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July 30, 2020 By: Terry Frei

Complete scrubbing of NFL exhibition season makes it even tougher to beat the odds

No NFL exhibition games.

That’s right, I called them exhibition games.

Part of the charade the NFL foisted on the public years ago was relabeling them as the less accurate “preseason” games and having it catch on.

The more legitimate those games were portrayed to be, the more justifiable it was to tie them into season ticket packages.

On Monday, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell in an open letter to fans confirmed the expected complete scrapping of the exhibition season.

That was the follow-up to the earlier cancelation of two of the four games scheduled for each team.

The latest move was a concession to the players and inevitable in the current — albeit evolving — environment.

It also additionally added to the already daunting challenges facing such players as undrafted free agents or otherwise marginal roster possibilities in this unprecedented year.

Even with two exhibition games, the rest of the COVID-19 package was going to make it hard enough without offseason workouts, with camp rosters trimmed from 90 to 80, and with even fewer practices in pads.

This eliminates any possibility of the “when-the-light-comes-on, this-guy-can-play” revelation.

This is a league in which Kansas defensive back Chris Harris Jr. can go undrafted, make the Broncos as a free agent, become known as one of the league’s elite corners and sign a two-year, $17-million deal with the Chargers as an unrestricted free agent.

The Broncos’ Phillip Lindsay is a Denver-area native and was undrafted out of the school up the road, Colorado — as was noted within the first minute of every game broadcast.

Adam Thielen of Minnesota State — the Mavericks at Mankato, not the Screaming Eagles of “Coach” fame — went undrafted in 2013, but made the Vikings and in the three-season span from 2016 through 2018 had 273 receptions. He told Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press this week that if the 2020 conditions were in effect when he was coming out of college, he wouldn’t be playing in the NFL.

There are a lof of stories like those.

They all can’t be tied solely to having chances to shine in exhibition games, but it always has been part of it.

The only way opportunity might be increased is if the list of veterans opting out becomes even lengthier, opening up more spots. Plus, the NFL and NFLPA agreed on the implementation of a reserve/COVID-19 list for players who tested positive or were exposed to someone infected. Because of the implications, it would be horrible if evolving conditions led to a flood of opt-outs or many additions to the specific (and temporary) reserve list. A practice-squad player can be added to the roster to replace those on the reserve/COVID-19 list, and also return to the practice-squad once the flagged player receives medical clearance.

Also, given the unprecedented nature of all this, we’ll see how the lack of exhibition, warmup games affects the physical readiness of veterans as the season opens. The actual exhibition games were used less and less in recent years as a means of helping get holdovers primed for the regular season, anyway.

The major issue now is that NFL’s protocol more closely resembles the MLB approach, minus “bubbles” and quarantine, and also including travel, than the NHL and NBA’s “hub” procedures. And, yes, MLB’s struggles out of the gate, particularly with the Marlins’ positive tests and domino effect of postponing (or perhaps canceling) games, are red flags for the NFL, too.

For now, I’m going to assume training camps operate as scheduled, under the envisioned formats and protocol, and that the regular season is a “go,” either on schedule or close enough to it to enable a full season to be played. And to be played under whatever stadium procedures — i.e., limited crowds or no crowds — are deemed possible or necessary.

That all might be wishful thinking.

But for the sake of argument, the removal of the exhibition games at least will have an impact on roster selection.

The question is, how much?

This could end up part of the overall historical trends in a league that not that long ago played six exhibition games, had opening camp rosters numbering in the triple figures, and — get this! — actually had virtually constant hitting to some degree from beginning to end. Full-scale scrimmages and practice more closely replicated game conditions.

What are the chances of the NFL ever having four exhibition games again? Even if and when COVID-19 is eradicated or under control?

That’s right. Zero.

There are flip sides to this.

One, some players in the era of scaled-down training-camp work annually make rosters ahead of more ultimately deserving choices because they’re, in effect, workout warriors who do flashy work minus contact and full pads. And perhaps a splashy play or two in the exhibition games drew additional attention.

And two, limited work can lessen the chances of a quick weeding out of overrated prospects — regardless of where they were drafted — and veterans brought in who aren’t just over the hill, but careening down it.

But all in all, it’s going to be harder to, well, come out of nowhere.

About Terry: Terry Frei is the author of seven books. His novels are Olympic Affair and The Witch’s Season, and among his five non-fiction works are Horns, Hogs, and Nixon Coming; Third Down and a War to Go; and ’77: Denver, the Broncos, and a Coming of Age. Information is available on his web site, terryfrei.com. His woodypaige.com archive can be found here.