The NFL preseason is trash. Fortunately, league decision-makers know it. Better yet, they have reached a point where they can realistically do something about it.
The 2021 expiration of the collective bargaining agreement with players provides a natural moment to restructure the traditional, four-week preseason template. Whether it shrinks by one or two games per team likely depends on the alternative revenue source -- an expanded regular season and/or playoffs, for example -- that players agree to.
But make no mistake. As teams increasingly sideline their key players from preseason games, there has never been a bigger appetite and ambition to scale back the structure.