Will the extra playoff spot reduce turnover?

[patriotsheatyan]

Now that we have an extra team making the playoffs, will this mean that as teams make playoffs more frequently that more teams feel content with what they have, keeping coaches, players, and management longer?

[HoboRocket]

I think that's a very real possibility. We'll probably see less coaches on bad teams getting fired because those teams possibly have a lower threshold for being considered "competitive" as far as record goes. I mean, playoff appearances do a lot for a HC's stability for the first several years, and now we're more likely to see mediocre teams make the playoffs. 

However, I think we'll be seeing coaches on playoff teams feel more heat and more pressure to do more than simply "be competitive and/or make the playoffs." I think we'll see more Mike McCarthy-type firings because a playoff spot will be devalued. Or even more of the Jason Garrett, Marvin Lewis types - coaches who typically have their teams in decent spots but never go far or seem to actually accomplish anything meaningful - getting fired. 

[JaguarCrazy2832]

It definitely still matters how you play in the 1st game of the playoffs though. If you get stomped on national television, I wouldnt feel too comfortable about my job security if I was a HC

[Malik]

Doubtful. Football is still pretty random with the handful of games that are played each year. The difference between a good amount of teams making and missing the playoffs is just a dozen or so plays.

[ronjon1990]

I think it depends on who we're talking about.

A coach on a bad team isn't benefiting. 

A Marvin Lewis type who consistently crumbles? It might hurt those types if they lose the now-former ability to say they were on the cusp of being one of the 6 best teams in their conference and wind up 8th or 9th in the conference since it puts them in the bottom 1/2. 

Alternatively, it probably saves some jobs by getting a playoff appearance and maybe even a win. If you're on the hotseat and "need a playoff", the bar is arguably a bit lower. 

Ultimately, I think it winds up more or less balancing out when we look overall and not just at individual seasons in a vacuum.

[TXsteeler]

It will undoubtedly devalue a playoff appearance. Tbh if you miss the playoffs now you are a bad team.

New coaches can't come in and miss the playoffs 4+ years in a row and keep their jobs barring crazy bad luck with QB injuries.

In the past a team could be the 8th or 9th seed and be one win from getting in and get away with it but now those teams will still miss the playoffs and look really bad for it.

I would be interested in seeing which teams would have made 7th seed over the past decade. I have a suspicion that it wouldn't be a bunch of first time teams getting to the playoffs but rather more of the top teams who either had a bad year or a tough division getting in. This would also mean that the more meh-level coaches might not see much of an uptick in playoff appearances.

[Nightime]

9 hours ago, patriotsheatyan said:

Now that we have an extra team making the playoffs, will this mean that as teams make playoffs more frequently that more teams feel content with what they have, keeping coaches, players, and management longer?

I think if a #7 seed goes 8-8 and gets blown out in the first round, it won’t do much to impress the FO

[TecmoSuperJoe]

About the same percentage of teams made the playoffs from 1990 to 1995 when the league had 28 teams, but 6 spots per conference admitted. Didn't seem to have an effect. We'll see.