Some NFL owners want CBA vote to fail, expand to 18 games
A group of NFL owners are hoping the current collective bargaining agreement doesn’t pass so they can negotiate a different deal to potentially include an 18-game season, according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.
“They think they can get a better deal next year,” a source told Fowler. “They feel they gave up too much on the economics.”
Owners reportedly expressed their interest in the longer game schedule to commissioner Roger Goodell at an owners meeting in February.
The league’s players are voting on the current proposed CBA, which includes increasing the regular-season schedule to 17 games, and have until March 12 to cast their ballots. NFL team owners have already approved the principal terms for a new 10-year CBA.
There has been a split in support for the proposed CBA among players. Marquee names like Aaron Rodgers, J.J. Watt and Russell Wilson have come out against the agreement, largely over frustration with the proposed expanded schedule.
The idea of an 18-game schedule has been raised in the past, and players have voiced concerns over their healthy and safety with an expanded season.