Six years before the current collective bargaining agreement between NFL owners and players expires, commissioner Roger Goodell has already started campaigning for an 18-game season.
The fact that Goodell has started the conversation this early might suggest that the league hopes to make a switch to 18 games before the CBA expires in 2030. To do that, the NFLPA would need to agree, and the NFL would have to grant multiple requests in tradeoff.
The players’ union wants “at least” 55 players on active rosters and 50 players in uniform on game days, according to Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com. That’s just two more than the current 53-man roster and 48-man game-day roster, so it’s not a big ask from the NFLPA.
The union will also seek “greater freedom for teams to make practice-squad elevations.” Currently, two players can be elevated from the practice squad to the game-day roster each week, but players can’t be elevated more than three times during the same season.
The eventual switch to an 18-game season seems inevitable. We’ll see if the NFL manages to make it happen before 2031.
