Amid the NFL’s owners opting out of the collective bargaining agreement are rumblings the league might add a 17th game to the schedule and cut into the preseason.

Imagine the possibilities. An extra week of fantasy football. An extra Sunday of NFL madness. No more .500 teams (unless one goes 8-8-1, stupid ties). One less meaningless preseason game that just makes you wish the season would start. The season beginning Labor Day weekend again rather than after.

One of the reasons I’ve heard to cut into the preseason was that being an NFL player already is a 12-month job, unlike the old days when players had a job in the offseason and needed four (and at one time, six, yikes) preseason games just to get back into shape. There are still obstacles for this to become reality — Gene Upshaw didn’t seemed too enthused about it, but it’s been a grumpy few days for him — but hopefully as the league, players and owners hammer out a new contract, they figure out a way to make 17 games, or even 18 games, work.