What Should the NFL do About Kickoff Times, Roster Expansion?

The NFL's kickoff times mostly favor East Coast teams. What should be done to change that? And with an 18-game season in the future, the NFL needs to expand rosters.

Nov 4, 2023; Frankfurt, Hessen, Germany; NFL commissioner Rodger Goodell greats fans for a forum at Steigenberger Frankfurter Hof Hotel. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images / Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

In the NFL, teams, after making the final roster, only get to keep 53 players. Now that the NFL is expanding with travel to different countries and has added another game and still looking to go to an 18-game schedule in the future. is it time for the NFL to let teams expand their roster size?

Every week, we see some teams make roster decisions based on where they think they could use an extra depth player. That means taking a player away from a different position. We have seen, at times, this be trouble for teams. They do not have a player to replace a player who is injured during the game, so they have to go the rest of the game without a true replacement.

Our Hondo S. Carpenter Sr. and Attorney Jonathan Schopp discussed NFL expanding roster and game times on a recent episode of the "Las Vegas Raiders Insider Podcast."

"They should all be local times, except the night games," Schopp said. "Thursday, Monday and Sunday nights. This is going to help broadcasters because everybody wants to set the deck. No brainer, you are already the most popular form of entertainment in the country. It should be a three-second question. What time is our game on Sunday? It is always one o'clock. This league is a little criticized for being overly East Coast basic. ... It is kind of an advantage the East Coast teams get to play at one o'clock. The central and mountain times do not. Why not make it easy? Make all the games one o'clock local time... That spreads out the ending, so all the fans can enjoy more of the endings.

"I have talked to a lot of players," Carpenter said. "Talking about if they are going to go to 18 games they want a bigger roster. I had an interesting conversation with a player on Saturday who had watched us talk about this. ... And he talked about, how I do not want the roster bigger if they do not raise the percentage of the salary cap. ... I want more of the pie [money] which I do not think the owners are going to give up. And I want a bigger roster. And if not, I am willing to strike.

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