The new structure would increase the amount of playoff teams from six to seven in each conference, and only the top seed in each conference would get a bye. Currently, the top two seeds get a bye while the 3-6 seeds play in the wild card weekend.
The new system would not add any more weeks to the playoff schedule, just two more games during the first playoff weekend—likely three games on Saturday and three more on Sunday. The winners would advance to the Divisional Round the following weekend.
“That’s been agreed to for a long time,” one source close to the story told ESPN NFL reporter Adam Schefter. “There wasn’t a lot of disagreement to that issue.”
Had this structure been in place for the 2019 season, then the Pittsburgh Steelers would have claimed the seventh seed from the AFC, and the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC. It would have also meant the No. 2-seeded Kansas City Chiefs (the eventual Super Bowl champs from the AFC) and the Green Bay Packers (No. 2 in NFC) would not have enjoyed a bye rest last season.
Here’s how the wild card playoff would have looked last season under the structure.
AFC Wild Card Weekend
No. 1 Baltimore Ravens (bye)
No. 7 Pittsburgh at No. 2 Kansas City
No. 6 Tennessee at No. 3 New England
No. 5 Buffalo at No. 4 Houston
NFC WIld Card Weekend
No. 1 San Francisco 49ers (bye)
No. 7 Los Angeles Rams at No. 2 Green Bay
No. 6 Minnesota at No. 3 New Orleans
No. 5 Seattle at No. 4 Philadelphia
The only difference in matchups between the new playoff system and the old is the No. 2 vs. No. 7 matchup. But with the No. 1 seed hosting the lowest remaining seed in the divisional round, it could have shaken things up a bit.
For instance, if the Los Angeles Rams defeated the Green Bay Packers in this scenario, then the Rams would have moved on to face the San Francisco 49ers, who instead last season hosted the Minnesota Vikings, who beat the New Orleans Saints in the playoffs. The Vikings in this scenario would have traveled to play the Seattle Seahawks, who actually went to Green Bay in the divisional round.
In addition to the upcoming CBA agreement, which would includes a shortened preseason and a 17th regular-season game on the schedule, the team that gets a first-round bye in the playoffs would also collect playoff pay—something not part of the current CBA.
“The new CBA’s not done, there’s no term sheet yet, there still are issues being negotiated, but I’d be very surprised if there’s not a new CBA for the new league year,” the source old ESPN’s Schefter.
The last big negotiating piece of the CBA is the players agreeing to the 17th regular-season game, which would not into effect until the 2021 season, at the soonest.
