Update hints when NFL could expand to 18-game regular season

During Super Bowl week, NFL Players Association executive director Lloyd Howell strongly hinted that the union will want bigger rosters, an altered length of the offseason, a second bye week and a larger share of league revenue as part of the NFL shifting to a schedule format that will include teams playing 18 regular-season games and a pair of preseason contests each campaign. 

For an article published on Monday, NFL insider Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated touched upon when an 18-game regular season could become a reality. 

"You want some evidence of the NFL mulling when to go to 18 games? The league has given both San Francisco (Feb. 8, 2026) and Los Angeles (Feb. 14, '27) dates for their upcoming Super Bowls," Breer explained. "They have not given Atlanta one for Super Bowl LXII, which has made planning difficult for the city. That one will cap the ’27 season, which is ahead of the ’29 opt-out in the broadcast deals (...I think they’re going to want to have an 18-game slate to sell when they go back to the table with the networks)." 

It's now no secret that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, along with team owners who employ him, would expand the regular season to 18 games per club as soon as possible, even if doing so would mean having to push the date of next year's Super Bowl back by a week or two. 

As Ken Belson wrote for the New York Times, the NFL confirmed in March 2021 that the league was adding a 17th regular-season game for that campaign and, thus, moved Super Bowl LVI back by a week less than a year before kickoff of that championship contest. 

The league routinely upsets fans who have travel plans and tickets for games by "flexing" matchups to prime-time broadcast windows and, in some cases, to different days for reasons related to media-rights agreements. Meanwhile, one doesn't have to be a media insider to understand that Fox, CBS, NBC/Peacock, ABC/ESPN and Amazon Prime Video all want as many meaningful football games as they can get their hands on each year. 

The NFLPA dragging its feet regarding this matter is simply delaying what numerous reporters have said for years is the inevitable expansion of the NFL regular season. Once the league gets its desired 18-and-two-game format, it could be only a matter of time before owners push to eliminate the postseason and get to 19 or 20 regular-season weeks per campaign.