Broncos, Panthers become the two key votes in the effort to get Thursday night flexing
What the Commissioner wants, the Commissioner gets.
And the Commissioner wants Thursday night flexing.
Foiled for now in his effort to cram the Bezos bouquet through the recently-completed league meetings, Roger Goodell needs to flip only two teams from “no” to “yes” to make it happen. Or he can simply focus on the two teams that abstained.
As Peter King explained on Friday’s PFT Live, the Broncos and Panthers were the ones who rode the fence in an unofficial vote that wasn’t made official so that it wouldn’t be an official no. Which means that the Commissioner needs to simply twist their arms a little bit to get them in the “yes” camp.
It gives the Broncos and Panthers some power, some leverage. They can ask for stuff. The Broncos want to host a draft. Maybe they get one, if they vote for Thursday night flexing. Maybe there’s something the Panthers would want that the league office can give.
That’s how it works. That’s how the Commissioner gets what he wants.
As King added, some of the teams that voted “yes” have opted for that path simply because they know Goodell badly wants the ability to replace bad late-season Thursday night games with good ones, regardless of the impact on players, teams, and/or in-stadium fans.
Goodell already has gotten the ability to schedule teams up to two times per year for short-week games. It feels as if it’s just a matter of time before he gets the rest of what he wants. Especially if the Broncos and Panthers are willing to trade their abstention for a yes, in exchange for something else.
Broncos, Panthers become the two key votes in the effort to get Thursday night flexing originally appeared on Pro Football Talk
