If NFL commissioner Roger Goodell gets his wish, New Orleans Saints fans and fans around the league will get a chance to see their favorite team one more week each season.
Goodell told Bloomberg he sees an expansion to 18 games in the league’s future. In doing so, they would decrease the amount of preseason games in order to stay “within that 20-game framework.” Goodell added, “We went to 16 and four, and now 17 and three. So 18 and two is a logical step.”
Considering it a logical step may depend on who you’re talking to. In some ways, it feels like 18 regular season games was always the long-term goal, and the 17-game format was being used as a feeler to see if it was feasible.
Clearly, Goodell believes it is and is ready to push to add another game to the schedule. We know what the plan is for the preseason, but there are other things to figure out, mainly will teams get an additional bye week.
The league bumped up to 17 games when the last collective bargaining agreement was signed in 2020. That agreement doesn’t expire until 2030. Heading into a new CBA seems like the point where this decision would be made and these questions will be answered.
If the NFL does decide to change the length of the regular season at the end of the CBA, it’ll be the quickest the NFL decided to change the schedule since going from 11 games to 12 games after just a year in 1947.
So how could they schedule that 18th regular season game? We’ve got some ideas like adding another bye week and setting up out-of-conference geographic rivalries, but any discussions will need to include the NFL Players Association, who will have their own demands.
