The NFLPA is going to need some wooing before the NFL can play an 18-game season. That was the message from executive director Lloyd Howell this week, who struck a different tone than last year. In 2024, he seemed more receptive, or at least accepting, of the eventuality.
Not so in his recent press conference. Howell made sure to stress that “The length of the season is a CBA-negotiated matter” and that “Any commentary outside of a formal negotiation is just commentary”. In other words, Roger Goodell and the NFL can say anything they want in the media. If it’s not said to the NFLPA in a formal meeting, it’s little more than a fart in the wind.
“Right now, when I have talked to the players over the last two seasons, no one wants to play an 18th game. No one”, Howell said, adding that NFL players have enough on their plates already. “Seventeen games is already for many of the guys too long. Seventeen games is also so lengthy that you’re still dealing with injuries going into the next season”.
The NFLPA agreed to a 17-game season in the previous CBA negotiations, in which the NFL got the upper hand. They always do, of course, because they have the luxury of shared interests. When it comes to the NFLPA, most players have short careers, so their priorities are different.
Howell pointed out that any discussion of expanding the NFL season to 18 games opens up a much larger conversation. When talking about adding another game, you also must discuss an extra bye week, for example. The NFLPA wants to know how that affects the shape of the offseason, of health and safety measures, of roster sizes, healthcare plans and medical benefits.
An expansion of the NFL season also affects the economics of everybody involved. What slice of the pie does the NFLPA get from that? What will rules about recovery time look like? The league will have to concede something, somewhere, to get that extra game. “There are a variety of issues that hang off of the length of the season before any formal negotiation”, Howell said.
But as I think we all know, an 18-game NFL season is effectively an inevitability. The NFL will get its way when the time comes, if it doesn’t manage to force its way before then. We know what the NFL’s priorities are, and that’s why the NFLPA exists in the first place. The bigger question is, at what point do we stop assuming it ends at 18 games?
