NFLPA Isn't Interested in 18th NFL Regular Season Game
A few years ago, the NFL extended its regular season to 17 games (18 weeks with a bye). Now, there is plenty of talk about another game being added in. It feels all but inevitable, as the league usually gets what it wants. It's not a foregone conclusion, but it's trending that way. Not if the NFLPA has anything to say about it, though.
NFLPA says no to 18-game NFL regular season
Adding a football game to the schedule is not as simple as adding a game to any other sport. Football is violent, and there's a good reason they generally have at least a week in between games. It takes time to recover, and a full season of contact catches up to players.
Injuries are not always preventable, but by keeping the regular season shorter, the risk of injury is lessened. However, with a longer regular season, everyone in the NFL makes more money, which is the driving principle here. The NFLPA isn't governed by money, though.
"Our members have no appetite for a regular-season 18th game," NFLPA interim executive director David White said via ESPN. "The 18th game is not casual for us. It's a very serious issue. It's something that comes out of negotiations, and nothing will move forward until players have the opportunity to account for all of those factors, take that into consideration and then through negotiations, agree or not to the 18th game."
As it stands now, though, players have "no appetite" for an 18th game. 17 is enough, according to White.
Why the NFL wants more games
Aside from money, the NFL has plenty of reasons to want to go to 18 games. They can grow the game, expand it globally, and generate more interest. It's not a short regular season, but it being longer means fans are engaged for more time.
"I want to tell you guys that we're going to push like the dickens now to make international (games) more important with us," New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft said. "Every team will go 18 (regular-season games) and two (preseason games) and eliminate one of the preseason games, and every team every year will play one game overseas."
Not inevitable
NFLPA president Jalen Reeves-Maybin and commissioner Roger Goodell have both said no discussion between the two sides has taken place. As of now, this isn't a formal conversation between the NFL and NFLPA about something that's officially on the table.
"There's 31 owners, they all have different agendas and opinions on things," said Reeves-Maybin. "Maybe this is a way of them trying to influence. (...) We have not opened up any 18-game discussions. It's not something that the players are excited about or really trying to press for. Then we put in a lot of work, and we put out a good product out there every year and it's not something we feel the need for."
David White added, "An arbitrary statement carries no weight. It's a free country. People could say what they like, but (...) is it increasingly inevitable? (...) The answer is absolutely not. It's a point of negotiation." He cited the injuries sustained by teams on deep playoff runs as a reason more football is not always best.
The NFL's plan in this regard is to cut one of the three preseason games and turn it into a regular-season contest. However, this is a flawed plan. The third preseason game, which would be cut, usually features little to no starters from each team. Additionally, teams often aren't even ready by Week 1 with the three games, so now they'd be pushing into Week 3 before they were in regular-season shape.
The solution would be to extend the training camp, but that, while not usually full-contact, runs the risk of other injuries as well.
