So the latest and greatest team, the Anaheim Stingers, has been created in Madden and the team wants to make an impact in the league right away. There’s one small problem though, the Stingers must replace an existing team before joining the NFL. But does it have to be that way? The simplest of solutions was a feature implemented in an earlier version of Madden NFL, when the Houston Texans were set to enter the NFL via the expansion draft.

The expansion draft could be inflated into a more broad expansion team mode, which would then open up a plethora of options for the user. How many times have you gone into the "Create a Team" mode and made a great team only to be let down when you couldn’t insert them into the game without removing another squad? The return of the expansion draft would be one way to solve the aforementioned problem.

Now imagine the possibilities. This would allow a person to create a team and then do an expansion draft. The user could then take a handful of players who otherwise would’ve sat on the bench much of their careers, and make them into stars. Think about it for a second -- Joel Zumaya could finally be a closer or Robert Esche could get a second shot at starting, or players like Artose Pinner and Bruce Gradkowski could finally make the jump into starter roles.

And remember, a mode like this, albeit toned down, has been done before. EA Sports or even 2K Sports could attempt to lead the way and make this work in any of its pro sports games. Sure it’ll take some effort, time and consideration (not the least of which, to figure out if the playoff structure would change) but in this sports gamer’s opinion, it’d be worth it.