NFL Minor league?

Providence Steamrollers could be the Pats minor league team, bring back a historic NFL name. They were NFL champs in 1928!

I think i would be a great spring summer Idea and tie it to the Preseason as well. They should also tie to a team in the opposite conference to expand that fans base to another fan base

FreeTedWilliams said:

They already have one, and the players play for free, its called the SEC

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Uninteresting for those of us who don't give a crap about any college.

meatface said:

that was just a different league, I am talking about one that actually is tied to the NFL.

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They had it. It was called the World League of American Football. That failed so they made it Europe-only and called it the World League. That failed so they even heightened the ties with the NFL by calling it NFL Europe. And that failed too.

Elijah said:

I think in Canada the CFL is seen as equal to the NFL in terms of talent

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No it isn't.

They won't do it, because it will essentially resemble preseason football; which most fans complain about already.

Brady6 said:

I think they are discussing a D-League (developmental league) not a minor league system. I anticipate it would be similar to the NBA where each team has a D-League affiliate. Personally, I like the idea a lot because it is a place where the Jake Bequette's, Steve Beauharnais, and others could see actual snaps in competitive game action.

NFL Europe was supposed to be that type of league but it never took flight.

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I do not see that a 2d league of 32 teams would be viable.

-- Perhaps an 8 team Dev-league organized according to NFL divisions with 4 NFL teams contributing players to one NFL-Dev team (could you imagine players with a Pats, Jester, Jills, and Phish logos on their shoulderpads playing on a single team side-by-side [too funny : ) ] ).

-- Alternatively I could see a 16 team Dev-league working, but more teams than that would be tough. That might work better with just 2 contributing teams (1 AFC / 1 NFC partnered). I could see Pats and Gints working together. [Jesters might have a tough time finding an NFC partner that is equally disfunctional as they are. ... LOL]

-- You would also have to limit the # of games (maybe 8-10 game season - sprinkle in 2-4 bye weeks) to ensure they stay healthy enough to be promoted to the BIGs when needed.


-- Realistically it would be hard to allocate multiple team players to a single Dev-team (what if all 4 or both teams contributing wanted to have a backup punter ?).

Gumby said:

I do not see that a 2d league of 32 teams would be viable.

-- Perhaps an 8 team Dev-league organized according to NFL divisions with 4 NFL teams contributing players to one NFL-Dev team (could you imagine players with a Pats, Jester, Jills, and Phish logos on their shoulderpads playing on a single team side-by-side [too funny : ) ] ).

-- Alternatively I could see a 16 team Dev-league working, but more teams than that would be tough. That might work better with just 2 contributing teams (1 AFC / 1 NFC partnered). I could see Pats and Gints working together. [Jesters might have a tough time finding an NFC partner that is equally disfunctional as they are. ... LOL]

-- You would also have to limit the # of games (maybe 8-10 game season - sprinkle in 2-4 bye weeks) to ensure they stay healthy enough to be promoted to the BIGs when needed.


-- Realistically it would be hard to allocate multiple team players to a single Dev-team (what if all 4 or both teams contributing wanted to have a backup punter ?).

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Yeah that really seems like the biggest obstacle is how would teams share the teams? Would it work like the practice squad and teams could claim a player from the league? Or would teams have exclusive rights to certain players

I think done correctly, it can be successful. The UFL tried it, but it didn't have the support of the NFL and folded. If the league decides it needs a "D league" it will assure its success.

Gumby said:

I do not see that a 2d league of 32 teams would be viable.

-- Perhaps an 8 team Dev-league organized according to NFL divisions with 4 NFL teams contributing players to one NFL-Dev team (could you imagine players with a Pats, Jester, Jills, and Phish logos on their shoulderpads playing on a single team side-by-side [too funny : ) ] ).

