NFL Drops 18-Game Season Proposal and Will Move on to 17-Game Schedule
By Jerry Trotta
With the NFL's collective bargaining agreement (CBA) set to expire in 2020, the league and its players association are striving to agree upon a new labor deal in the near future.
Originally, these discussions were being used to absurdly inquire about expanding the regular season from 16 to 18 games. The proposal featured a component in which players would only be allowed to play in 16 of those games. To nobody's surprise, the NFLPA swiftly rejected the idea.
Flash forward a few months later, and the league itself has expunged their 18-game objective. Now, their efforts are focusing on broadening the regular season to 17 games whilst docking one or two preseason games in the process.
The NFL has dropped its proposal for an 18-game season and is now focused on expanding the regular season to 17 games, per @KaplanSportsBiz. The 17-game proposal will be paired with a reduction in the preseason by a game or two.
— NFL Update (@MySportsUpdate) September 26, 2019
The current CBA expires after the 2020 season.
It has yet to be reported if this preposition will feature any extra dynamics as a means to persuade the NFLPA to get on board with the overture. Given their last outlandish motion, that will likely need to happen.
As we know, expanded roster sizes, a second bye, and the aforementioned limitations to how many contests players can play in a season are all bids that have been tossed around in recent owners meetings.
The NFL has dropped its proposal for an 18 game season; now focused on expanding by a game to 17. My storyhttps://t.co/lNzSFXOEfj
— daniel kaplan (@KaplanSportsBiz) September 26, 2019
At this time, there's just no way to know if this particular consultation is standing on sturdy legs. This is a developing story, so stay tuned for future updates.