It didn't take long for the topic of an 18-game season to come up during Super Bowl week, with Roger Goodell claiming it's "not a given" that further expansion of the NFL's regular season comes to fruition.
As the NFLPA goes through major changes in leadership, negotiations between the league and it's players will have to wait to be collectively bargained if another game is ever to be tacked onto the end of the regular season schedule.
The NFL's current CBA runs through 2030 giving both sides plenty of runway to argue for or against adding a potential 19th or 20th week (including a second bye). But it doesn't sound like the league's players or their representation have any appetite for such a change.
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Roger Goodell addresses 18-game season at Super Bowl 60
During Goodell's session with reporters on Monday, the commissioner lightly touched on talks of possibly adding an 18th game.
“We have not had any formal discussions about it and, frankly, very little, if any, informal conversations,” Goodell said. “I’ve heard people talk about it. It is not a given that we’ll do that. It is not something that we assume will happen. It is something we want to talk about with union leadership.”
Patriots owner Robert Kraft almost guaranteed that an 18th game with one less preseason exhibition and more international games is coming. But NFLPA interim director David White begs to differ.
NFLPA interim director announces stance on expanded season
During White's remarks on Tuesday, the seasoned executive said that the NFL's players have “no interest in entertaining, meaning thinking about, changes that harm player health or harm recovery process or harm the ability to compete at the highest level for the longest period of time.”
But rather prefer changes “that fully account for those factors, that minimize risk and ensure players are properly recognized and compensated for a true, fair share of the value they create.”
“The 18th game is not casual for us,” White explained. “It’s a very serious issue. It’s something that comes out of negotiations and nothing will move forward until players have the opportunity to account for all of those factors — take that into consideration and then, through negotiations, agree or not to the 18th game. But, as it stands right now, players have been very clear that they have no appetite for it.”
It's hard to imagine that an 18th game won't eventually become reality purely from a revenue perspective. And it wouldn't be surprising to see that number eventually grow to 20 with no more preseason games if the 32 owners have their way.