For the last decade or so it’s been trendy to forecast that the greed of NFL owners would erode the league’s popularity. We were reminded that fatted calves get slaughtered, and that the greedy always receive their comeuppance.

But then a team sold for $2.2 billion (the Panthers). Television ratings rebounded (up 5 percent in 2019). And sponsorship money continued to pour in (more than $1 billion in 2019).

No wonder NFL owners and executives are motivated to give us more. According to reports, the proposed new collective bargaining agreement between the league and players will include a 17-game regular season and two more playoff games – one per conference – each year.

Do we need more NFL games? No, of course not.

The season already runs from September to February. We have games on Sundays, Mondays, Thursdays and the occasional Saturdays.

The current playoff format, which includes eight division winners and four wildcards, works just fine. Our lives would not have improved by watching the Rams and Steelers make the playoffs in 2019, which would have happened under the new format.

But the NFL is betting that we will consume whatever it puts in front of us.

And it is not wrong.

The only time we’ve really pushed away from the table was 2016, when a presidential election, the national anthem controversy and the increased popularity of cord cutting led to a decline in television ratings.

Ratings have rebounded the past two seasons, although they haven’t returned to their levels of 2015.

Still, the NFL is fat. Billionaire owners are making more money than ever. Some of it will trickle down to the players. Both sides will agree to this deal even as they preach that player safety is a priority. The footballs used in the NFL will continue to be held together by laces made of hypocrisy.

For the NFL, business is booming and owners are betting that there is room for growth. Will their greed result in a reckoning one day?

Maybe, but I wouldn’t bet on it happening anytime soon.

Reach Kent Somers at Kent.Somers@gannett.com. Follow him on twitter @kentsomers. Hear Somers Friday at 7:30 a.m. on The Drive with Jody Oehler on Fox Sports 910 AM.

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