Fair points, except money is literally no object for Google. And Roger Goodell wouldn't leave a single penny on the negotiating table if he could help it.
Google could probably triple whatever CBS, Fox, and ESPN are offering for the games without blinking an eye...and they'd still make it back in the end. Google also owns YouTube and already has a track record for broadcasting live streaming events. They could also add a lot of NFL-related content and even give each team its own channel filled with exclusives like coach's press conferences, updated team reports, greatest games of the past, etc. It'd be like a customized NFL Network where you could control what you want to watch for your favorite teams. Basically, a lot of cool shit you can't get with live TV now.
Plus, it's not like families would need to huddle around a laptop to watch. With devices like Roku and Apple TV, it can be streamed to your HDTV with no problems. Not much would change for couch potatoes, sports bar owners, etc.
You are right...next year might be a little too early to do this. I just think it will start happening more and more and it will inevitably move in that direction in the future. Instead of paying DTV $100+ every month (and I probably don't watch 80% of the channels I get), I'd much rather just do an ala carte package where I pay $5/month for HBO, $10 for ESPN, $20 for NFL, etc...they could even offer an ala carte game package where you pay $5 per game instead of $300 for the whole season.
