The NFL is exploring a change to the current playoff format, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.

Schefter reported the changes–which would take effect for the upcoming 2020 season–would add an extra team to each conference's playoff bracket. In other words, both conferences would send seven teams to the playoffs, rather than six.

There would also be just one bye (instead of two), which would be awarded to the best team in each conference:

If and when a new collective bargaining agreement is finalized — and there is now mounting optimism it could be done sometime in the next week — it is expected to change the NFL's playoff structure as it is currently constituted for next season, league sources told ESPN.

Under the current proposal that is expected to take effect in the new CBA when it is done, seven teams from each conference will qualify for the playoffs instead of the six that currently do. In addition, only one team from each conference will receive a first-round bye as opposed to the two that currently do, league sources said.

The changes to the NFL's playoff format would take effect immediately for the 2020 season.

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Had this rule been in place in 2019, the Pittsburgh Steelers and Los Angeles Rams would have earned playoff spots in their respective conferences.

Another change would award postseason pay to players from both teams that earned a buy, which reportedly is not part of the current CBA. The news comes no more than a week after Major League Baseball announced proposed changes to their own postseason structure.

Schefter quoted a source as saying “both sides” have agreed to this change with respect to the new CBA, which explains why it would immediately be enforced next season.