While the NFL has said in recent weeks that it is NOT considering adding a second Thursday night game -- perhaps Cowboys owner Jerry Jones was just muttering to himself about it? -- the league reportedly is thinking about tweaking the way it displays its mid-week game.
The Sports Business Daily reports that there is a belief that a package of eight Thursday night games could be for sale by the 2015 or 2016 season that would move off the NFL Network and onto a different network.
"While there has been no agreement on what that package will look like, the most popular idea so far appears to be adding three games to NFL Network's schedule to give it 16 games, then splitting that package," writes the SBD. "The NFL would keep eight games on NFL Network and shop the other eight games to interested networks, which include Turner Sports, NBCSN, FS1 and others."
Another interesting wrinkle: a new package deal also could include a wild card postseason game.
But the NFL also reportedly is committed to keeping a slate of games on the NFL Network.
"I don't envision a scenario where there won't be games on NFL Network," NFL Network president Steve Bornstein told SBD. "What we do with Thursday is really being discussed and considered right now."
As CBS Sports' Jason La Canfora explains in the video above, the reason the NFL could be interested in selling another Thursday night package is so it can make an additional $750 million or $800 million, which then would allow the league to raise the stagnant salary cap.
"The salary cap really hasn't moved since 2009," La Canfora said. "The TV money from the existing TV contract probably won't kick in until 2015."
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