For years, the idea of going to an 18-game schedule in the NFL has been highly debated. Some feel the game is too violent to expand, while others believe that adding another week is fine as long as players get another bye week to rest in the middle of the season.
Opinions are all over the place, and justifiably so. Let’s analyze all of the scenarios and hurdles that the NFL may face before it can officially change the schedule.
Issues the NFL Faces in Expanding to an 18-Game Schedule
When it comes to making the season 18 games long, it’s far more complex than just adding another game and everyone making more money from it. Safety, logistics, and the timeline all become real factors to consider.
While several different matters must be taken into account, we touch on some of the issues the league may face as it looks to expand the season to 18 games.
NFL Player Support
The players are the first thing to consider. They are the ones putting their bodies on the line for the fans’ entertainment and the league’s gain. Football is a collision sport unlike anything else, and with that comes a real toll on human lives.
Indianapolis Colts center Ryan Kelly, who serves on the NFLPA’s executive committee, provided his opinion on the matter and left no room for interpretation.
“Eighteen games sounds great when [commissioner Roger Goodell is] on the ‘Pat McAfee [Show],’” said Kelly. “Until you’re the one that’s going out there and putting the helmet on for 18 of those games, then come talk to me.”
Kelly added that it’s “up to the players to decide” on the fate of the regular season while diving into the revenue impact such a move would have on players.
“If they said, ‘Hey, you guys get 70% of revenue, and we’ll take 30 as owners,’ a lot of guys would sign up for that if you make $100 million playing quarterback [the current revenue split is approximately 52% to 48% in favor of owners]. So I think everybody’s got a line they draw in the sand, and we’ll see where that is,” Kelly said.
On the other hand, Pittsburgh Steelers safety Damontae Kazee believes he has very little control over the outcome of these matters.
“Whatever the league gives you, man, you just got to adjust to it,” Kazee told ESPN. “I got to this point in my life, I’m an old head now, about to be 31. You just got to adjust to everything and go on from there. Them giving us 18 games, I mean, I wouldn’t complain about it.”
Overall, per ESPN, 46% of players polled were in favor of an 18-game slate, but with stipulations, while 8% said yes without the stipulations. And 19% of players opposed an expanded season, setting up what looks to be an interesting divide around the league.
Adjustments to NFL Regular Season Calendar
Another factor is what it does to the NFL timeline. Does the league year start earlier, or does it finish later? Maybe it does both, and the NFL gets to dominate an additional two weeks of American television airwaves.
For years, fans and those around the league have petitioned the idea to push the NFL season back so that the Monday following the Super Bowl is Presidents’ Day, allowing for most working people in the country to have the following day off.
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If the league adds another week, this comes into play naturally and could be viewed as a selling point for fans, even if it doesn’t benefit the players much.
Conversely, simply starting earlier gives the players less time off, which is something not many will be in favor of. Even if it is just one or two weeks of adjustment and added wear and tear, injuries may pile up, affecting the product quality in the long run.
Adding an Extra Bye Week
One way to combat the wear and tear is by adding an extra bye week. Right now, the league has an 18-week schedule with one bye week built in. If the league were to add a week or even eliminate a preseason game and substitute a regular season game, adding another bye may help players.
Of all the selling points aimed at the players who will buy into the proposal, this appears to be the one they are intrigued by the most. In theory, a team could play eight games, get a bye week, play four more, get another bye week, and be more rested for the final six games of the year.
Bengals QB Joe Burrow had a unique idea, and of all the proposals, his may not be the most outlandish to consider.
“I think it would be cool to have the normal bye week schedule that it is now, have it spread out, but then, like Week 13, do like the Pro Bowl break where you’re doing the 7-on-7 and all the skills challenges like the NBA does,” Burrow said on Barstool Sports’ “Pardon My Take.”
“I think that would get more ratings for the Pro Bowl, and then it would also give everybody that bye week going into the last six games of the year.”
Different teams would have different structures designed by the league schedule makers each year, but adding a second week of time off for the players can only be viewed as a positive.
Changes to Players’ Contract Incentives
Another major question mark would be centered around the player’s contracts.
Would guaranteed money change? Would incentives be altered? Or will the percentages have to be tweaked for all these players who already have signed deals in order to match the new format?
Surely, the NFL money landscape would be massively different, with the structure changing drastically in some cases. With the NFL assumedly making more money from the move, so would the size of these deals.
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At the end of the day, the bottom line is more money. And if the NFL is going to make this move to add an additional game, with the end game being more money, the players have to see some of that as well.
Just how it all will work out remains a mystery, but it will surely become front and center when this matter is considered more seriously.
