The NFL wants to get the next schedule expansion underway at the upcoming owners’ meeting. In doing so, the league will have to make compromises – but it is doing so. Now it’s the players’ turn. A commentary.

Since 2021, the NFL has played 17 games instead of 16. Even then, this expansion was only supported under protest.

Now the league is launching the next expansion of the regular season to 18 games. This time, however, it has to make major compromises – and is doing so proactively.

Of course, it is logical that the NFLPA is currently still resisting this. The recently elected new Executive Director of the players’ union, JC Tretter, has recently emphasized this stance unequivocally. But they too, like the NFL, must show a willingness to compromise. The NFL is growing and growing. Be it in terms of reach, demand, merchandise or even international reputation.

And above all, the numbers on the players’ annual paychecks are also increasing. Jaxon Smith-Njigba of the Seattle Seahawks recently signed a contract with an annual salary of over 42 million dollars.

Not that he doesn’t deserve it. But 42 million dollars is a figure for a receiver that would have made quarterbacks wince not so long ago.

All participating parties ultimately benefit from the NFL. Naturally, the league wants to expand further and further. The fact that the owners decide over the heads of the players sounds bad at first. But even before that happens, the NFL itself has made non-negotiable compromises.

NFL: Players to be protected despite 18th game of the season

The league is obviously aware that it is pushing the limits of what is reasonable. Extensive protective measures for players have already been defined.

If you are not a kicker, punter or quarterback, you will not be allowed to play 18 games this season.

An additional bye week is planned. Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow had already floated this idea.

The league officials would probably have little objection to this. The longer the regular season goes on, the better. The “offers” from the league seem to be there – those from the player side still have to come in order to reach an agreement.

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This measure would also provide additional tactical depth. Against which opponent are you most likely to be able to do without your star receiver or star linebacker?

Or are you gambling on resting all your important players at once in the 19th game week, because you already have your seed safe?

There would then be a risk of distortion of competition, but that already exists. Whether the season has 13, 17 or 25 weeks, the last matchday of a season is always special because for around a dozen teams there is nothing left to play for.

However, the issue is not out of the question. The next fixture revolution cannot come into force until the 2031 season at the earliest. That’s when the current CBA, the Collective Bargain Agreement, i.e. the contract between the players’ union and the league, ends.

And who knows what turnover, salaries and other influences will look like by then.