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NFL players have made it abundantly clear how opposed they are to the owners' preference of adding an extra two games to the regular season schedule. Fortunately for them, now comes word that the likeliest schedule change to come is a decrease in preseason games, while there's new momentum for expanding the playoff field from 12 to 14 teams.
According to Mark Maske of The Washington Post, owners are less insistent on extending the regular season to 18 games after vehement opposition from the National Football Players' Association, and in talks about the upcoming collective bargaining agreement are now focusing their efforts on other league-changing tweaks.
Article Continues Below“The options being discussed include the lengthening the regular season from 16 games to 17 or 18, or the expansion of the playoff field from 12 teams to 14. While some owners have not given up on getting players to agree to an 18-game season, the union’s ongoing resistance is increasingly likely to turn the focus to adding playoff games, according to those with knowledge of the situation, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the confidentiality of the negotiations.”
The Post also reports that it's “becoming ever more certain” that preseason play will be limited to two or three games per team, though there's no specific timeline for that change to take effect.
In mid-July, reports surfaced that several marquee owners, including the Dallas Cowboys' Jerry Jones, proposed adding two games to the regular season, possibly only allowing players to take the field in 16 of them to mitigate further injury risk. The players, to a man, balked at the change, insisting that NFL owners were once again placing the financial bottom line ahead of their health and safety.
