NFL free agency might not be a part of March Madness for long. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell confirmed that the league is working on a new league calendar which could push back the "Free Agency Frenzy" that took over this website last week.
"We presented an alternative calendar for the offseason," Goodell during his Monday news conference at the NFL Annual Meeting in Phoenix. "We think that it makes a lot of sense. I think the players saw the benefits of doing that and they wanted to talk to their membership, which they were doing last week at their meeting."
The idea is to spread out the NFL's offseason events, perhaps pushing back the NFL Scouting Combine and free agency a few weeks. Free agency could wind up starting in April. This change sounds inevitable.
The commissioner spoke on a variety of other issues Monday, too:
» Goodell talked with MLB Commissioner Bud Selig on two occasions about the scheduling conflict concerning the Baltimore Ravens' Thursday night kickoff. The NFL has asked the Baltimore Orioles to move their game earlier, and Goodell added the NFL is willing to make the kickoff later. The Ravens and Orioles share a parking lot, so they can't play at the same time.
The only other alternative is to make the Ravens play on the road to start the season. Wednesday night is not an option because of Rosh Hashanah.
» Goodell said the recent power outage during Super Bowl XLVII will not impact New Orleans' bid for another Super Bowl in any way. Look for the city to go hard after the 2018 Super Bowl -- it's the city's tercentennial birthday.
» On possibly expanding the playoffs: It clearly won't happen this year. The Competition Committee made some recommendations that the NFL will work on and then present to the NFL Players Association at some point.
Follow Gregg Rosenthal on Twitter @greggrosenthal.
