# NFL: What if teams were allowed to trade regular season wins? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** football-nfl\ **Created:** [January 31, 2021, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-what-if-teams-were-allowed-to-trade-regular-season-wins/931930 "2021-01-31T17:51:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 6
**Author:** ![TheGunIsMightierThanThePen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thegunismightierthanthepen/32/2981_2.png) [@TheGunIsMightierThanThePen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheGunIsMightierThanThePen)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2021, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-what-if-teams-were-allowed-to-trade-regular-season-wins/931930/6 "2021-01-31T18:27:44Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > For a hypothetical example, why should the Packers, Vikings, and Lions even try to win, when the Bears have traded away their drafts for the next four years to buy 8 wins out of the gate? Good point, perhaps the league can put a cap on how many wins can be added to a season, maybe 4? > [@kenobi\_65](#): > > It’s not perfect, but it’s far better than, say, MLB, where the difference in income level between big-market and small-market teams is enormous. Now that you mention it, this idea does seem more suited for the MLB where the big city teams with the large payrolls are well-positioned to lure stars away from smaller markets. > [@Velocity](#): > > Making wins transactional would mean fans couldn’t be assured that any win would “count” since it could be traded away. This is true, and ideally this type of trade should only be allowed in the offseason (so it can’t affect the results of an ongoing season), and wins cannot be taken away from previously completed seasons, only future seasons. --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-what-if-teams-were-allowed-to-trade-regular-season-wins/931930)._