The last two AAA attempts went so badly sales-wise that it's only made that possibility a lot more of a dog chasing its tail.
To make the game, companies have to see the demand. But to see demand you need something more substantial than what the communities have turned out in the way of petitions and such. They can't base it on the sales numbers of non-NFL licensed games that have come out in the past generation, because outside of the Blitz The League 1, they've all bombed. Heck, BTL 1 was actually an original XBOX/PS2 game with an eventual 360 port, and the 360 port actually sold poorly.
There was an outpouring for 2K to make the type of game that became APF once the NFL license went exclusive almost a decade ago, and that sort of outpouring hasn't happened since. Companies notice that, and it doesn't help our situation.
I remember the petitions and site rallies back in 2005 and 2006. People really stood up, and this was pre-YouTube and general video culture. Then we got the game, it was thin, and it bombed. The outcry was never as organized or as passionate again after that. So companies look at this climate now and say "why take such a big risk for such a potentially small payoff?"
I think if there is going to be a game at the AAA level, it's going to have to be more than just football, in fact I don't see it working well if football is the primary thing to the game. I also can't see it working unless it targets the Mature market. The double-edged sword there is, in the mature market you'll push some sales but potentially burn some bridges, too. I look back at what happened with Midway and BTL 1, and I remember the type of trouble they had with public organizations over the game. The NFL was VERY unhappy because they looked at it as an indirect depiction of NFL life the way they did with ESPN's Playmakers. And BTL was even banned in some places, most namely Australia which banned the game altogether.