NFLPA Exec Lloyd Howell: No Players Want 18-Game Season

Commissioner Roger Goodell has discussed expanding the regular season to 18 games. On Wednesday, NFLPA executive director Lloyd Howell told reporters that there hasn’t been any formal discussion about the topic, and he has spoken to no players who are interested in increasing the number of regular season games. 

“Their side hasn’t raised it, we certainly haven’t raised it. . . . Any commentary outside of a formal negotiation is just commentary,” Howell said, via PFT. “It’s a players decision as to what they will agree to do or not. Right now when I have talked to players over the last two seasons, no one wants to play an 18th game. No one. 17 games, for many of the guys, is too long.”

The NFL boosted the regular season from 16 games to 17 in 2021. Howell reiterated that players are already feeling the physical toll of playing an additional week. 

“We’re not sure how he’s reaching that conclusion based on the data we’ve been given access to,” Howell said. “Players are feeling the physical toll.”

Howell added several other issues that would come with playing 18 games, including the recovery time for players, the number of bye weeks, how the offseason calendar is altered, international games, and the size of rosters. 

“Then we get to the economics,” Howell said. “If I’m asking my workforce to work more, it’s not as simple as I’m gonna fall back on the revenue split that already exists. . . . There are so many dimensions that hang off the length of the season.”

In recent weeks, Goodell mentioned in an interview with Bloomberg that extending the regular season to 18 games is a “logical step” for the league to pursue. 

Goodell says they would like to remain within that “20-game framework” should they make any changes to the regular season from here. 

“We would keep within that 20-game framework,” Goodell said, via Bloomberg.com. “We went to 16 and four, and now 17 and three. So 18 and two is a logical step.”

There are some benefits to 18 games in that we could see two bye weeks for teams and it could help with the NFL’s international schedule. It’s even possible that they could look to play some games on Wednesday due to the increase in scheduling options. 

Any changes to the league schedule would require the NFL Players Association to sign off on it. There was some resistance to moving to 17 games, but the NFLPA secured a higher percentage of league revenue along with some other concessions from the NFL. 

According to Goodell, the 17-game season has not increased the number of injuries due in part to the improved training around the league and some of the rule changes they’ve implemented. 

The addition of games has been the NFLPA’s best bargaining chip in recent years, but it will likely be met with a good amount of resistance from players. 

We’ll have regarding potential changes to the NFL scheduled as the news is available.