NFL ownership has been advocating for the addition of yet another game to the regular season slate, which would see the season expand to 18 games for each team. That push comes on the heels of the schedule expanding to 17 games half a decade ago in 2021.
As for the players, however, it seems that proposal is far less popular. NFLPA interim director David White spoke Tuesday at the union’s Super Bowl week press conference, and he pushed back against the idea of adding an 18th game.
“Our members have no appetite for a regular-season 18th game,” White said, via ESPN’s Brooke Pryor.
“The 18th game is not casual for us. It’s a very serious issue. It’s something that comes out of negotiations, and nothing will move forward until players have the opportunity to account for all of those factors, take that into consideration and then through negotiations, agree or not to the 18th game,” he said. “But as it stands right now, players have been very clear they don't have any appetite for it.”
It’s a topic that has come up numerous times in the buildup to the Super Bowl. Commissioner Roger Goodell addressed the matter on Monday ahead of Super Bowl LX Opening Night, and he noted that the additional game was not yet “a given.”
Among the key factors of concern in regards to adding an 18th game would be the heightened injury risk. There were numerous significant injuries sustained by star players during the 2025 season, particularly during the later weeks of the campaign. One possible solution for that would be adding a second bye week for every team, though that would cause the NFL schedule to shift pretty dramatically, taking the schedule from 18 weeks to 20.
It’s a discussion that will continue throughout the duration of the current collective bargaining agreement, which runs through the 2030 NFL season. But, as White plainly stated on Tuesday, as it stands, the players currently have “no appetite” to see such a change instituted.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as NFLPA Director Addresses Players' Stance on Adding 18th Regular Season Game.
