Patriots Football Weekly Blog

Paul’s Calls: Rog chimes in

Commissioner Roger Goodell conducted his annual state of the league address on Friday and answered questions at the JW Marriott. He discussed a wide range of topics from the omnipresent concussion issue to potential L.A. expansion to additional NFL Network games.

The most notable items to come from the near-50-minute discussion were the team has no current plans to expand nor any existing plan to move into the vacant Los Angeles market.

“We have not talked about expansion in the league at all,” Goodell said. “It’s not something that’s been on our agenda, it’s not something we’ve focused on with our membership. I don’t see that in the foreseeable future. We’d like to keep our teams where they are. We’re working to do whatever we can to ensure that those teams are successful and hopefully we’ll be able to continue that.”

“We have to find a way to make it work for both parties. It’s important for us to make smart decisions. We would like to be back in Los Angeles if we can do it correctly. There are a lot of issues that need to be addressed. We have to try to find a solution to those issues.”

Also noteworthy was Goodell’s declaration that next season would feature an expanded slate of Thursday night games on NFL Network. Starting in 2012 there will be 13 games on the league’s network instead of the current eight and the games will start in Week 2.

“We’re going to be playing Thursday night games from Week 2 through Week 15 (skipping Thanksgiving night which will be on NBC)..This will result in every team appearing on a Thursday football game and every team having a prime time appearance during the season. We think that’s great for the fans and for the teams,” Goodell explained.

Goodell also said he would recommend that the competition committee study the idea of pushing back the trading deadline. Currently it takes place following Week 6, which some have suggested isn’t enough time to help teams like Houston, which lost starting quarterback Matt Schaub after the deadline last year and was unable to acquire a replacement.

In answering questions about additional cold-weather cities hosting Super Bowls, Goodell was effusive in praising Indianapolis and cautioned people to wait to see how 2014’s big game at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey pans out. Given Indy’s surprisingly good weather and outstanding facilities, a future game at Lucas Oil Stadium cannot be ruled out.