Roger Goodell: Move To 18-Game Season A ‘Logical Step’

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell mentioned in an interview with Bloomberg that extending the regular season to 18 games is a “logical step” for the league to pursue. 

The league went to 17 games a few years ago and in turn, reduced the number of preseason games from four to three as a way of not adding any additional games to the combined scheduled.

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.”

It wasn’t long after the two parties agreed to a 17-game schedule that some began to wonder when we would see 18 games and at this point, it seems like a foregone conclusion that we’ll see it at some point in the near future. 

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.