GET READY FOR FLEXED THURSDAY NIGHTS
Thursday nights in the NFL have long been the most drastic feature of its made-for-TV schedule, a prime-time slot that raised concerns about player safety and produced plenty of competitive duds before it moved to a streamingonly platform.
Now the league will have the power, albeit limited, to change the matchups.
NFL owners approved Monday a flexible scheduling policy for Thursday night games on Amazon Prime Video, for Weeks 13-17 only and with at least 28 days’ notice given to the affected teams. The league could push a Thursday night matchup in that range to Sunday afternoon if there’s a more desirable game, a mechanism currently in place for Sunday night and Monday night games.
No team would be required to play more than twice on Thursday night in a season. The rule is just for 2023, for now. Any game during Weeks 13-17 could be selected for the move to Thursday night, but the league said the bar for such a shuffle would be high.
“We’re incredibly judicious and incredibly sensitive to flexing a game and all the dynamics that go into that,” said Hans Schroeder, executive vice president and chief operating officer of NFL Media. “We’re also trying to balance how we get the best games in the best windows for our fans.”
In addition to the primetime allowances for flexing games, the NFL also now puts the entire Week 18 schedule up for grabs until the week of so it can show two games with playoff implications on Saturday.
New York Giants owner John Mara, a critic of the proposal for its negative impact on fans, said after the vote that he was disappointed but not surprised.
Also approved Monday at the NFL’s spring meetings was a rule that allows teams to play an emergency quarterback from the inactive list if the first two are injured during a game, a decision that stems from San Francisco’s depth-chart challenge in the NFC championship game.
The bylaw was initially proposed by the Lions. The third quarterback designation will not count against the limit of active players — either 47 or 48 — that is determined 90 minutes before kickoff.
The emergency activation can only occur after injury or disqualification, not for a performance-related decision or other conduct. If either of the first two quarterbacks are cleared by the team’s medical staff to return to play, the third must be removed from the game and can only return as a quarterback if an injury scenario arises again.
If a team puts three quarterbacks on the active list for a game, it can’t use the emergency option. Game-day practice squad elevations are not eligible, either.
The agenda this week included diversity initiatives in coaching and in sports medicine and the awarding of two major events for the 2025 season. The Packers were given the NFL Draft, and the 49ers got Super Bowl 60.
Owners were also updated on the pending sale of the Washington Commanders from Dan Snyder’s family to Josh Harris’ group, a prominent if not pressing issue. No vote on the record $6.05 billion transaction will occur this week.
Colts owner Jim Irsay, a member of the league finance committee, expressed guarded optimism about the completion of the deal.
“There’s certain criteria that has to be met, and that’s just the way it is. It’s not there yet, but it doesn’t mean that it can’t get there. It’s complicated. Put it that way. I could explain it to you, and it wouldn’t tell you anything,” Irsay said.
Brady buys into Raiders
Recently retired and seventime Super Bowl champion quarterback Tom Brady will become a minority owner of the Las Vegas Raiders, pending NFL approval, principal owner Mark Davis told ESPN.
“We’re excited for Tom to join the Raiders, and it’s exciting because he will be just the third player in the history of the National Football League to become an owner,” Davis said.
George Halas and Jerry Richardson were the other two.
Notable
The Ravens signed quarterback Josh Johnson (USD) and waived linebacker Daelin Hayes. The 37-year-old Johnson returns to the Ravens after playing one game with them in 2021.