For a piece published Thursday, NFL insider Mike Jones of The Athletic suggested the NFL and NFL Players Association aren’t yet in the red zone regarding negotiations related to the possible expansion of the regular season to 18 games.
“Players will not readily agree to an 18-game regular season,” Jones explained. “And owners will not readily agree to incentives for which players ask. So [NFLPA executive director Lloyd Howell] believes the best way to avoid a lockout in six years is to start talking now.”
NFL analyst Boomer Esiason hinted in January the league could make an 18-game season a significant talking point throughout 2024. Commissioner Roger Goodell placed a huge spotlight on the matter when he said in April that moving to a format of 18 meaningful contests and two preseason games per team is “not an unreasonable thing” because the NFL doesn’t “need three preseason games anymore.”
In June, Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated mentioned that league owners could try to get a deal done with the union on an agreement for an 18-game season “maybe a lot sooner” than some thought earlier this year. Per the terms of the collective bargaining agreement that expires in 2031, the NFLPA must agree to expand the regular season.
Breer thinks the NFLPA could/should ask for concessions such as “lowering the term of service needed to get to free agency and…changing the tag rules” to accept an 18-game format. Noteworthy star players such as Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow and San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle have repeatedly campaigned for a second bye week to be added to the schedule.
“I’m glad Roger said 18,” Howell said. “I’m glad that he’s leaning into international [games]. I think it gives our guys the opportunity to kind of get their thoughts together, get our position together, to say, ‘This is what and how we’re thinking about it.'”
According to Myles Simmons of Pro Football Talk, Kittle acknowledged this week that NFL owners “inevitably” will get their wish of an 18-game season. Howell indicated he’s open to discussing all ideas before creating the 2025-26 schedule.
“It all takes time, and we have to approach it all with a healthy amount of analysis, a healthy amount of scrutiny,” Howell added. “But the North Star should definitely be: How do we all get on the same page toward increasing the value of this already growing enterprise?”