The New England Patriots are in the thick of the NFL offseason. With the first wave of free agency in the rearview mirror, the team has turned its attention to the upcoming 2026 NFL Draft. Before that, though, a new batch of league meetings is underway, with team owner Robert Kraft being among the folks speaking to the media on Monday.
One of the hot-button topics of discussion surrounding the league right now is the possibility of an 18-game schedule. While owners seem to be in favor of adding another regular-season game, the players are less open to that suggestion. Unsurprisingly, Kraft is open to an 18-game schedule, but he revealed there are three conditions he would need to see the league meet.
"Patriots owner Robert Kraft told reporters he's in favor of an 18th regular-season game under these conditions: Remove one preseason game (from 3 to 2), add a second bye and all 32 NFL teams would have an international game every year," Ari Meirov of The 33rd Team wrote in a post on X.
These are some big demands from Kraft. The removal of a preseason game is something everyone would seemingly be in favor of if this change were to be made, but the other two points are a bit more difficult. The addition of a second bye week would make the regular season even longer, and having every team play at least one international game may not be feasible at this point in time.
There's a decent chance that the players won't be big fans of Kraft's suggestions, but this is a topic that will likely continue to be worked on over the next few days. There are quite a few ideas to hash out before anything is set in stone, but Kraft may quickly find himself becoming a prominent figure in the push for an 18-game schedule.
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