-- Alternatively I could see a 16 team Dev-league working, but more teams than that would be tough. That might work better with just 2 contributing teams (1 AFC / 1 NFC partnered). I could see Pats and Gints working together. [Jesters might have a tough time finding an NFC partner that is equally disfunctional as they are. ... LOL]

-- You would also have to limit the # of games (maybe 8-10 game season - sprinkle in 2-4 bye weeks) to ensure they stay healthy enough to be promoted to the BIGs when needed.


-- Realistically it would be hard to allocate multiple team players to a single Dev-team (what if all 4 or both teams contributing wanted to have a backup punter ?).

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I think it is viable if the roster size was similar to the CFL (42). It would be tough to field 32 D-League teams with a 53-man roster. If you consider that, every team releases 37 players between the start of camp and final cuts and the players who play in the CFL or arena leagues I see no reason that they could not field a developmental team for each franchise.

For this so called "developmental team" what exactly do people think will "develop"?

For the Patriots, you wouldn't want Mallett playing there, he's needed with the big club in case of emergency. That leaves a third or fourth string QB that would likely not see the light of day on an NFL football field anytime soon, playing live games against inferior competition and not learning a thing about how to play NFL football. And the same is true for any position. Then what's the point?

sb1 said:

For this so called "developmental team" what exactly do people think will "develop"?

For the Patriots, you wouldn't want Mallett playing there, he's needed with the big club in case of emergency. That leaves a third or fourth string QB that would likely not see the light of day on an NFL football field anytime soon, playing live games against inferior competition and not learning a thing about how to play NFL football. And the same is true for any position. Then what's the point?

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That's actually a good point. What type of offense would a Patriots 3rd string quarterback run if he was mixed in with other players from other teams? If it isn't the Patriots offense then he'd almost be wasting his time. Same goes with other offensive and defensive players.

Great idea! The Jets and the Browns can be the charter members and these three knuckleheads (that's Eric Rat-Snitch Fredo Mangini hugging Rex) can be the inaugural head coaches.

the only way it works is with 32 teams each tied to a parent team so they can install the same system. 90 players are brought into camp every year, it wouldn't be that big of a stretch to bring in a handful more and field a minor league team

sb1 said:

For this so called "developmental team" what exactly do people think will "develop"?

For the Patriots, you wouldn't want Mallett playing there, he's needed with the big club in case of emergency. That leaves a third or fourth string QB that would likely not see the light of day on an NFL football field anytime soon, playing live games against inferior competition and not learning a thing about how to play NFL football. And the same is true for any position. Then what's the point?

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This is probably less for QB's and more for other positions, I mean do you really think no team will need another DE or DB during the season? Even running backs and such are a position that teams will be better served by having a guy who can comer up and they have seen what they do rather than relying on guys who came in for a workout

Put 32 teams in non-NFL cities, 8 regular season minor league games, 4 prior to the start of NFL training camp/preseason, 4 after the preseason games, gives the players who can make it up to the bigs a shot and allow camp fodder and the rest go back to the minors. After the regular season have a short playoff. Have 4 divisions, an East, North, South, West. East would be Patriots, Jets, Giants, Bills, Dolphins, Eagles, Redskins, Cowboys (used AFCE and NFCE, could be tweeked for more geographic alignment). Each team plays it's divisional opponents once, and one other team from another division on a rotating basis, that would yield 4 division winners, which would be in a 4 team playoff.

Why would the NFL want to bite the hand that feeds them (for free)?

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Snake Eyes said:

Because they could do a much better job feeding themselves and make a tidy profit at the same time.

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From an economic/business viewpoint, I cannot imagine a developmental league ever generating anywhere near as much interest (and revenue) as colleges, specifically conferences such as the SEC.

from a football perspective, a D-league would prepare players better.

jmt57 said:

From an economic/business viewpoint, I cannot imagine a developmental league ever generating anywhere near as much interest (and revenue) as colleges, specifically conferences such as the SEC.

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What if they got the best college players and former NFL players?

Avenger said:

from a football perspective, a D-league would prepare players better.

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^^^ This

Jmt57 makes a great point, but college players are not learning pro style offenses/defenses. And with less and less training camp/OTA/practices/etc it's becoming harder and harder.