NFL coaches seem to accept reality about expected 18-game regular season

As an ESPN piece shared on Tuesday, multiple NFL team owners spoke in favor during the ongoing annual league meetings about eventually transitioning to a schedule format that will include clubs playing 18 regular-season games and two preseason contests (minus the yearly Hall of Fame Game) each campaign. 

Per Matt Verderame of Sports Illustrated, NFL coaches were given an opportunity to speak out against the expected expansion of the regular season. Some instead went in a different direction. 

Why expanding the season may not matter to some coaches

"I don’t have a strong opinion about the move," Carolina Panthers head coach Dave Canales said. "To me, because we treat the preseason games just like we do the regular-season games, in terms of the amount of time we put into it, for me, it’s like, 'Great, these ones count for the playoffs.' The other ones didn’t count, but it’s just kind of more opportunities for our guys to really impact whether you have a chance to win the division or not. Really, that’s all I think about."

As far back as the spring of 2024, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell made it known he'd like to replace at least one week of preseason matchups with a week of regular-season games. It's thought that the league's long-term goal is to eliminate all preseason games, have teams participate in joint practices leading up to campaigns and then schedule up to 20 weeks of regular-season action. 

Todd Bowles: Going from 16 regular-season games to 17 wasn't that bad

That said, the terms of the collective bargaining agreement that runs through the 2030 campaign dictate that the NFL Players Association and the NFL would have to agree to a deal to expand the regular season as soon as next year. Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles is among those who think the union could ask that a second bye week be added to the schedule for an 18-game season. 

“I don’t know too much about the [18-game] schedule, how they would do it, whether they would add a bye or not add a bye," Bowles explained. "So that part of it I don’t know about. [Going from] 16 games to 17 games wasn’t as bad because they took away a preseason game. … I know the season gets long that way, but it’s one more game, and we’ll have to talk about that as it comes." 

The NFL expanded the regular season to 17 games in 2021.

For what it's worth, New Orleans Saints head coach Kellen Moore acknowledged that adding one more game to the regular season would put "big wear and tear on" players. As Buffalo Bills offensive tackle Dion Dawkins recently noted, it seems players had better get used to the idea of dealing with that extra wear and tear sooner rather than later.