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The NFL Owners meeting in Atlanta this week for the annual spring meetings, and the topic of expanding the NFL playoffs has been gaining steam for the past year. Owners are looking for more ways to add more teams to the field of 12 in order to provide more games, and thus, more money.
Owners could approve a 14-team playoff as soon as Tuesday at the NFL's spring meetings in Atlanta, but the league has had no talks with NFLPA leadership or presented any proposal on the topic, according to USA TODAY Sports.
Executive director DeMaurice Smith says the NFLPA is ready to fight against an expanded playoff field because the NFL has yet to address workers compensation issues.
"The players have not seen a press release from the NFL indicating that they were going to take up the issue of better workers compensation benefits or increased injury protection benefits in light of their desire for extra playoff games," Smith told USA Today.
"A credible commitment to player health and safety has to include more than a group of Owners voting to recommend playing more games." Playoff expansion is on the docket for this week's spring meetings in Atlanta.
The addition of one more teams in both leagues is likely to happen in the 2015 season, though there have been rumblings of the league pushing for it to happen this year.
The league is more likely to add two playoff teams in time for the '15 season, meaning 14 playoff teams (instead of the current 12) out of 32 make it to the postseason.
That means just one team in each conference getting a first-week bye in the postseason, while the No. 2 seed would play the extra playoff team, who would be the No. 7 seed.
The added matchup would probably be a 2 vs. 7 seed.