Whether football fans or players like it or not, an 18-game schedule could be coming to the National Football League.
In the midst of their negotiations with the NFLPA about a new collective bargaining agreement, NFL owners are pushing for an 18-game regular season in exchange for making some concessions to the league’s players.
As SI’s Andrew Brandt points out, NFL players want owners to give in on issues such as shortened rookie contracts, getting rid of the franchise tag, ending discipline for marijuana use and reducing commissioner Roger Goodell’s power when it comes to handing out penalties for personal conduct. But, according to Brandt, they don’t have many chips to bargain with at the negotiating table — other than agreeing to an expanded schedule.
“For the NFLPA to get any meaningful wins from the league in this CBA negotiation, the 18-game season is their paramount ‘give,’” Brandt writes. “Sure, there’s NFLPA pushback (we don’t expect them to say ‘Sure!’). And yes, adding two meaningful games flies in the face of the league’s stated priority of making the game safer. However, the business of sports always wins.”
Should an 18-game season be approved, players would be limited to competing in 16 games per regular season. That would be a funny wrinkle for fans and fantasy players, as backup quarterbacks would become much more valuable than they already are. It would also add a layer of strategy to the season, since coaches would have to pick two games for some, most or all of their starting players to ride the pine.
As CBS Sports’ Jason La Canfora points out, the reality of forcing coaches to sit their top players could also ultimately be the reason the 18-game schedule won’t make it any further than the negotiating table.
“Just wait until one of those makeshift lines gets a franchise QB killed because the left tackle and right tackle weren’t scheduled to play that week,” he writes. “Come on. This league couldn’t define what a Hail Mary was, but it is going to go down this rabbit hole? It’s going to invite the greatest complaint about the NBA – teams sitting healthy superstars – and literally write it into the regulations of the game? Don’t lose any sleep over this one. I highly doubt we see any sort of 18-game format, and this particular one has no chance.”
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