Roger Goodell: NFL playoffs ‘likely’ to expand

Goodell initially anticipated changes in 2015 before talks were shelved. He now says change is "likely" to happen at some point.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said the NFL playoffs are likely to expand despite talks having been shelved over the last few years. 

Goodell was asked about the possibility of change at the at a town hall meeting with Jacksonville Jaguars season ticket holders.

“It's a tough one," Goodell said. "And the reason I say that is it works so well right now. We have 12 teams that qualify for the playoffs and what it does is it's not just the number of teams in the playoffs, it's what it does to our regular season. I think that's what makes the NFL great is every game means so much. That game means a great deal. You don't ever want to lose that. You don't want to lose the fact that every regular-season game is important. And only having 12 teams qualify, which is the smallest of any of the professional leagues by far, that's a good thing for us.”

“(It) likely will happen at some point, but we want to be really cautious because we really like the balance we have with the importance of the regular season and the postseason and you don't want to mess with that balance,” Goodell added. “You have to be really careful and cautious.”

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The most recent change came in 1990 when the league expanded from 10 to 12 teams in the postseason. 

Goodell initially expected to make changes for the 2015 season before the discussions were tabled for another year. NFL playoff expansions were not discussed at last month's Annual Meeting.