Agent’s Take: Four meaningful concessions players should seek from NFL before accepting 18-game regular season

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell floated the idea of an 18-game regular season during a recent appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show.” He envisioned a reduction to two preseason games from the three exhibition contests NFL teams currently play, a second bye week during the regular season and the Super Bowl being held on Presidents’ Day weekend.

Playing 18 regular-season games has been long been a goal of the NFL. Owners made a push for 18 games during the negotiations for the 2011 NFL collective bargaining agreement before eventually relenting. The current CBA gave the NFL discretion to increase the number of regular-season games from 16 to 17, which occurred in 2021. There is a provision preventing the addition of an 18th game until the current CBA expires, which is at the end of the 2030 league year (March 2031).

The only way the NFL can get an extra regular-season game before then is through agreement with the players union, the NFL Players Association. According to The Athletic’s Mike Jones, there haven’t been any discussions between the owners and the NFLPA about expanding the schedule.

The NFLPA received criticism for not getting enough from the owners for agreeing to a 17th game in the current CBA. It was a divisive issue as the players ratified the existing CBA by a narrow margin in March 2020.

An early engagement with the NFL on the 18th game could be the first big test for union executive director Lloyd Howell, who assumed the role in June 2023. It needs to be worth the players’ while for an expanded regular season to happen before the CBA expires.

The additional inventory of real games through an expanded regular-season schedule is the best path for the NFL to get an unprecedented increase over the latest media rights or television deals reportedly worth $113 billion over 11 years. The NFL has certainly taken note of the less popular NBA’s media rights deals being on the…

Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/agents-take-four-meaningful-concessions-players-should-seek-from-nfl-before-accepting-18-game-regular-season/

Author : Joel Corry

Publish date : 2024-05-15 18:55:16

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.