Note: Article written before EA extended its NFL exclusivity deal through 2012.

The latest NFL season is officially over. Many of the story lines that entertained us throughout the pro-football year have come to a close, champions have been crowned, and imperfection has once again been personified by all but one franchise in history. Now is the time of year where the realists of real football fans will remind you of the harsh reality; that there are only two things left to look forward to until the next season arrives: the draft and the newest edition of Madden.

In the same way that your favorite franchise will be looking to tweak and add the right pieces to a puzzle this off-season in a quest for perfection, so to will EA Sports be hunkering down in an attempt establish the greatest football game yet, or at least one would hope. Madden 2008 brought some interesting new features to the table with the likes of branching-animations and player weapons, but it's going to take a lot more from the creators of the gaming world's biggest cash cow if it expects to keep players from jumping ship in two years once the NFL exclusivity license deal expires. That's right; there's only two more Madden editions expected before the market is once again open for business. It's go-time for Madden as it grows nearer to its contract year, so to speak. There are many different opinions and pages worth of analysis one could sift through over all the things Madden needs, but when your motto is, "If it's in the game, it's in the game," you should expect as much critiquing. Without getting too technical, we'll look at some of the more interesting adjustments that could be made to keep players satisfied and playing well into the next year, or perhaps even beyond.

Raising the bar every year for what is essentially the same game can be pretty daunting once you sit down and really start thinking about it, but there are plenty of improvements yet to be made. Online franchises are still a fantasy for football games in 2008, and it simply doesn't have to be that way. Buffing up the offline franchise mode and littering it with features, only to remove them and add them again later proclaiming they are new again has worked for a while, but it's time to move into the big leagues here. A man can only go 19-0 for so long before he gets bored of beating up on A.I. opponents. Real public and private franchises with actual trades and drafts should be a reality by now, and is probably the number one thing most fans are looking forward to, to enhance their experience. And it's not just the big things like real-time franchises players want, there are plenty of little things that matter, too.

Players want the mini-games back for all console versions. Why easily-implementable and popular modes such as Rushing Attack completely disappear in their preferred form in "next-gen" versions is completely beyond comprehension. Players love these modes because they are quick, easily accessible, sharpen their skills and above all, they are fun to play. Players on most consoles had to go out of their way to play similar modes to the point where many simply stopped playing them and went straight to practice simulations. Don't just bring back the same old modes you removed either; put some spice into them. How about a Rushing Attack where I can define how many linebackers are on defense? How about how many receivers I have on my team blocking to make things more interesting? These are great ways to breathe new life into an old favorite. While we're doing cleanup, why don't we fix what has been the the most overlooked aspect of Madden for years: Special Teams.

Special Teams have been little more than a formality to a change in possession in Madden, and it's about time that changes. Players such as Devin Hester, Joshua Cribbs, Maurice Jones-Drew and Leon Washington all excited their teams in the 2007 season with great special teams play, and there's no reason why the same shouldn't be said in Madden 2009. This is an area of Madden that really needs a complete overhaul. Madden has been around for nearly two decades, and we're still deciding to return kicks left, right, or straight up the middle. Actually, in Madden 2008 you don't even have that luxury, so how about real reverse plays and designed laterals? What about directional wedge plays and varied blocking strategies? It seems like there's so much to do here, and yet nothing is being done. What's the point in playing with the Bears if Hester doesn't take it to the house once in a while? It irks me to say this, but if Special Teams has been a non-factor over the years, then the running game has been only a few rungs higher than ineffective as of late.