Formal discussions regarding an 18-game NFL schedule between the league and the NFL Players Association won’t commence until spring of 2026 at the earliest, the Washington Post reported on Tuesday.
The timeline signals a delay of talks that many around the league expected would begin earlier and throws into question when an 18-game schedule might be implemented, according to the report.
Advertisement
Owners have reportedly been pushing for an expansion of the regular-season schedule from 17 to 18 games for some time. Talks on the subject were expected to intensify among league owners by this summer.
But commissioner Roger Goodell and Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones told reporters at the conclusion of owners meetings in May that the topic wasn’t discussed. Now the Washington Post is reporting that the NFLPA doesn’t intend to formally engage with the NFL on the topic until next year at the earliest.
NFL, NFLPA’s stances on schedule expansion
Any expansion of the schedule will have to be agreed upon by both the NFL and the NFLPA. Owners are reportedly hoping for expansion and the revenue provided by an additional game in the next 2-3 years. Goodell spoke openly about the league’s desires in January, telling Bloomberg that an 18-game regular season is the next “logical step” while discussing a framework of 20 total games between the preseason and regular season.
“We would keep within that 20-game framework,” Goodell said. “We went to 16 and four, and now 17 and three. So 18 and two is a logical step.”
Advertisement
The NFLPA has pushed back at the idea. The union’s executive director Lloyd Howell said in February at his state of the players union address that Goodell is “trying to shape a narrative” in favor of an 18-game schedule and that players overwhelmingly are not in favor of expansion.
“It’s a player’s decision as to what they will agree to do or not,” Howell said. “Right now, when I have talked to the players over the last two seasons, no one wants to play an 18th game — no one. Seventeen games is already, for many of the guys, too long.”
As always, when it comes to playing more football, player safety is of concern.
“I heard the commissioner remark recently that the league has made enough progress on health and safety to expand the regular season,” Howell continued. “Frankly, we’re not sure how he’s reaching that conclusion based on the data we’ve been given access to.”
And now, per the Washington Post, the NFLPA doesn’t intend to engage in formal talks this year. Howell, instead, plans to gauge the stances of players in team-by-team meetings with players this fall to establish the union’s bargaining priorities.
Is an 18-game schedule inevitable?
The NFL, meanwhile, has not pressed the union to start negotiations despite the reported desire of some owners to implement an 18-game schedule by the 2027 or 2028 season, according to the report. Others see after the 2029 season as a potential deadline, when the league can reportedly opt out of most of its rights agreements with broadcasters.
The NFL last expanded its regular season from 16 to 17 games in 2021. That marked the first time the league had expanded its schedule since it changed from 14 to 16 games in 1978.
Read the full article here
