Angeles, Toronto, Mexico City, and/or London. If the league adds two more teams in the next 5-10 years, it is only going to water down the talent pool even more. Creating a minor league will only do more damage to the main product.

The NFL already has a minor league. It is called College Football. Unlike baseball, basketball, or to some extent hockey, 99% of the players are forced to spend 3-4 years playing in college. Baseball players can enter the minor leagues right out of high school. Basketball players can hit the pros at 19. International hockey players can join the NHL immediately after high school graduation. Football players must be 3 years removed from high school to enter the NFL/

upstater1

They should probably change the college teams to minor leagues. Just pay the players. But the whole system would have to change. They couldn't be students, they would just be hired guns. It would be warped and perverted, but no more so than the current system. I also think fans would lose interest pretty quickly. Players should realize that the facade/farce of their amateurism actually makes their sport very popular, and that they'd be no more popular than the WFL if that facade were destroyed. After all, the quality of most college football is no stronger than what we saw in the USFL or whatever.

Funktopus

It's tricky because when would you play? Friday is for high school, Saturday is college and Sunday is Pro. Naturally, I'd be in favor of adding another day to the weekend (which could only make the other 4 days more productive).

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Ron Sellers

I would assume that if this was going to take place it would be done sometime in May, June and July, so it would not compete directly with the NFL, college or high school football - similar to the CFL schedule.

I don't know if it is feasible with the NFLPA and the new CBA, even if it would be advantageous to the players and coaches that would be involved. Also, do teams want to risk an injury to a player like Ridley? How would the grind of all those extra games affect the performance of those players next November, December and beyond?


I like the idea of considering such a league, even if it's for an even shorter schedule; I wouldn't mind watching Pats prospects play a few games during the slow part of the off-season. I'm just not sure if it is workable considering the various obstacles.

patfanken

I played in the last true minor league. Back in the late 60's most NFL teams had affiliations with so called minor league teams. One of them was the Atlantic Coast League with teams in Quincy MA (Pats), Hartford (Bills) and Bridgeport (Jets) CT, LI (Giants) Harrisburg (Steelers) and Pottstown (Eagles) PA Richmond (Saints) and Roanoke (Skins) VA Salaries ranged from $250/game for guys like me up to $100,000 for a QB named King Cochran. BTW- to put it in better perspective the $250 a game I was making was more per week than I was making as a teacher. The crowds ranged from 10-15,000 for games in the northeast to 30-40,000 when we played in PA and VA. My coaches were mostly former players who looking to get into professional coaching (Bob Dee and Ross O'Hanley were 2 former Patriots who coached us)

I know there were a few other leagues in the west and south that were supported by NFL teams very similar to ours. However one of the agreements to the merger of the NFL and AFL was that when it became final in 1970, no NFL team could have any affiliation with a "minor league" entity. Without that financial support several teams folded immediately including the Quincy Giants

I believe that a true minor league COULD work as long as the teams regionally located. The success of Minor league baseball has proven that it can be done. I think you could have 4 leagues geographically centered of 8 teams each playing a 10 game season. Regional TV networks could support it (like comcast NE) Then at the end of the year the winners of the 4 leagues could play a 2 game playoff (now were talking ESPN) for the minor league championship. Each team could have a 45 man roster and the NFL teams could make their PS's available for games. Teams would practice 3 days a week in the evening and play their games on a Thursday.

Except for the PS players, it could still be a part time job. Players would get between $500-1500/game. Each year the league would produce 5-10 NFL players, but it would also provide a great breeding ground for coaches as well.

If the teams got $10MM from their parent team and a couple from the TV revenue, you could run a franchise on $12MM per year.if it were well run.

Avenger

I posted a proposal in the practice squad a while ago:

Avenger

And also the NFL Europe was only losing $20 million a year. For the developmental aspect I think it was worth that alone, along with expanding the sport into Europe, but that aspect has been taken over by a regular season game.

Reckedtrek

I'd love to have football 11 1/2 months a year... two weeks to really miss it, and then back again.. so in theory I'd be very happy to have football minor league.

In practice, especially with the ways things are and the way they're going, I don't see it happening. Just because there aren't actual games from early Feb- early August doesn't mean that there aren't tons of things going on with the Pats and other teams.

Too bad, because in many ways it would be a football junky's dream come true.

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TheComeback

The NFL has never really tried to create a minor league. The UFL was not the NFL's doing. Neither was the USFL. NFL Europa was more of an experiment to bring football to Europe than a true minor league.

You can debate whether a minor league is really necessary or not.

I happen to think it would be useful for the teams. It's a huge roster extension; it gives you a chance to develop lower-rung players without giving up roster spots. It would also allow teams to add more pro-ready players when the injury bug hits, improving the quality of the product.

Seeing as thousands of people leave the college game to play in the AFL, UFL, and other pro/semi-pro football leagues, I seriously doubt there'd be a shortage of these guys willing to play in the minors. On top of that, no, college football is not "minor league NFL."

The majority of college players are not even close to ready to play in the big leagues when they leave school. Having a minor league system where they learn from NFL coaches and playbooks could actually go a long way toward improving the quality of the game.

Finally, I think that fans would be much more interested in watching minor league teams where the players had a legitimate chance to play on the fans' favorite NFL team, and where the minor league teams were an official extension of a real NFL franchise with NFL branding. It would only make sense if the teams were located in the same region as the NFL franchise.

Minor league baseball teams are pretty popular and so are minor league hockey teams.

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