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.
You can’t seriously be comparing the 2 man. Like 2% of NFL players actually make a lot of money. The rest make very little in comparison to the star players, and even the star players make WAAAAY less than owners. I’ll never understand how people can defend ownership over players in this situation
Most certainly I can compare them. If a majority of the players tell their union ‘No’, the union has to vote no. But I’m willing to bet a majority of players want an extra game check.
As for earnings, I don’t know a single business owner that makes less than their employees. That’s the way business works.
An extra game check? Their contract doesn’t work that way. They have an agreed amount they make. If they play 10 games each check would just be bigger. Wording it like that is ridiculous and you know it. And of course owners of a business make more, and of course should. But when an owner of any business makes decisions that are bad for their employees, try to mask it like it’s actually FOR their employees, people can see that. Every decision the NFL has made recently completely disregards their apparent goal of player safety and that also can’t be argued. If the players were smart they’d take a stand. Now, of course they won’t. The average NFL player is like 24 years old they aren’t mature enough yet to know how bad they’re getting screwed. Fact is the NFL would be plenty successful with more than enough money for players and owners with a 16 game regular season, and no overseas nonsense. Football is slowly dissappearong at the grass roots level. 20 years from now the talent pool coming out of the draft could look significantly different. That all starts are the top. I’ve talked to many players who played college ball and played their whole lives who don’t even watch football cuz they think the NFL and NCAA is a trash product. I mean what does that tell you?
From google: Yes, NFL players earned more money with the move to a 17-game season in 2021. The Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) increased the player revenue share to 48.5% (potentially higher) and included a 17th game check for many players, alongside higher revenue, which increased the overall salary cap and earning opportunities, particularly through increased media revenue.
Do you think the union would have signed on for an additional game, if their members weren’t financially compensated? Talk about ridiculous.
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.
They already do for the most part in week 18 if their playoff spot is secured.
Or injured and benched like the Raiders did to Maxx and the TE.
The focus of negotiations is now with regard to a 36 game schedule.
Wish they’d start talks on Goodell’s resignation.
Why because the collective owners won’t hire a more ruthless negotiator to succeed Goddell?
“When the ducks quack, feed them,”
Unfortunately, the Dolphins do not travel to Dallas this season so Jerry won’t get an opportunity to feed Storm Duck.
2 bye weeks and players limited to 16 games is the only feasible way I can see it happening.
Would add 2 weeks to the regular season
Goodell would solve the player fatigue problem by extending the halftime and adding more breaks for $pon$or$ commercials…lol.
If I was head of the NFLPA I’d be actually demanding going back to 16 games AND adding another bye week. The more games you add, the more irrelevant the end of the season gets. I’d even demand going back to 6 playoff teams instead of 7. It added nothing to the game it just watered it down. And don’t even get me started with the global expansion nonsense. It’s a joke. The players make the league, they should strike honestly to put the owners in their place, and demand the NFL undo many of their horrible decisions they’ve made over the last decade. The increased revenue the NFL gets for the extra games and Global expansion affects the owners, and top 2% of players only. And even the players, the increased pay they see from “higher salary cap” is pales in comparison to how much it lines the pockets of owners