NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and NFL Players Association executive director Lloyd Howell have had conversations around a potential -- or inevitable -- 18-game regular-season schedule, sources tell CBS Sports.
Sources this week emphasized these discussions have not elevated to negotiations. But when they do, the union will be ready with a list of its own concessions in exchange for the extra game.
The 18th game must be collectively bargained, and the current agreement runs through the 2030 season. The extra game can be added as an addendum to the current CBA, or both sides could craft an entirely new CBA. There's no timeline for when an agreement on an 18th game could come -- and it surely wouldn't be added before the 2025 season -- but sources indicate the fact-gathering process on both sides is underway.
The NFL wants to find the best way to schedule the 18 games. Prevailing wisdom has been pushing Week 1 up to Labor Day weekend, adding a second bye and having the Super Bowl play on the Sunday before Presidents Day.
This model would essentially give America a holiday after Super Bowl Sunday. But starting Labor Day weekend could hurt kickoff ratings while also cannibalizing college football, which currently owns the sports landscape on that holiday weekend.
"They could do to college football what they've done to the NBA," said one source, referencing the NFL's takeover of Christmas Day.
The NFL has hoped to expand to 18 games for more than a decade, dating back to the 2011 lockout. The two sides agreed on the league having the option to expand to 17 games in the 2020 CBA, and the NFL triggered that option ahead of the 2021 season.
An extra game would give the league more game inventory to help aid its international expansion efforts. Going from eight to 10 international games per year to 16 would be much easier with an 18th game added to the schedule.
Sources tell CBS Sports the union will look for certain concessions like an extra bye week, more natural-grass playing surfaces, other health and safety concerns and a reduced offseason program.
Despite a large majority of the offseason program being voluntary, the NFL still saw more than 90% of its players participate this past year. The union has floated the idea of eliminating voluntary work in May and June and moving training camp from mid-to-late July up to June.
Sources say straw polls among players have had mixed reviews about a June report date. It will take months for the NFLPA to get back its player surveys that will illuminate, in part, the appetite across the league for a radical change in the offseason schedule.
In the meantime, both sides will continue to investigate and tinker with what the extra game could look like -- and what to do with all the extra money from those games.
