NFL committee considering shorter preseason schedule

INDIANAPOLIS -- A three-game preseason schedule is under consideration by the NFL competition committee.

Green Bay Packers president Mark Murphy said Friday at the NFL Scouting Combine that reducing the preseason from four games is the most sensible option, likely clearing an extra week between the final preseason game and the start of the regular season.

"Rather than playing that fourth game on a Thursday ... don't play a fourth game and then you'd have an extra week," Murphy said, supporting the sentiments shared by head coach Mike McCarthy. "We've looked at different models, but I think that's the one that makes the most sense. You're giving up some revenue, but it's one of the worst things we do."

The Packers play in the Hall of Fame game in August, which gives Green Bay five preseason games in 2016.

Cutting a preseason game might come down to lost revenue. With three preseason games, some teams would host two preseason games and others would get just one. Game schedules, including the length of the preseason, would require collective bargaining with the players union.

The eight-person competition committee, currently reduced by one as Los Angeles Rams coach Jeff Fisher focuses on the franchise relocation, is next scheduled to meet in March in Florida.