NFL preseason games being cut in half is a big loss for fringe players

The NFL has announced that only two preseason games will be played by each team this year.

Two NFL preseason games are being canceled as the league explores options with the 2020 season amid pandemic concerns in every state.

A week ago the NFL announced that the league will shelve the Hall of Fame game this year and now, they are scrapping two preseason games as well.

The league announced a short while ago that only the 2nd and 3rd games of the preseason schedule will be played taking the first weekend and the final weekend of preseason games off the calendar.

COVID had managed to do what the NFLPA has wanted for a long time, get rid of half the preseason games.

So as the title says, the biggest losers in all of this are the fringe players who need those games to make an impression, not just with their own team but other teams as well. Now the reps in preseason are going to be cut dramatically. In addition, veterans are going to see less reps as well and while that really isn’t a bad thing, their bodies are not going to be in more of a football shape when week one rolls around.

One has to wonder if a player like Preston Williams would have made the roster last season if he didn’t have the four games to impress his coaches. Plenty of players rely on preseason to showcase their talents with the hopes of being picked up by another team and put on their practice squads. Now, those players are going to need to be impressive in training camp which looks to get extended as the league will push the first weekend of preseason games from early to mid-August.

The NFL and the NFLPA came to an agreement on the reduction as they believe that the players need more time to get their bodies back into football shape after spending the off-season doing virtual training.

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Training camps are still expected to start on time late this month but that will ultimately be determined by the state of the pandemic that has seen a marked rise in the last two weeks.

Fans might want to get used to seeing only two games as the NFLPA has been pushing for that event over the years, so much so that it was considered a must for a consession on extending the weeks of the regular season.

With the games not reduced to two weeks, the NFL is revamping their pre-season schedules. Teams have played two road and two home games in the past but now will play one and one. The problem however is that some teams were already playing both weeks at home.

The Miami Dolphins were expected to play week one on the road in Detroit and week two and three at home against the Eagles and the Falcons wrapping up week four on the road against the Saints. Now, they will see the Lions and Saints games scratched and one of the other two changed as well.

The NFL is expected to get a new preseason schedule out soon. With the latest changes, many are starting to wonder if a season is going to happen or if training camps will even be open at the end of the month.

UPDATE: According to other sources a decision will be made on Thursday and the current ESPN report that it has been agreed upon is not accurate.