The NFL 18-Game Season Sounds Inevitable

It probably won’t be long until the NFL adds another regular season game.

Feb 5, 2024; Las Vegas, NV, USA; A NFL shield logo at the Super Bowl 58 media center at the Mandalay Bay resort and casino. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports / Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

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?

According to ESPN, the NFL owners considered adding the 17th in 2014, but decided to save it the new CBA to use as a bargaining chip. They have been seeking an 18-game season since they were negotiating the deal that took place in 2011. More than a decade later, they're still looking to get there, but it seems inevitable. And everyone is acknowledging it, including the executive director of the NFLPA.

“When Roger said 18 games, in one sense you could say it’s inevitable,” Howell said. “But I think you miss the point. The point is economics and the point is what hangs off of any number of factors — the number of games in a season just being one. So let’s go further. Peel back what’s in the CBA. Probably 17-ish major points, number of games in a season being one. What hangs off of that? Well, [practice] squad size, roster size. So now we’re talking about additional contributions to the economics [beyond] just the number of games.”

It's been one thing for fans to feel like the expanded schedule is inevitable. It's a whole other for the league and the players to discuss it so openly.

The owners have always wanted it. The players can use it to get what they want. It's on the owners to make it happen.