Steelers Safeties Against Regular Season Expansion

The Steelers safeties stated their views on a possible expansion of the regular season schedule.

Dec 3, 2023; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Arizona Cardinals tight end Trey McBride (85) runs after a catch as Pittsburgh Steelers safety Minkah Fitzpatrick (39) defends during the second quarter at Acrisure Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports / Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

PITTSBURGH -- Don't ask the Pittsburgh Steelers about adding an 18th game to the NFL's regular season. You'll only get a mixed bag of responses. Some couldn't care less, some are for it, and some are vehemently against it.

Steelers safeties Minkah Fitzpatrick and DeShon Elliott are firmly in the "against it" category. Speaking to Brooke Pryor of ESPN, both players were unabashed in their thoughts on adding another game.

"They're not paying us enough money already," Elliott said. "They're stingy with their money, so they want to make us play 18 games, as a player union, we should get way more money than what we're getting -- and not just the top guys. "

Elliott continued his rant by expressing disappointment in the league's greed. In his view, the owners have no risk but gain all of the reward.

"And the thing is, they're not out here playing football," he said. "They're not here running around putting their bodies on the line. They don't care. All they care about is making money, but if you're going to make money on the top end, the bottom end has to make money too."

Fitzpatrick was in full agreement with his fellow safety. The leader of the Steelers' secondary is not a fan of more games in the regular season. He doesn't understand the point of changing or why they would remove a preseason game to do that.

"Why do we keep adding games?" Fitzpatrick said. "I think 17 is more than enough, plus a playoff...The dudes that play a hundred percent of the snaps in the regular season are probably barely playing in the (removed) preseason game, so it doesn't really do too much."

The views of the team's safeties are likely felt across the league. ESPN surveyed NFL players about this issue to gauge the temperature. 46% of the respondents voted in favor of an additional regular season game to the schedule. 8% voted yes, but required some stipulations, and 19% voted against it. Pryor also noted that multiple concerns from players were raised during the survey, but 27% felt they didn't have a concrete response.

The other main issue to figure out is the revenue split. With the current 17-game schedule, players receive a revenue share of just under 49%. The current collective bargaining agreement is in place until 2030, so a concrete decision will likely wait until the next CBA negotiations. Until then, the Steelers safety duo is unlikely to change their opinions on this matter.

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