Insider hints when NFL could shift to 18-game regular season

It appears New York Giants analyst and franchise icon Carl Banks was onto something when he suggested in April that the NFL could shift to an 18-game schedule as soon as 2025.

"That the NFL has been public about its intentions tells me that the hope is to get this one off the ground soon," NFL insider Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated said about the subject in his latest mailbag. "The next on-paper checkpoint for the league and the networks would be the opt-out the NFL has in the broadcast contracts, which can be exercised after the 2029 season. But it’s hard to believe the NFL isn’t going to be working the [NFL Players Association] to get this done sooner. Maybe a lot sooner."

NFL analyst Boomer Esiason hinted in January that it was a matter of when, not if, the league would expand to an 18-game regular season. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell raised eyebrows when he acknowledged during the draft in April that he thought going to a schedule of 18 regular-season games and two preseason contests per team is "not an unreasonable thing" because the league doesn't "need three preseason games anymore."

It was subsequently reported this spring that NFL owners could bring a proposal to the NFLPA regarding an 18-game season "in the next 12 to 18 months." The collective bargaining agreement that expires in 2031 requires owners to receive approval from the NFLPA for such a move, and it's believed the union could ask for a second in-season bye week and expanded rosters to accept the new format as soon as early next year.

"If I’m the union, I’m not doing it without major concessions, specifically wins that’ll help players get paid sooner and more freely, both by lowering the term of service needed to get to free agency and by, perhaps, changing the tag rules," Breer added.

The NFL reportedly is looking for new ways to bolster revenue, and adding an extra meaningful game to the schedule would result in more money for owners and players thanks to media-rights deals and ticket sales. It remains to be seen if the NFL would continue to start regular seasons after Labor Day weekend for an 18-game format, but fans may not have to wait all that long to learn the answer to that and other questions related to an expanded schedule.