NFL Players Association Flatly Rejects Roger Goodell’s Idea for 18-Game Season
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell poses with Vince Lombardi trophy and Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs helmets at a press conference ahead of Super Bowl LIX. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
The NFL Players Association does not want the league to move to an 18-game season.
On Wednesday, NFLPA executive director Lloyd Howell Jr. rejected NFL commissioner Roger Goodell’s claims that safety data doesn’t discourage expanding the regular season. Goodell said moving to 18 regular season games and two preseason games might be in the cards.
Howell disagrees.
“No one wants to play an 18th game. No one,” Howell said. “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. So, there are a variety of issues that hang off of the length of the season before any formal negotiations.”
Howell added that anything Goodell says outside of a negotiation with the NFLPA is just bluster.
The NFL’s current collective bargaining agreement was ratified in 2020 and won’t expire until 2030. Any change to the length of the season would have to be voted on and agreed to by the league’s players and owners.
