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The NFL and the NFL Players Association are not expected to engage in formal negotiations to expand to an 18-game regular season until "at least early 2026," the Washington Post's Mark Maske reported Tuesday.
Adding an 18th game has been seen as inevitable, as CBS Sports NFL insider Jonathan Jones reported from the league's annual meetings back in April, though it was "not a focus of our discussions by any stretch of the imagination" at the time, commissioner Roger Goodell said.
Last year, NFLPA executive director Lloyd Howell revealed the players association had been involved in informal talks regarding an 18-game schedule, but as Maske reports, those discussions have not led to formal negotiations, and that is unlikely to change before early next year.
Between now and then, Howell plans to have "team-by-team meetings with players to set the NFLPA's bargaining priorities," a source told Maske, and the union could begin formal negotiations in March after player representative meetings.
[NFL moving to 18-game schedule seems inevitable: Breaking down logistics, player safety, playoff seeding, more
Jonathan Jones
NFL moving to 18-game schedule seems inevitable: Breaking down logistics, player safety, playoff seeding, more](https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/nfl-moving-to-18-game-schedule-seems-inevitable-breaking-down-logistics-player-safety-playoff-seeding-more/)
The league went from a 16-game season to a 17-game season in 2021, one year after the 2020 CBA approved such a change. The players received an increased portion of revenue and other benefits in exchange for the added game.
Expanding from 17 to 18 might not take place until 2028, Maske notes, if formal negotiations don't even begin until 2026. Some owners had hoped for an 18th game to be instituted by 2027.
As Jones pointed out back in March, key issues and talking points will include player safety, calendar logistics more.