Thank you Gil for a well written and well timed piece.
I wish they'd go back to 16, but that won't happen.
My other wish is that players with 4 years get full health care after leaving.
They could be creative and cover co payments, deductibles, etc for those who reenter the workforce without breaking the bank.
I'd rather see that than more money for the "superstars"
GPG!

I don’t like this idea at all. It’s fun to see a rookie show us a spark in the preseason and then to see him make the roster and (hopefully) become a solid player. Cutting the preseason to just 2 games just doesn’t give them enough time to shine. Yes, they’ll be watched throughout training camp, but historically we have seen some players who have been okay in camp, but once the preseason starts, they really show us something good. And I agree that an extra regular season game would create more injuries. Don’t be greedy, NFL owners!

If this happens, I think the league will need to increase the number of roster spots as well as the practice squad.

With the potential for more wear-and-tear, the vets will take the biggest hit. You'll see more teams going younger, cheaper, sooner.

Sigh, the regular season is already long enough. Although I preferred the old days of 14 games, stretching it to 16 was okay because at least you got to see more contests outside of the division. But 17 and 18 games is kind of an overkill, as the best teams have already proven themselves and the top end of the playoff seeding is mostly in place already.

There's already three televised Sunday games, Monday night, and the dreaded Thursday night to go along with college football on Saturdays and a few regular season Saturday games when college ends. So for about four months, we are deluged with opportunities to watch football, and that's enough.

Yes, I know everybody wants to make more money, but the owners and players are already well-compensated for their investments and efforts. I would think the players would value their long-term well-being over a few more dollars, but since I'm not one of them, I'll just leave it at that.

If the schedule goes to 18 games, maybe the rosters will be expanded will some flexibility added to evaluate rookies when the preseason gets reduced. They'll work something out.

Screw the gambling interests--they're already a little out of control IMHO.

I'd like a 40 game season, but you've got to let these bodies rest. It's really like four seasons. The time from the end of the season until now. Short. Offseason.

Then the second season starts. Free Agency, The Draft, Minicamps, OTAs. Then July is usually vacation, but then in August it's training camps and the pre-season.

Then you have the first half of the season. You work around injuries, you work on getting better.

And then, the 4th season starts around Thanksgiving, the stretch drive and the playoffs. I've believed for a long time that if you're at .500 when the 4th season starts, you've got a chance if you can put it together, like we did this year.

I think the net effect of shortening the preseason is that the early season games are going to be more ragged.

I thought 16 games was fine. Now, with 17, it essentially makes that last game of the regular season a playoff game for many. Like it was for us, last year.

With the preseason games, bye week, playoffs.....this season is already plenty long. If they just have to have that 18th game, then I'd favor a split season, like MLB did during the strikes. If you're winning your division after 9 weeks, you're in the playoffs. Then we all take the bye week together. Then we play another 9 week stretch, and if you win your division that 9 weeks, you're in. If you win both halves, you get a bye week.

I never believed for a minute that the plan was to stay at 17 games, but to eventually go to 18. The writing was always on the wall. 17 games never made any sense from a scheduling standpoint. 16 games were perfect. 4 divisions in each conference with 4 teams. 8 home games/8 road games.

But, of course, greed reared its ugly head, which is obviously the driving force behind this. It's almost laughable when the league preaches safety for the players.

I say No. Too long now.
People won't follow it.
And the more they move around.
It will only be a money thing.
Why help Sports gambling.

I care less about the players, and more about the taxpayers. My dream scenario would have every team's 18th game revenue set aside for stadium improvements and future rebuilds.

I'm sure amazon corporate execs are drooling over the potential of more targeted advertisement time!

This is all driven by the owner's greed. The 16 game format was just fine, but the owners needed more millions to add to their billions. They don't give a damn about player's long-term health. It's all about the money!

I was a federal agent for 40 years and no one ever asked or told me to remove myself from an operation because it might be dangerous or I might be injured. IMO 18 games are not to much to ask —risks are what they are in any profession. As they say, “that’s why you’re paid the big bucks”.
Moreover, I don’t believe there is much sympathy for highly paid and fawned over athletes.
They can do 18—increase the roster size and allow the entire roster eligibility to play on every Sunday. I never understood the practice squad—if you make the team you can play.
Go Packers!!!

If the NFL is dead set on going to 18 games, in compensation I think the players should demand doing away with Thursday night games. It's just too short of a week.

"ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED!?"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yD0XIowNAG8

This will turn into the NBA. Pay $$ for tickets and find out the stars or your favorite player are sitting this one out.

They'd definitely have to increase the roster. 17 games for 53 active and 16 for practice squad is minimal if the injuries, fatigue, and steady wear & tear are anything to go by. I don't know how many more players should be kept on payroll, but careers are going to be shortened if they don't. As MooPack wrote above, we'll see younger players with a longer schedule, and I see adding to the roster as the only way to keep good vets playing.

