NFL, NFLPA in ‘high-level’ discussions to implement 18-game regular season

The NFL and the NFLPA are engaged in high-level discussions about the potential of an 18-game regular season, Mark Maske of The Washington Post reported Tuesday.

Lloyd Howell, the NFLPA’s executive director, said at the NFLPA’s headquarters in Washington, D.C. Monday that formal negotiations have not yet taken place.

“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 said. “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.”

NFL pushing for an 18-game regular season

Beginning with the 2021 season, the NFL added a 17th game to the regular season slate. Since then, there’s been rumblings that an 18th game could be next. The addition of an 18th regular season game would likely reduce the preseason from three games to two. The NFL and NFLPA’s collective bargaining agreement expires after the 2030 season and specifically prohibits the league and owners from unilaterally extending the regular season to 18 games, Maske noted in his report.

Howell left the door open for the two sides to agree on expanding the regular season before the current CBA expires.

“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.”

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell remains a proponent of the 18-game regular season, a view largely supported by the owners.

“We would do it in the context of reducing the number of preseason games. We think that’s a good trade,” Goodell said at the Owners Meetings in May.

NFL players chime in on possibility of 18-game regular season

Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow said earlier this month on “ Pardon My Take ” that if the NFL implements an 18-game regular season, he would like to see an additional bye week on the schedule. Other players have health and safety concerns about playing 18 games. Some, meanwhile, have concerns as it relates to the current revenue split. As negotiated in the last CBA, NFL players can receive a maximum of 48.8% of the revenue from a 17-game regular season.

ESPN recently conducted a player poll which found that 46% were in favor of an 18-game schedule with stipulations and 8% voted yes without stipulations. 19% were completely against the idea and 27% were neutral on the topic.

“I think it’s up to every player to decide,” said Ryan Kelly , Indianapolis Colts center and member of the NFLPA’s executive committee. “If they said, ‘Hey, you guys get 70% of revenue and we’ll take 30 as owners,’ a lot of guys would sign up for that if you make $100 million playing quarterback [the current revenue split is approximately 52% to 48% in favor of owners]. So, I think everybody’s got a line they draw in the sand, and we’ll see where that is.”

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