[immelawealecy]

So, one issue with the NFL's goal of expanding the season to 18 games is that the NFLPA will want an expanded roster. Right now it's at 53 players and could jump up to 60 players with an 18-game season (owners have offered 54 man roster but NFLPA will probably want more than that.)

One concern that should arise is how both of these changes will effect the league's parity. As it is now, while some teams are consistently successful (Patriots, Colts, Steelers, etc.), there is still a significant amount of turnover when it comes to playoff teams each year. Even ignoring playoff teams, each week you see teams like the Browns beating the Patriots and Saints or the Lions losing games against the Jets or Bears that they probably should have won.

So how will the 18-game season and expanded rosters affect parity in the league? Firstly, it seems like expanded rosters will only help to make the rich richer. Marginal players that would normally be cut by an elite team may instead make the roster now. Those same players probably would have been picked up by lower ranking teams to provide depth -- or possibly even start.

Case in point -- LeGarrette Blount was cut by the Titans this year. He found a spot on the roster for the Buccaneers and worked his way up the depth chart (something he would have been unable to do in Tennessee with both Chris Johnson and Javon Ringer ahead of him.) Blount has put up 5 70+ yard rushing games for the Buccaneers, including two 100-yard games. He's also scored 5 touchdowns and helped a team with a top 5 draft pick last year make its way to 7-5 after 12 games and in the playoff hunt.

The 18-game season will also have deleterious effects on parity. The more opportunities a young or traditionally bad team has to lose, the greater chance that it eventually will lose. And the same goes for those good teams that struggle to start the season (like your 2010 Cowboys, Vikings, or 49ers.) In an 18-game season, all three of those teams will have a better chance to rebound and knock teams like the St. Louis Rams, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Seattle Seahawks out of contention. With a 16- game season, we see that the only one of those 3 teams with a plausible playoff chance are the 49ers, and that's only because San Francisco plays in an incredibly weak division.

In the end, an 18-game season and expanded rosters may provide for a better product on the football field. And of course it will give us fans two more games to cheer on our favorite teams. But the question remains, will it help to diminish one of the characteristics that makes the league so great? Will it help to eliminate parity in the NFL?