Some fun ideas here but overall I guess I'm just not a big fan of doing away with conferences and not a fan of moving teams from conference to conference, like it still kind of irks me to see Seattle in the NFC for some reason, like growing up with them in the AFC West it was aesthetically awkward seeing Denver vs Seattle in that one Super Bowl. I'm weird I guess.
I like the 2 conferences and how they have their own identities going back to AFL vs NFL. I do think some teams work switching conferences though, like the Steelers, Browns, Colts, maybe Ravens or possibly even the Texans i'd be fine with them going to NFC because Steelers/Browns/Colts all played in NFL not AFL and have history with NFC teams, Ravens & Texans are new enough where it wouldn't matter. Both teams have NFC style colors/unis to me also(I like Texans battle red unis because they are more AFC looking).
And also I have grown to really dislike divisions with 4 teams with 4 divisions per conference. Every year you have a really bad division where a mediocre team wins a playoff spot. I like 3 divisions per conference with 5-6 teams per division, I think it makes for a better playoffs, you earn that division/playoff spot, bad/average teams don't make the playoffs as often.
So I'm thinking something like this:
NFC
Dallas Cowboys
Arizona Cardinals
New York Giants
Philadelphia Eagles
Washington Redskins
Baltimore Ravens
Detroit Lions
Green Bay Packers
Minnesota Vikings
Chicago Bears
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
San Francisco 49ers
Carolina Panthers
Atlanta Falcons
Los Angeles Rams
New Orleans Saints
AFC
Buffalo Bills
Indianapolis Colts
Miami Dolphins
New England Patriots
New York Jets
Pittsburgh Steelers
Cincinnati Bengals
Cleveland Browns
Houston Texans
Tennessee Titans
Jacksonville Jaguars
Denver Broncos
Seattle Seahawks
Las Vegas Raiders
Los Angeles Chargers
Kansas City Chiefs
So geographically you have 2 big issues here, Arizona in that NFC East geographically does not make a lick of sense(probably made more sense when they were St. Louis Cardinals), and also the whole NFC West makes no sense geographically with LA/San Fran mixed with New Orleans/Carolina/Atlanta in the eastern US. But I'm ok with that. I like the bigger divisions better here, you are VERY rarely going to get an 8-8 team and probably never going to get a losing record in the playoffs under this format. Also with this division alignment you don't get 8-8 or 9-7 teams playing at home against teams with superior records. Homefield would go to the team that deserved it.
Here we are 18 years later and I find myself just not a fan of the 2002 re-alignment that gave us the modern day NFL format. Here is why:
1). I don't like the way the 2002 realignment split up Tampa from Green Bay/Chicago/Detroit/Minnesota
2). Don't like how they broke up the AFC West with Seattle to the NFC(which is still just weird to me seeing them in NFC playoffs or repping the NFC in the Super Bowl those years).
3). The AFC South in general(it was like it was tailor made for Peyton Manning, setting him up for nice weather games in Houston and Jacksonville with an annual return home to his alma matter in Tennessee every year). Looking at the AFC South now it kinda makes no sense, it was like they just took the teams that were left after putting everybody else in place and made the AFC South as an afterthought.
I think Baltimore works better in the NFC than Seattle especially in the east with Tri-States regional rivalries set up against Washington, New York, and Philly. Keep Seattle in the AFC West and put Houston in the same division as the old rivals in the Browns/Steelers/Bengals from the Oilers days. Would have been way better.