No action was taken on any of those issues except the draft, in which the time between picks in the first round will be cut from 15 minutes to 10 to help speed up a process that went a record 6 hours and 8 minutes last April.

Starting time was also moved from noon EDT to 3 p.m. for the first day, which will be limited to two rounds instead of three.

"We believe this will make for a more streamlined and efficient draft," commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement issued during the league owners' meetings.

Goodell said owners still are considering changing the date and site of the Pro Bowl, although no vote was taken. The game, now played in Hawai'i the week after the Super Bowl, could be changed to a site in the continental U.S. the week before the Super Bowl. The Pro Bowl has been played at Aloha Stadium since 1980.

Last month Goodell said a change of date would not happen this season because of commitments to the state of Hawai'i and broadcast partners, but could occur as early as 2009.

The issue that could have the biggest impact, however, involves Buffalo's games in Toronto.

Owners considered a proposal that would have the Bills playing one home game per season there for the next five years to help the team expand its diminishing market in western New York into Canada's largest metropolitan area.

While the Bills have marketed in Canada for years, this would be the first time they played regular-season home-games there.

In addition, they would play exhibition games there in 2008, 2010 and 2012.

"It helps expand our market in Buffalo," team owner Ralph Wilson said. "It gives us a major metropolitan area to expand our base."

Two years ago, the San Francisco 49ers and Arizona Cardinals met in Mexico City in the first regular-season NFL game played outside the United States. This Sunday, the New York Giants and Miami Dolphins will meet in London in the second.

Goodell said at a news conference he thought the changes in the draft would go a long way to streamlining the process, which in recent years has become an endurance test.

There was also a change in the second round. It will be cut from 10 minutes to seven between choices for next year's draft, which will be held April 26-27 at Radio City Music Hall in New York.

In recent years, teams have often used most of the 15 minutes in the first round, entertaining trade offers or making them.

The time between picks will stay at five minutes for the last five rounds, which will take place on Sunday. That session will start at 10 a.m. instead of 11 as it has in the past. Both days will be televised by ESPN and the NFL Network.

During the meeting, Goodell reinforced his position that electronic spying will not be tolerated. In September, he fined New England coach Bill Belichick $500,000 and the Patriots $250,000 after tapes of New York Jets defensive signals were confiscated from one of their employees on the sideline.

"I emphasized that it has a huge effect on the integrity of the game," he said.

On other issues: