NFL WANTS TO EXPAND SCHEDULE TO 18 GAMES BY 2012

NFL owners along with league Commissioner Roger Goodell have expressed a desire to expand the season to 18 games from the current 16.  During a five hour meeting in Atlanta this week there was no formal vote, but according to Goodell the owners expressed near unanimity in the longer schedule.   The NFL Players Association is much less enthusiastic, and the debate over the proposed 18 game schedule could be a major issue as the league and players hammer out a new collective bargaining agreement after this season.

Under the current collective bargaining agreement, Goodell suggests that the league has the right to expand the regular season and keep the current 4 game preseason format.
Instead of doing that, however, he prefers to reduce the exhibition slate to 2 games and keep the season at 20 weeks.  He’s hoping to get the players on board and codify the new arrangement in a new collective bargaining agreement:

"We want to do it the right way for everyone, including the players, the fans and the game in general. There's a tremendous amount of momentum for it. We think it's the right step."

He admits that there’s any number of issues raised by the new 18 game schedule that will need to be considered:

"We want to continue to address a variety of issues before putting together a specific proposal, which our negotiating team will provide to the union's negotiating team.
There's tremendous support for it. Almost all the questions, all the discussions, are how to do it in a way that's fan-friendly."

New England owner Robert Kraft expressed his enthusiasm for the 18 game season, which would likely begin with the 2012 campaign:

"I think it's a win-win all around.”

Players around the league aren’t convinced as to the wisdom of playing a longer season.  Cincinnati Bengals’ quarterback Carson Palmer had these concerns:

"With 16 games, every game is important and therefore the fans are very into it, the stadiums are packed because they know if their team loses, it pushes them further and further away from making the playoffs. I think if you go to 18, each game kind of loses a little bit of its significance."

Bears’ tight end Desmond Clark thinks a better idea is to keep the 16 game season and reduce the preseason:

"I would vote to eliminate two preseason games and then keep it at a 16-game season because the longer you're out there playing, the more your body breaks down. When you get into December, you're like walking zombies. You can't feel your joints."

At this point, much of the dissent from the players is a bargaining position in hopes to get increased salary and other concessions in the next collective bargaining agreement.  NFL football betting enthusiasts would likely welcome two more regular season games, and the prevailing wisdom is that offered the right compensation package the NFL Players Association will come on board with the longer schedule.