An 18-game regular season could be closer to reality than initially thought with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and NFLPA executive director Lloyd Howell in the early stages of setting the groundwork for expanding the current season schedule.
Goodell said before the Super Bowl that he envisioned a shorter preseason of two games, an 18-game regular season and the Super Bowl being played later in February, potentially around Presidents Day, to set up the chance for the NFL to play its annual championship game the day before a widely recognized holiday. But at NFL owners meetings in April, Goodell said there was nothing imminent with schedule expansion and each team would play 17 regular-season games for the forseeable future.
Howell told The Washington Post the two sides had surface-level discussions to get the ball rolling. Any change to the season schedule must be collectively bargained — meaning the league needs the players union’s permission — before it can be implemented.
“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.”
Howell said the big picture is maximizing opportunities with a “growing enterprise,” but he also knows opening dialogue for negotiations on any particular topic brings leverage and bargaining power into the equation. Already Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow has said an 18-game schedule should require two regular-season bye weeks per team, and Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers — returning from a torn Achilles — suggested all NFL fields should be natural grass, not artificial turf or FieldTurf.
“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,” he said.