Roger Goodell: 18-game schedule is next 'logical step' for NFL

After the NFL expanded its schedule to 17 regular-season games in 2021, the question became whether 18 games would be in the works. According to commissioner Roger Goodell, that would be “a logical step.”

Goodell sat down with Bloomberg’s David Rubenstein on Peer to Peer Conversations and said the “framework” is 20 games. The league went from a 16-game schedule with four preseason games to 17 and three preseason games.

From there, Goodell said, 18 regular-season games with two preseason games could be next. He didn’t say when exactly that could happen, though.

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

Chatter about an 18th game for the regular season has grown over the last couple years. Roger Goodell previously addressed the possibility, although any decision would require approval from the NFL Players Association.

NFLPA executive director Lloyd Howell previously said negotiations hadn’t taken place as of this summer. One of the big concerns about the additional game is health and safety, which is something the group wants to make clear once formal talks begin.

“We have talked at a very, very, very high level superficially, with a recognition … about, ‘Yeah, this is something that we should be talking about. And we should really kick the tires and understand what else goes into that decision-making process,’” Howell said. “Where does the 18th game come from? I think the foregone conclusion is well, you just grab it, like, in what would otherwise be [preseason games] in August. You play it forward. But these are details that really need to be fleshed out. But, again, there are other economic, health and safety matters that also need to be clear to our members before there’s ever an agreement about an 18th game.”

However, an important part of the conversation is the NFL’s collective bargaining agreement. The current deal runs through 2030 and explicitly states the season cannot extend to 18 games. That said, Howell left the door open for an agreement to come together between the league and the players before the CBA expires.

“The simple fact of the matter is when you have a growing enterprise and there are opportunities within that intervening period of time where progress could be made and you could tweak the existing CBA legal document, why wouldn’t you want to do that?” Howell said. “So, whether it’s field surface, whether it’s the [offseason] schedule. If you want to call that formal — I call it bargaining. I call it amendments. I call it updates to what is now a living document called a CBA.”