<\/p>\n
Shortly after the\u00a0<\/span>NFL<\/a> Players Association confirmed<\/a> in March that\u00a0JC Tretter<\/a> had been elected as the union’s next executive director, he made it known<\/a> at the time that his answer regarding whether or not players would accept expanding the regular season to 18 games per team was a firm “No.”\u00a0<\/p>\n Per the terms of\u00a0<\/span>the collective bargaining agreement that runs through the 2030 season, the NFLPA must agree to any expansion of the regular season. During a recent chat with NFL insider Albert Breer<\/a> of Sports Illustrated, Tretter strongly suggested that he and the union aren’t in a hurry to get to a format of 18 regular-season games and two preseason contests per team.<\/p>\n “No one would volunteer for 18 games, right? Like no player\u2019s saying, ‘Hey, you know what I\u2019d love to do? Play another one,'” Tretter explained. “So it\u2019s not a thing guys want to do. My job is to figure out what guys want. And I kind of want to get out of the world of talking about 18 games, because I think it then shapes the entire conversation. And I think that\u2019s one of the issues for the union. The league is very good about putting out exactly what they want. And [NFL commissioner Roger Goodell] has done it. The owners have done it. They\u2019ve been very clear publicly and privately.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n New England Patriots<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>owner Robert Kraft is among the noteworthy members of the NFL community who have confirmed<\/a> the league wants to get to an 18-game regular-season schedule that would feature every team playing one international contest per campaign as soon as possible. However, a report<\/a> from earlier in June hinted that team owners and the players won’t agree to such a change before 2028 at the earliest.\u00a0<\/p>\n It’s assumed\u00a0the union\u00a0<\/span>will eventually<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>ask for an increased share in revenue, a second bye week to be added to season schedules and for changes to be made to offseason schedules for players during negotiations about an 18-game season.\u00a0<\/p>\n “They want 18 games,” Tretter said about league owners and Goodell. “They want 16 international games. They want to lower our revenue share. They want to have us pay for more of the costs of operating the business \u2014 socializing costs, privatizing profits. They\u2019ve said all these things publicly at this point. And that\u2019s a long list of really sh— things for players. \u2026 Play more, travel more, get less money, take or cover the costs of billionaires\u2019 businesses, and then not have upside to make as much money as you can, like, that is a list where everything goes in the wrong direction.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Tretter added that “there\u2019s just no timeline for when we would be ready” to begin serious discussions about expanding the regular season. That’s all well and good, but Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio<\/a> noted that “history tells us the league is far more willing to shut it down than the players are.”<\/p>\n In short, the threat of a work stoppage years down the road could possibly result in the NFLPA eventually accepting the final offer for an 18-game regular season either shortly before or after the existing CBA expires.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n18 regular-season games is “not a thing” players want<\/h2>\n
\n
\n
When will the NFLPA be ready to talk about an 18-game season?<\/h2>\n