The NFL and the Players Association have begun having high level discussions regarding the league adding an 18th regular season game to the schedule.
NFLPA executive director Lloyd Howell sat down with the Washington Post to clarify that while “formal negotiations” have not yet begun, both sides are laying the ground work so that the NFLPA can pitch the idea to the players in the near future.
“We have talked at a very, very, very high level superficially, with a recognition … about, ‘Yeah, this is something that we should be talking about. And we should really kick the tires and understand what else goes into that decision-making process,'” Howell told the Post. “Where does the 18th game come from? I think the foregone conclusion is well, you just grab it, like, in what would otherwise be [preseason games] in August. You play it forward.”
“But these are details that really need to be fleshed out. But again, there are other economic, health and safety matters that also need to be clear to our members before there’s ever an agreement about an 18th game.”
Commissioner Roger Goodell and NFL owners have been in favour of an 18 game schedule for some time now, not only for the economic windfall it would provide, but also for the scheduling ability it would provide the league who could tie the Super Bowl into President’s Day weekend. By hosting the Super Bowl on the 3rd Sunday of February every year, the league could blend its events with the federal holiday on Monday, essentially making the championship a 3 day weekend.
That being said, the current collective bargaining agreement doesn’t expire until 2030. And given the parameters of the agreement currently in place, any changes to the length of the season would once again need to be collectively negotiated.
Because of the physical toll that an extra game would take on the players, a possible solution (put forth by Bengals QB Joe Burrow) would be the introduction of a 2nd bye week for each team. However, its a foregone conclusion that any new collective bargaining would also open up other areas to be discussed by the players and owners alike.
Topics such as playing surfaces, guaranteed compensation, how OTA’s are structured and more would all likely be put back onto the table should ownership look to add an additional week before the current CBA expires in 6 years.
“Many of our players have said, ‘They’re going to ask for more games,'” Howell said. “So one of the things you learn in business is this applies back to the obvious — I know you’re going to ask for more games because that … generates more money. And to be fair, don’t we all want to grow the pie?”
“So it’s the manner in which the pie grows, and what’s the trade-off in there so that we don’t just play another game but all these other dimensions that I mentioned also get addressed?”
The NFLPA previously agreed to add a 17th game to the schedule back in 2021. However, that vote passed by the slimmest of margins, garnering only 51.5% of the required votes from the players. It’s currently unclear what percentage of today’s NFLPA members would be in favour of an additional game being added to the schedule, but one can be sure that it won’t come without several concessions on the part of ownership as well.
Photo: SSG Teddy Wade. This image was released by the United States Army with the ID 120830-A-AO884-123