Goodell: Playoff expansion will likely be approved for 2015 season

NFL owners tabled discussions Tuesday on expanded playoffs, but commissioner Roger Goodell indicated afterwards that there is a good chance there will be a new system in place come 2015.

"I do believe [playoff expansion] will be approved for the 2015 season," Goodell said, via CBSSports.com. "I think we want to see one more year of 'Will it impact the regular season in a positive way, from a competitive standpoint.' Will it create more excitement, more races toward the end? ... And we also want to absorb the additional inventory into the marketplace, from an advertising standpoint.

"... I spoke to [union president DeMaurice Smith] about it two weeks ago. I think there's a lot of benefits to the players. That' something they'll have to evaluate. ... I do believe this is a real benefit to the players. The revenue, obviously, will increase, and they share in that."

Goodell said the league wants to focus on its new "Thursday Night Football" partnership with CBS before increasing its playoff format.

"Our general view here was that we should proceed with the Thursday night focus that we have this year - we're adding inventory into the market place and this makes the most sense for us," Goodell said.