After another successful season, the NFL continues to study different ways to give fans a better show. The 18-game regular season schedule has been a possibility for a couple of years now, although not many players are fans of it.
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League officials and the NFLPA will discuss the situation in the coming months. The NFL reportedly has several options to launch the new calendar, which would impact the playoffs. Jason LaCanfora of Sportsboom.com explains that the league would eliminate one preseason game and add a second bye week to allow players more rest.
Nov 30, 2017; Arlington, TX, USA; General overall view of AT&T Stadium with the Dallas Cowboys logo on the video board during an NFL football game between the Washington Redskins and the Cowboys at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Additionally, an extra game would alter the playoff structure. The top seeds wouldn’t have an extra bye week anymore.
“All of this is obviously very preliminary, but I don’t think the structure of the playoffs would change in a significant sense,” a league source said.
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“The most likely outcome would be that no team receives an extra playoff bye, the top teams in each conference would play on the first weekend. So there wouldn’t be an extra week of the playoffs, but those teams playing on the opening weekend would create additional inventory.”
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The NFLPA still needs to agree to a new NFL schedule
The NFLPA logo at press conference at the Super Bowl LIX
The NFLPA logo at press conference at the Super Bowl LIX media center at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
The NFL schedule expanded to 17 games in the regular season in 2021. The new CBA extended the campaign to 18 weeks, with teams keeping the bye week. The preseason games went from four to three.
Players will have to agree with this, which would require plenty of negotiating. The idea has been floating around for a while, and it will have an impact on how things work before and during the season.
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