It’s no secret that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and league owners want to shift to an 18-game regular season as soon as possible.
While the NFL Players Association must consent to such a proposal per the terms of the collective bargaining agreement that expires after the 2030 campaign, it seems likely the two sides will agree on a deal before the end of the decade.
Andy Reid of the Kansas City Chiefs is an all-time great head coach and one of the league’s most respected voices. On Monday, he spoke at the NFL owners meetings about the inevitable expansion of the regular season.
“The challenge is the health part of it,” Reid said, as shared by Matt Verderame of Sports Illustrated. “You know, the guys staying healthy. However, they’ll work something out. I’m sure they’re going to give the guys a little break in there somewhere, maybe two bye weeks, who knows? We’ll be coaching well into the new year.”
Specifically, the NFLPA is expected to ask for the league to add a second bye week to the schedule. The players will likely also want expanded rosters, bigger practice squads, an altered offseason program desired by the union and an increased share of league revenue.
Long before DeMeco Ryans became head coach of the Houston Texans, he spent a decade playing football at the highest level. He acknowledged on Monday that adding another meaningful game to the schedule “is definitely going to be hard on the players,” and he also hinted he doesn’t love the idea of going to a format of 18 regular-season contests and two preseason games per campaign.
“Preseason and training camp is about really building your team,” Ryans explained. “Training camp is great for a lot of young guys to develop. We need as much training camp and getting those guys in actual games. I think it helps our young guys a lot. The veterans, you know those guys have done it. So not so much for the veteran players, we get that done in our joint practices. But for our younger players, they really need the preseason to help improve their game.”
Goodell insisted last spring that a schedule of 18 regular-season games and two preseason matchups per team is “not an unreasonable thing.” Fans hate paying for exhibition contests that often feature backup players, and the league likely will emphasize that clubs participate in additional joint practices once the preseason portion of the schedule is reduced.
“Whatever they throw at us,” Reid added, “we’ll work it. I’ve been around long enough to where I’ve seen that happen. If they throw it our direction, we’ll figure it out and go from there.”
It was previously said that the NFL could target 2027 for expanding the regular season. Perhaps the league and the NFLPA are closer to a deal than some thought as recently as March.
