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Patrick Mahomes Has Clear Message Amid 18-Game Schedule Debate

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Orlando Silva | Last updated Jul 11, 2025 12:46 PM ET

Patrick Mahomes made his thoughts clear on the NFL's plans to expand the calendar to 18 games. Team owners voted to institute the expanded schedule for the 2021 season, a year after the CBA allowed it.

Commissioner Roger Goodell has been very vocal about the possibility of adding another game to the calendar, which raised the eyebrows of players.

Mahomes, who often plays at least two playoff games, isn't a fan of the league's plans, insisting that he would like to have more time to rest during the season.

Just like Joe Burrow in May, Mahomes expressed his doubts about adding an extra game to the calendar without giving the league's most important assets, the players, a chance to get more rest.

During an interview with Alex Sherman of CNBC Sport (via Pro Football Talk), the former No. 10 overall pick made the case to add more bye weeks if the NFL was serious about its 18-game calendar plan.

“I think that you’d have to find a way to have more bye weeks, more time spread out,” Mahomes said. “Because, I mean, you’ve seen the amount of injuries that have kind of piled up there at the end of seasons, and you want to have the best players playing in the biggest games. And so if there were a way to get to 18 games, I’m not — I’m not a big fan of it. But if there were a way, I think you got to add some bye weeks in there to give more time for guys’ bodies.”

Many players and fans criticized the addition of a 17th game to the calendar, saying that the injury risk increases with that measure. An 18th game would raise more eyebrows among players, but stars like Mahomes and Burrow have a solution that could satisfy everybody.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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