NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell Says 18-Game Season Not Guaranteed Despite Industry Expectations

At a time when most believe an 18-game regular season is a matter of "when" not "if," NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell continues to frame the expansion of the schedule as a matter of "if."

Goodell addressed the possibility of an 18-game season during a Friday appearance on The Pat McAfee Show.

"One, safety has to be the primary concern, right? If you can't do it safely for our players, we're not gonna do it. And that's why I would say it's not inevitable. Two is I think this is the same issue when we went from 16 [regular-season games] and four [preseason games] to 17 and 3, we did it successfully because we did it with the players. We had taken out a lot of initiatives to make our game safer, and I think we did."

Still, he later used the term "when" instead of "if" when discussing the potential growth of the season.

"I think when you get to that point, double byes will be a question, roster size will be a question," Goodell said. "All of those things are gonna be really important to consider, to balance, both with the players' association and with the Competition Committee, so that we can do it really successfully."

As for roster size, Goodell suggested there would be two or three additional spots added to the active game day roster.

The primary argument for expanding the regular season is the reduction of the preseason. Goodell has been critical of the preseason in the past.

"But, listen, I've been critical of our preseason," Goodell said. "I don't think it's the kind of standard that we should be putting out there. I think season structure — that includes the offseason, that includes everything up to training camp, and the season, the postseason — we should be looking at that all the time. Evaluating what's good, what's bad. What could we make better? And I think there's still improvements in doing that, obviously, reducing [the] preseason would be the top of my list."

However, the preseason is not intended to meet the same standards as regular-season games. It is primarily a glorified practice or dress rehearsal, lacking the competitive element of actual football.

Ultimately, the push for an 18-game season is driven by business considerations. By converting preseason games into regular-season games, the NFL could generate significantly more revenue.

The addition of a 17th regular-season game increased the total number of games from 256 to 272. An 18th game would bring the total to 288. Eliminating the preseason entirely and converting those games into regular-season contests would add 32 more games, bringing the total to 320 games available for broadcast and streaming.

A second bye week would also add two more weekends of game windows, including:

• Two Sunday afternoon games
• One Sunday night game
• One Monday night game
• One Thursday night game

This would result in 10 additional broadcast windows simply by adding one game and one bye week.

While industry experts largely view an 18-game season as inevitable, the NFL continues to leave the possibility open for implementation as early as 2027.