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Brooke Pryor
SAN FRANCISCO — Despite a renewed push from NFL ownership to move toward 18 regular-season games, NFL Players Association leadership made it clear Tuesday that the players aren’t in support of an expanded regular-season schedule.
«Our members have no appetite for a regular-season 18th game,» NFLPA interim executive director David White said at the union’s annual Super Bowl week news conference, citing player health and safety concerns that come with a longer regular season. «… 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.
«But as it stands right now, players have been very clear they don’t have any appetite for it.»
While NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said adding an 18th game was «not a given» at his pre-Super Bowl news conference Monday, New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft spoke about an expanded schedule with certainty in a January radio appearance on 98.5 The Sports Hub from Gillette Stadium.
Jalen Reeves-Maybin echoed Goodell in saying there haven’t been any formal discussions or negotiations about adding the extra game.
«There’s 31 owners, they all have different agendas and opinions on things,» said Reeves-Maybin when asked if the extra game was inevitable. «… Maybe this is a way of them trying to influence. … We have not opened up any 18-game discussions. It’s not something that the players are excited about or really trying to press for. Then we put in a lot of work, and we put out a good product out there every year and it’s not something we feel the need for.»
White added: «An arbitrary statement carries no weight. It’s a free country. People could say what they like, but … is it increasingly inevitable? … The answer is absolutely not. It’s a point of negotiation.»
Both White and Reeves-Maybin expressed concerns over higher injury rates that could come with a longer regular season. White pointed out some of the significant injuries that occurred late in the regular season and in the postseason this year. Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes suffered a season-ending ACL injury in Week 15, while quarterback Gardner Minshew tore his ACL a week later. Cleveland Browns running back Quinshon Judkins also sustained a gruesome season-ending leg injury in Week 16, while Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson exited early against the New England Patriots in the same week with a back injury.
«It’s punishing, and we can see that on the teams that have deep postseason runs,» White said. «And we saw it this year. … Those injuries, they cost players pay, they can shorten careers, they can diminish lifetime earnings. And when your average career is already three to four years, that becomes something that is existential.»
Not only were White and Reeves-Maybin concerned about the impact of an extra game on players’ health and safety, but the pair also said inconsistencies in international travel was something they were monitoring as the league continues to expand its international slate of games. The NFL has announced nine international games in 2026, including contests in Australia, France and Mexico.
«It’s a seemingly arbitrary approach that clubs take to travel,» White said, while also acknowledging players were excited about playing on the «global stage.»
«Some teams will fly out days early, some will fly out the day before, some will stay near the practice site. Some will have lengthy commutes for the players after that travel when they’re getting over jetlag, et cetera. And then the games following and whether or not there’s a period of real restoration for their bodies, that, too, is inconsistent. … all of that needs to be accounted for if we’re going to talk about moving even further away or having more international games.»
Goodell added Monday that he hoped to have a 16-game international slate in the future.
«I think that’s an important mark for us to go for,» Goodell said. «I think we’re well on our way, with the desire we have from our side, but also the desire for people to have this in their communities, and some of the greatest cities in the world are asking to do this.»
In addition to the locations where games are being played, White and Reeves-Maybin also discussed concerns over the surfaces the games are being played on as it relates to player health and safety.
While NFL executive vice president Jeff Miller and chief medical officer Dr. Alan Sills said the NFL’s data shows a nearly identical injury rate on artificial (.43) and natural grass (.42) surfaces in a recent news briefing, White said Tuesday «90%» of players prefer to play on grass.
«The data that we do have access to shows that the energy return from a synthetic surface is significantly higher than it is on natural grass,» White said, «which reinforces what players say just from their experience and from common sense, it’s just harder. It’s harder on the body.»
But when specifically asked about the complaints lodged by players about the rough natural playing surface at Pittsburgh’s Acrisure Stadium, White added that the upkeep of the fields is just as important as the composition of the surface.
«It’s well-maintained grass,» White said. «Scrubby grass that’s full of mud or it is hardened by ice or what have you, that’s not helpful. It’s maintained grass. It’s the playing field that’s good for players and good for their bodies so they can play the game that we all love.»
