The ultimate goal of NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is to add four European teams to the NFL.
If that comes to fruition, the league would have nine divisions for a total of 36 teams. Which begs the question: Which conference gets the four European teams?
Or, would the NFL add four North American teams to balance it out? Where would those four teams come from?
No matter the answer, it likely means another round of realignment. Especially if it is only the four European teams that are added.
How would such a realignment impact Dallas. Should the Cowboys be looking to pack their bags and leave the NFC East even earlier?
A Third Conference?
If it is just the four Euros, would it be fair to have 16 teams in one conference and 20 in the other? Or would it make more sense to create a third conference?
You would have 12 teams, in four divisions of three teams each, in each conference. Only division winners, 12 teams, would advance to the playoffs with the top four teams getting a first round bye.
The AFC/NFC monikers would be discarded. Enter the Pacific, Central, and Atlantic Conferences. The European teams would join the Atlantic, of course.
You could add the Patriots, Giants, Jets, Bills, Dolphins, Buccaneers, Jaguars, and Panthers to this conference.
The Central would consist of the Steelers, Eagles, Ravens, Commanders, Falcons, Bengals, Browns, Titans, Colts, Lions, Packers, and Bears,
The Pacific would host the Vikings, Chiefs, Saints, Texans, Cowboys, Broncos, Cardinals, Chargers, Rams, Raiders, 49ers, and Seahawks.
Why Wait?
The Europeans expansion is likely years down the road. But why wait until then?
Isn’t it time to shuffle the deck a little and take more advantage of regional rivalries? And possibly cut down on some teams’ travelling too.
For example, the Dallas Cowboys, Miami Dolphins, and the Seattle Seahawks travel the furthest for their three road divisional games than anyone else.
Dallas appears to lead the pack, a combined 7,694 miles roundtrip per season for just those three games. Miami and Seattle aren’t much further behind.
Because of where they are in the Northwest, nothing can be done to cut the Seahawks’ travel down.
But moving Dallas out of the NFC East and into a division say with Las Vegas, Arizona, and Houston cuts their mileage down to 4,294 miles roundtrip.
It also gives a more regional feel to their division games. Moving Miami out of the AFC East and into a division of the Buccaneers, Jaguars, and Falcons reaps similar benefits.
Tradition Is Nice. This Is Better.
I get the traditional rivalry arguments. I do. And usually I side with tradition.
But if the NFL really wants to shake things up, getting all eight divisions regionally aligned is a great way to do it.
Many of them are almost that way already. The rest just need a tweak or two.
The added benefit for Cowboys’ fans? We don’t have to hear from those Eagles fans anymore. I mean, that reason alone is justification enough for me.
New NFL Divisions
Here’s the proposed realignment I came up with pre-Euro expansion. The NFC North survives completely intact.
Otherwise, teams are gathered regionally. Give it a look and then let me know what you think of it in the comments.
NFC (WESTERN) CONFERENCE
Pacific
- Los Angeles Chargers
- Los Angeles Rams
- San Francisco 49ers
- Seattle Seahawks
Southwest
- Arizona Cardinals
- Dallas Cowboys
- Houston Texans
- Las Vegas Raiders
Midwest
- Denver Broncos
- Kansas City Chiefs
- New Orleans Saints
- Tennessee Titans
Great Lakes
- Chicago Bears
- Detroit Lions
- Green Bay Packers
- Minnesota Vikings
AFC (EASTERN) CONFERENCE
Mid-Atlantic
- Carolina Panthers
- Cincinnati Bengals
- Cleveland Browns
- Indianapolis Colts
Southeast
- Atlanta Falcons
- Jacksonville Jaguars
- Miami Dolphins
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Atlantic
- Baltimore Ravens
- Philadelphia Eagles
- Pittsburgh Steelers
- Washington Commanders
Northeast
- Buffalo Bills
- New England Patriots
- New York Giants
- New York Jets
