The Competition Committee will present a resolution to NFL owners for an expanded postseason if regular-season games are lost to COVID-19.
Chris Mortensen of ESPN reports the league could have a 16-team playoff tournament. Eight teams from each conference would make the postseason, with four division champions and four wild-card teams in each conference.
No team would receive a bye in the first round of the postseason. The first-round playoff pairings would pit 1 vs. 8, 2 vs. 7, 3 vs. 6 and 4 vs. 5 in each conference.
The Competition Committee met on a video call Monday.
The league is concerned about losing games from the pandemic as regular-season bye weeks disappear. It’s possible some teams won’t play a full, 16-game schedule.
The extra postseason games also would offset lost revenue if the league loses regular-season games.
The NFL went to an expanded postseason in 1982 after a 57-day players’ strike. The league played only nine regular-season games but adopted a special 16-team playoff tournament.
In 1982, though, the league ignored division standings for seeding.