18 Game NFL Season

For the fans, of course, it offers up more football. Currently, the league plays four pre-season games, for which fans hold their collective breath, hoping their team’s starters don’t tear an ACL before the regular season begins. The new proposal eliminates one pre-season game and adds two to the regular season. It’s more football that counts.

At the same time, it would result in fans not getting to watch the best players for all 18 games. The new proposal requires all players to sit out two games a season, so that they are still only playing 16 games. It certainly gives coaches flexibility, as they can choose to sit an injured starter they might otherwise push on to the field. But what if you’re a Kansas City Chiefs fan? You show up to see Patrick Mahomes, and instead, Chad Henne trots out on to the field. How would that go over? Also, fans would likely have to pay more for NFL Sunday Ticket and NFL RedZone.

The league would benefit from collecting more revenue, and when it comes to the NFL, money talks louder than anything else. The NFL is such a cash cow that the addition of two more regular-season games would result in more than $1 billion of added revenue. After all, it costs more to advertise during the regular season than the pre-season.

As for the players, the shortened pre-season might affect younger players hoping to make the final roster. Starters typically play for only a few minutes in pre-season matchups, meaning unproven players have a chance to show they can make the cut. The elimination of even one game lessens their chances.

And while the requirement that players have to sit two games does give coaches some flexibility, it also provides them with a helluva a quandary. When do they sit their franchise players? Do they sit quarterbacks and running backs on the same day? It seems a no-brainer to sit the best on the Los Angeles Rams if they’re playing against the Arizona Cardinals and not the New Orleans Saints. But football is unpredictable, and every NFL football team won at least three games last season. It’s possible it may not unduly affect elite teams but could spell big trouble for teams in wildcard contention. It would add even more questions for signing free agents: Do you pay more for a higher-quality backup QB knowing that he will have to play at least two games? Or do you chance it with a “game manager” or unproven rookie and a pared-down playbook?

At first glance, adding more games appears like an intriguing idea. The disdain fans have for the pre-season because of injuries and having to watch the second-string play most of the time is likely the most significant driver for adding to the regular-season schedule. Naturally, the league will push the idea simply because of additional revenue, which makes sense for a league that feels it can always use more money.

In the end, however, the cons appear to outweigh the pros. Fans tune in to view the best of the best play, week in and week out (unless you happen to root for the Jets, of course). The two-game sit-out requirement throws that entire scenario out the window, as last-minute changes might result in some Cleveland Browns fans heading out to the stadium only to see Odell Beckham Jr. sitting on the bench. Fan complaints over teams resting star players led the NBA to adopt a new rule in 2017 designed to prevent healthy players from sitting out games. It wouldn’t take long for NFL fans, especially those shelling out upwards of $200 for a ticket, to raise similar objections.

NFL fans want to see more, not less, football. Unfortunately, the current proposal for an 18-game season is too convoluted to well-serve that end. A better solution is to stick to the status quo 16 games until the NFL can come up with a way to expand the length of the season without as many drawbacks. It may take another 40 years.

Jay Caruso is deputy editor of the Washington Examiner Magazine.