I think if they do it, they need to expand the rosters a bit (like to 55 or 56...but maybe even to something like 60). They also should add a second bye week.

I don't think home teams actual homes (cities) will get the benefit of extra games. In fact, in an 18 game season, I would bet that 2 of those games have to be played OUTSIDE the US as the NFL seeks to extend it's overseas expansion. Soon after, we'll likely see 2 new Expansion Teams with one being in Canada and the other in Mexico to start.

If they do, I think teams need two bye weeks and not just random weeks either. More like 1/3rd and 2/3rds into season, half of the teams take a week off, then other half takes the next week off.

I will defer to players voting on whether 18 games is too much. Seems like there are a lot of injuries already.

I thought 17 games was one of the worst ideas in the history of bad ideas. Now this. We shouldn't forget the human element. Put plainly, longer seasons means more injuries, worse injuries and shorter careers. Period. I expected the players to nix 17, but they voted against their own self-interest and took the money. Sadly, they'll probably do it again. After all, it IS all about that. And as far as sports betting, who gives a rat?
The Szotman

Didn't the USFL play 18 games before Trump blew it up? Of course there were only a couple NFL type athletes on each team and they're much bigger and faster now. They'll probably give in but I hope they at least stand together to play on grass like the soccer players do. At least that might save them some joint injuries.

You claim that "Much of the damage done to players is not from the big hits we see on highlights that make us all wince, but from the repeated contact that is seemingly unremarkable but over time takes a toll on the bodies of the players." That could be true, but I don't remember seeing data on that.

Also, presumably the player's wouldn't be "thrown a bone" for an additional game, they'd get about half the revenue from it. It seems to be always unremarked upon that every revenue enhancement the Evil Owners push through is also want the players agree to, and for which they are paid for.

This was always the plan once they went to a 17 games schedule. They so much as said so. This isnt a surprise. I'm all for it! 18 regular season games and 2 preseason games. It's better than 16 regular and 4 pre season like it had been. Still a total of 20 games.

I still don't believe that the Players Union and the Players representatives have not pushed for ensuring that Thursday night games are only played by teams who are coming off a bye week. ( maybe except Thanksgiving games. But it seems that with creative scheduling and even with a 18 game schedule and an extra bye week that player health and safety would be enhanced.

The league has discussed and planned for an 18 game season for a long time. They will get there eventually. When they do they need to increase the size of the rosters and they need to have 2 bye weeks. Go down to 2 preseason games and eliminate TNF and the over seas games. There needs to be some balance for player safety which can be partially accomplished with less long distance travel and a week's rest between games.

I doubt that it will happen. Sports have become dominated by greed and as long as the $$$ is rolling in the league and the owners won't care. Meanwhile the fans receive a product diluted by injuries to some of the best players and shortened periods between games (TNF).

The league is not concerned with reaching a point of diminishing returns but that too will eventually occur. For now the beat goes on. Thanks, Since '61

I got negative feedback when I suggested the money being paid modern athletes is out of whack. This proposal is a reflection of how out of whack priorities have become.

Anyone who has played football knows this isn't baseball or basketball. Players risk much more in terms of health going out on the field. After you've played a dozen games your beat up. Now the power brokers would like to add more games, not counting the playoffs, which could add up to three more. The Super Bowl winner would likely play 21 games.

While the owners are quick to say that they would shed one exhibition game the reality is most starters don't play much in the pre-season. What they are telling the starters is you will now play 18 games. From a health standpoint they obviously don't care. It's all about cash.

This week some fans at the Chiefs-Dolphins game had body parts amputated due to frostbite. Playing in open air fields in January is nuts. They could move the start of the season up a month with the playoffs ending around the end of December. The Super Bowl could be played at a warm weather site in mid-January.
Nope. Being the most watched show of the year, the game is played in February when TV sweeps happen.
Yup, player/fan safety out the window so the power brokers can make more of your cash.

Then they NFL has gotten into bed with gambling interests. We all know what a clean, honest industry that is...(sigh). They also took some of the games and put them in a pay-per-view arena. Like sheep, the fans went to the pay sites and coughed up more cash just to watch what they used to get for free. Your cash.

It all adds up to killing the golden goose. I know my opinion is far outweighed by the fans, but the NFL has crossed over into some territory that I think is contradictory to common sense. It's all about your cash, ignoring player and fan safety.

Blister away. I'm used to it.

Or maybe play every week of the year, instead. Why deny billionaire owners the opportunity to become trillionaire owners? Rich people need to make a decent living. And the networks need their bazillions, too.

Now, seriously, no to 18. And no to 17, also. Go back to 16 games. The players are getting mangled enough as it is. Let's think about their needs for a change.

You can bet the NFL will do whatever is best for those deep pocketed owners. I can see the day when the super bowl will be a PPV event.