It took a pandemic for the NFL to finally cut their meaningless preseason games down to a minimum, and it looks as though the New York Giants’ preseason schedule will be shortened.
Due to the coronavirus restrictions, the league is cutting the preseason in half, eliminating the Week 1 and Week 4 contests, according to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. This news was also echoed by ESPN’s Kevin Seifert.
For the Giants, that means their games versus the New York Jets and the New England Patriots — both scheduled to be played at MetLife Stadium — will be canceled. Instead, the Giants will play their Week 2 game against the Titans in Tennessee and then host the Green Bay Packers in Week 3.
Makes perfect sense from a travel and safety perspective, right?
Cool your jets. The NFLPA still needs to sign off on the idea, according to NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo. The players are contending the league scrap the preseason — for this year anyway — altogether.
While the expectation for weeks has been the NFL goes to two preseason games, the NFLPA hasn’t signed off. and some in union leadership continue to question whether it’s smart to play ANY preseason games, sources tell me and @TomPelissero. Board of reps call Thursday. Stay tuned.
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) July 1, 2020
However, Florio explains why the NFL doesn’t need the NFLPA to sign off on the length of the preseason.
“The NFLPA doesn’t have to sign off on the length of the preseason, however,” reports Florio. “The 2020 labor deal states only that the league may, in a season with 16 regular-season games, hold no more than four preseason games. If the NFL wants to cut the preseason from four to two, it can.”
“The broader point is that everything currently is on the table, as the NFL and NFLPA continue to hash out the details for training camp, the preseason, and the regular season. The NFLPA has the ability to push for no preseason games; the NFL would want some other concession for that.”
In addition, the league announced there would be no Supplemental Draft held this year.
The Supplemental Draft is usually held in July in virtual fashion, but due to the lockdowns, teams — and league officials — do not see the need. Last year, only one player was selected. For the record, there is no rule stating that the draft be he held each year.
[lawrence-related id=651352,651336,651328]