Expansion to an 18-game regular season has long been viewed as an inevitability based on the owners’ support of an increased slate of games. Negotiations on that front have been on hold during the NFLPA’s period without a full-time executive director.
J.C. Tretter was recently elected to the role, marking a surprising comeback after he resigned from the organization last summer. He and the union will now move forward in preparing for negotiations with the NFL on a number of matters. One of those will be an 18-game schedule, although talks on that front do not appear to be imminent.
Expanding the regular season was not something on the agenda at the recent league meeting. As ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler writes, making progress toward an agreement with the NFLPA on this matter “is not a pressing issue” as things stand. The view of owners has long been that an 18-game slate would be beneficial to all involved based on the increase in revenue it would provide. The league is also known to be eyeing a setup in which 16 international contests are played per year; that would of course be more viable with an additional game on the NFL calendar.
Even so, CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones confirms a major ramp-up in negotiations on the matter of schedule length should not be expected in the immediate future. Any agreement prior to the 2028 season at the earliest would come as a surprise, he adds. The current collective bargaining agreement runs through March of 2031, but a new deal can be arranged at any time prior to that point. A strong push from the owners to institute an expanded schedule nevertheless remains something to watch for given the NFL’s immense popularity, something Cowboys owner Jerry Jones spoke about when asked by Jones about the idea of additional games.
“When the ducks quack, feed them,” Jones said. “And we have that demand for our games. And because of the hard work and great players that we have, we have great demand. We should address it, respond to it and feed it.”
Each of the past five seasons have included a 17-game schedule. That will remain the case for 2026, and more years beyond that under the current setup could be in store if Tretter – who has spoken out against schedule expansion – and Co. choose to remain patient in preparing for the latest round of CBA negotiations.
The NFL is all about greed. Nothing Can Stop What Is Coming
NFLPA is all about greed as well. It’s not a one sided street.
The players should be able to negotiate something significant to go along with an 18-game schedule. A bigger revenue share, an extra bye-week, bigger rosters, a floor for contract guarantees, etc. If they are truly about union brotherhood, they’ll include an ask that the officials become full time.
And when the owners stop laughing, Tretter will roll over and give them 18 for something way less important.
Soon it’ll be like the NBA, where stars sit out games to avoid injury & body stress.
False equivalency is always the hallmark of Sportsball Mashup.
The focus of negotiations is now with regard to a 36 game schedule.
Wish they’d start talks on Goodell’s resignation.