Browns Guard Joel Bitonio Hopes He's Retired Before NFL Adds 18th Game

The NFL has been eyeing adding an 18th game to the regular season for several years now and is imminent.

Nov 27, 2022; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Browns guard Joel Bitonio (75) celebrates the team s overtime win against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at FirstEnergy Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Scott Galvin-USA TODAY Sports / Scott Galvin-USA TODAY Sports

With their sights set on a President's Day Weekend Super Bowl Sunday, the NFL's quest to add an 18th game to the regular season is imminent.

Browns veteran guard Joel Bitonio hopes he's not around to see it.

“I hope not," Bitonio said at the annual Cleveland Browns Foundation Gold Outing. "I don’t know what the details on that are but, I would think they would get 18 games by the next CBA, but I will not be playing by then. I mean, they have to collectively bargain it."

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The current CBA, ratified in 2020, runs through the conclusion of the 2029-30 season and granted the league the flexibility to increase the regular season to 17 games but not more. Naturally, the NFL quickly obliged, adding the additional game to the schedule one year later. There is very specific language in Article 31, Section A that strictly prohibits the league from adding an 18th game to the schedule though. Unless the league and NFLPA negotiate an amendment to the document.

Any change in the CBA comes with concessions by both sides though. An 18th game is a pretty big ask for the players, which means they'll likely seek something big in return.

Just last week news of a pending NFLPA proposal that would change the structure of the offseason program were revealed. That change may be at least part of the group's list of demands for adding an additional game to the schedule. Bitonio believes the union' can't stop there.

"I don’t know the details of those talks," the 11-year veteran said. "I don’t think the off-season program is worth an extra game if that’s what they’re talking about or things like that. I don’t have a seat at the table in those discussions. But yeah, I would hope we would get more than a couple of voluntary off-season programs switched.”

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Based on reporting from NFL Networks Tom Pelissero, the NFLPA's proposal would eliminate the voluntary portion of the offseason program in favor of a longer ramp-up period before training camp. Essentially, most players would get five months off from the end of the regular season until they'd report for the early stages of training camp in June or early July.

That seems to be a positive outcome from the potential proposal, but removing the "voluntary" aspect of the offseason won't go over well with everyone. Such a move would also eliminate a six-week window the players currently have for "summer break."

"I do think there is some science behind a better ramp up period," Bitonio said. "As a young guy, I always thought I have to be in great shape April 4th when I show up for OTAs in off season.’ And, and so you don’t really have a long break to get back into shape there. But now if you push it back, you kind of have this like four or five month off season where hey, you could take a month off, you can start slowly working into it and then get ready to go and then once you show up at the end of June or early July.

"Then you have a three week period of not really training camp practices but like an offseason program where they can kind of ramp it up. ... I think science like in a ramp up period and training in the off season all those things seem like it’s a smart move."

Browns defensive tackle Shelby Harris has been one of the most vocal players to speak out against the potential change. The 32-year-old took to social media last week to share his thoughts on a re-worked offseason schedule, even suggesting that players don't actually want it.

The players association will never be able to please everyone, but Bitonio has faith that the group is proposing this with the health of the players in mind.

"I think it depends too with age," said Bitonio. "If you’re a young guy, like you probably want four or five months off in a row, but some young guys might not want four or five months. They’re like ‘I need to get back to work.' If you have kidsI could see a different idea. So, there’s definitely gonna be some differing opinions, but I think we trust what’s best for our bodies and in preparing for a season.”