The NFL had a tough decision to make Friday afternoon.
Several teams were dealing with massive COVID-19 outbreaks and the list of players who tested positive just didn’t stop growing.
The Cleveland Browns, Los Angeles Rams, and Washington Football Team were three teams in particular facing a major problem where too many backups would be playing.
And even then, more positive tests could still come up between now and the start of the game given the nature of an outbreak.
The NFL has finally stepped in and moved three games on the schedule.
Updated week 15 NFL schedule: pic.twitter.com/arIrOhkCgW
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) December 17, 2021
The Cleveland Browns and Las Vegas Raiders have their matchup moved from Saturday to Monday at 5 p.m. ET.
The Seattle Seahawks vs. Los Angeles Rams and Washington Football Team vs. Philadelphia Eagles games have both been bumped to Tuesday night.
Players may complain if their team did not suffer the outbreak, but one important point must be kept in mind.
The Discussion Of Payment
A forfeited game does mean a free win, but no one would get paid in that scenario.
Important note for players on Raiders, Eagles, Seahawks who are unhappy their games were rescheduled instead of forfeited: Neither team’s players get paid if a team has to forfeit.
— Dan Graziano (@DanGrazianoESPN) December 17, 2021
A forfeit is only supposed to happen if an outbreak was caused because of unvaccinated players.
Yes, players have a right to be upset if they now get a short week late in the year because of an outbreak on another team.
But if all the cases are breakthrough cases for vaccinated individuals, that team did nothing wrong either.
This is a complicated situation that may involve the NFL changing its policy for vaccinated players who are asymptomatic.
If the NFL/NFLPA does this, as Jerry Jones suggests, I can only assume it would be because their medical experts concluded that infected asymptomatic people aren't contagious. https://t.co/Dv16rTDKjJ
— Kevin Seifert (@SeifertESPN) December 17, 2021
Making changes during the season is going to anger plenty of players and coaches.
Yet this is still a fluid situation and the NFL should simply follow the advice of medical experts.
Postponing games was inevitable as cases began to rise and it is still ultimately better than a true cancelation.
NEXT: NFL Reportedly Moving Browns-Raiders Game Due To COVID
