Picture this: you get back home, exhausted from the rigors of the work day, hoping to find something on the television to occupy you as you relax and wind down. 

Suddenly, you get a notification on your phone alerting you that the New York Giants are facing the Detroit Lions. Excitement fills you as you are reminded that NFL football is finally back after six grueling months. You flip your channel to NBC where you are greeted by the voices of the commentators and the iconic gridiron that you have not seen since February. 

You hype yourself up as this is what you have been waiting the entire offseason for, and just as you are about to enjoy some football, you realize that you have no idea who is starting at quarterback for the Giants. In fact, you do not recognize a majority of the players on the field for both teams. 

Frustration sets in as you realize it is just the preseason and there is still an entire month to go before the regular season starts and meaningful football is being played. At the surface, the insignificance of these next three weeks of mind-numbingly average at best football is apparent, but the importance is more than meets the eye and lies within the confines of every NFL team.

The league uses the preseason as a way to gauge the talent on their rosters and see which players that have not already proven themselves can contribute to winning football games. There is a reason you rarely see stars or even starters on NFL teams play anything more than a half of football during the preseason. Teams already know what they have in these players, and with around 30 other spots on the rosters that need to be filled, it is crucial that the lesser-known and unproven players get an opportunity during actual game time to show they can make the 53-man roster.

Teams also prevent their star players from playing in the preseason as a way to take precautions and prevent injuries. With the game of football being as brutal and dangerous of a sport as it is, taking every step necessary to keep players healthy is vital for teams who want to develop and build championship-caliber rosters. 

The biggest step in that process is keeping players from the line of fire as much as possible during games that are insignificant to them. Players who did not see the field in this recent preseason like quarterbacks Patrick Mahomes, Jalen Hurts and Josh Allen, who all play such a vital role for their teams, cannot be put at risk of hurting themselves and missing time in a sport where every game matters immensely. 

This is also especially true for players like Joe Burrow, Lamar Jackson and Matthew Stafford, who have a history of getting injured. A good example of this is with the Dallas Cowboys in 2016, where in a random preseason game against the Seattle Seahawks, longtime quarterback Tony Romo scrambled to the left and in the process of sliding to the ground and getting tackled, injured his back and essentially ended his career. 

Despite the fact this ended up being a blessing in disguise for the Cowboys, as backup Dak Prescott would lead them to a phenomenal 2016 regular season and is still their starting quarterback seven years later, the fact remains that such a catastrophic injury could have been prevented had the starter, especially one as prone to injuries as Tony Romo, been on the sidelines preparing himself for the regular season.

Now, the question that needs to be addressed is whether or not this impacts the NFL in a negative way, and the answer more or less lies in the middle. 

To the casual fan, the preseason is practically meaningless. Without the star players and high-level football that gravitate people to tune in, the game becomes difficult to watch for those who do not live, breathe and sleep the sport. Not to mention the fact that teams can go undefeated and dominate in the preseason, and their record goes back to zero once the regular season begins. 

However, the preseason signifies more than getting sold-out crowds and millions of people watching on television. It is an opportunity for players to make a name for themselves and make a spot on a roster, for teams to prepare said rosters and set out their goals for the upcoming season.