It’s going to happen, whether anyone wants it or not. As the new collective bargaining agreement negotiations begin next week between the NFL and the NFL Players Association, there are plenty of issues that should be on the table. One that has no business being there, an 18-game regular season schedule, will not only make its way onto the agenda, but probably to the forefront.
The NFL owners want it and they’ll probably get it, player safety be damned.
According to reports, the league’s owners have put forth a proposal for an 18-game regular season but one in which each individual player is maxed out at 16 games. That means that for at least two games a season, the back up at each position would get a start. Including quarterback.
Imagine an 18-game regular-season schedule … but one where players are restricted from playing more than 16 games
On the owners' (wild!) latest reported suggestion for 2021:https://t.co/N1E3hag5XX
— Eric Edholm (@Eric_Edholm) July 12, 2019
If football was any other sport, such a change would make sense. But there are currently 32 franchises in the NFL and there are not 32 franchise quarterbacks on the planet. By my count there are currently 18 guys that deserve the franchise label and maybe another four that could get it if everything goes right.
But say the Green Bay Packers are in a playoff push late in the season. They’re neck-and-neck for a Wild Card berth with a team like the Atlanta Falcons or Seattle Seahawks. They’re going to have to sit Aaron Rodgers for Deshone Kiser because of this rule? They’ve already floated out an exception for quarterbacks for that very reason, but I still don’t see it happening.
NFL owners proposing an 18 game schedule with each player obligated to play just 16 games. Can’t stand this. Not fan friendly. Doubt players will approve anyway. When you’re healthy you want to play! Stick to 16 regular season games. #NFL
— Linda Cohn (@lindacohn) July 12, 2019
That doesn’t mean there won’t be an 18-game schedule. It just means that this isn’t the rule that’s going to put it over the top.
For his part, Goodell is hyping up all the advances the NFL has made in player safety as a reason to consider an 18-game schedule.
“I think the steps we’ve made to make our game safer and better have worked tremendously well in collaboration with our players, but also in changing rules and equipment,” Goodell told Julia Boorstin of CNBC. “We had a 30-percent reduction in concussions last year, and I think we can use that same model to reduce injuries in lower-body injuries. So I think the way we’ve modified in the last Collective Bargaining Agreement was to really work to a way to train our players differently and modify our game in such a way as to address those issues.”
On the bright side for bubble players, especially quarterbacks coming out of college, there’s no way the NFL sticks with a 53-man roster with an 18-game schedule. It’ll have to move to at least 60 and that means 224 more NFL jobs for players on the fringes.
