The NFL 18-Game Season Sounds Inevitable

The NFL is going to add another game to the schedule. It's not a matter of if, but when. Roger Goodell has been discussing it openly during the offseason and now Lloyd Howell, the executive director of the NFL Players Association, has chimed in saying there have been discussions at a "very, very, very high level superficially."

It all seems so simple. You add the extra regular season game and get rid of a preseason game. There are plenty of other details to iron out, but Howell seems pleased they're already talking about it. And you might not have to wait until a new CBA is agreed on ahead of the 2031 season. Here's what Howell had to say to the Washington Post.

“The simple fact of the matter is when you have a growing enterprise and there are opportunities within that intervening period of time where progress could be made and you could tweak the existing CBA legal document, why wouldn’t you want to do that?” Howell said. “So whether it’s field surface, whether it’s the [offseason] schedule, if you want to call that formal — I call it bargaining. I call it amendments. I call it updates to what is now a living document called a CBA. Yeah, I want to be able to have our membership in a position to jump on it when we can, not wait until their playing days are done and it’s like you go through the cycle all over again.”

So not only is the head of the NFLPA open to the extended season, but it sounds like they're willing to rewrite the current CBA. Why wait to make more money?



https://www.si.com/nfl/nfl-18-game-season-inevitable-