The NFL structure as we know it may soon come to an end as the NFL and NFLPA are nearing a deal on a 17-game regular season and the addition of two playoff teams, bringing the total from 12 to 14.
The Washington Post reports that owners have agreed to make concessions — concessions that remain somewhat unclear at the moment — in order to get players to set aside their concerns about an additional regular season game, which likely means fewer preseason games.
Negotiators for the NFL and the NFL Players Association have made meaningful progress toward a new labor agreement that is increasingly likely to include a 17-game regular season, according to multiple people familiar with the situation.
The positive momentum has buoyed optimism for an agreement to be in place by the end of the upcoming NFL postseason.
“I think there’s some real intensity and opportunity over the next few weeks,” one person familiar with the state of the negotiations said, adding that the participants are “working hard” to complete a deal.
The current Collective Bargaining Agreement runs through the 2020 season and the NFLPA has already begun to inform players to save money in the event of a work stoppage, but both the NFL and NFLPA are feverishly working to avoid that.
Negotiations will continue over the next two months with both parties hopeful that a final deal will be reached during the playoffs in January or by the Super Bowl in February. However, if a deal is not struck at that point, pressure would mount to get something done ahead of the 2020 regular season, when the first 17-game season could theoretically go into effect.
