The Pat McAfee show has had some great guests so far during the 2024 NFL Draft coverage, and among them was NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. He joined the show and discussed some of his short and long-term goals for the league and mentioned that he has been considering an expansion of the NFL regular season schedule.
“I think we’re good at 17 now,” Goodell said in a video posted on Pat McAfee’s YouTube channel, “We’re looking at how to continue. I’m not a fan of the preseason, and I don’t think these guys like it either,” he said, pointing to fans gathered nearby. “I’d rather replace a preseason game with a regular season game any day. That’s just picking quality. If we get to 18 and 2, that’s not an unreasonable thing.”
The NFL of course has already done this once in the last five years with the regular season expanding from 16 to 17 games starting in 2021 sacrificing one of the four preseason games to get there. They also expanded the playoff format to allow for an extra wild card team in each conference. It seems like the league office has enjoyed the results of that expansion and wants to continue.
His master plan is to get the Super Bowl to be on President’s Day weekend so that the day after the big game is a national holiday and most people will have the day off. I have to admit, that sounds pretty nice.
But what does an 18 game schedule mean for player safety, or player development? I would assume they would need an extra bye week baked into an 18 game schedule so that every team gets two weeks off to help regroup and rehab the extra rigors of an expanded schedule.
End of roster and practice squad players already have enough trouble getting to prove their value with reduced practice time over the years, and the preseason has historically been a great spot for players to earn their place on NFL rosters. It used to be that starters would play a drive, then a few drives, then a whole quarter or half, and then in the fourth and final preseason game they would barely play at all and the depth players would get to shine.
It was all part of the cut down process from 90 to 53. It used to take place in waves, but now it is one big cutdown.
The NFL already does a great job maintaining year-round relevance in the media. An 18-game regular season will continue to further that cause, but I wonder what the NFLPA will think of this proposal. More money for the top players, but safety risks and less opportunities for the vast majority of the league that are just trying to make a roster.
