NFL Trade Deadline

Fixing Earth is about more than criticizing glaring problems. It's also about making great things greater.

The NFL is King of American sports and stays so by getting better all the time. Despite a very conservative, corporate image, the NFL always stays aggressive, and never settles. Colossal contracts with the networks didn't stop the advent of the Red Zone channel for example (one of the truely fantastic concepts to come to fruition in the history of sports-on-television, by the way). Whether its something tremendous like Red Zone, or just a tiny rule change we barely hear about, the NFL remains vigilant and proactive when it comes to opportunities for increasing it's awesomeness.

Such an opportunity exists right now that I hope will quickly be siezed, and that is that the league is sorely missing out on a compelling and fruitful trade deadline.

There's an easy argument in favor right off the bat: Everyone loves the human resources side of sports these days. Cases-in-point are fantasy sports, rivals.com rankings, and the NFL Draft itself, a bonanza that's become a sport within the sport. A toothless trade scene costs the league an opportunity to claim yet another date on the sports calendar for football. This is low-hanging fruit.

Beyond the excitement of the rumor mill is the opportunity to improve the caliber of playoff football. Parity is an essential part of the model, but only in the grand scheme of things and only in the summer and fall. A level playing field across the league, legitimate hope in all 32 cities, and 16 competitive games each week are all good for business- in September. But ultra-high quality football and the clashing of titans for a place in history are good for business in January. Unfortunately there will be at least a couple playoff contenders moving forward with no way to replace theur injured quarterback, hurting the quality of play in what should be bigtime games. Perhaps more disturbing, I DO NOT want to see a petrified young soccer player decide a playoff game. Like it or not, place kicking is still a part of the game, and the 2011-2012 playoffs would be (marginally) better off if Adam Vinatieri participated and Shaun Suisham did not. Such a swap would seemingly be pleasing to the Steelers and Colts as well. But it won't happen.

Like all those relief pitchers and 4th outfielders who got shipped this July, there are plenty of kickers, nickel backs and return men (Josh Cribbs to the Pats?) who belong in the postseason. But we never see player movement similar to baseball. I don't know what the roadblocks are, and I'm not inclined to look into it.  I do know that the NFL could sweep them away, whatever they are. And, being the forward-thinking, opportunistic juggernaut that it is, I hope it will sometime soon.