At this point, it seems pretty inevitable that the NFL is going to expand the regular season to 18 games at some point in the near future, but it’s pretty clear that not everyone is on board with the idea.Â
During a recent interview with Front Office Sports, Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Flacco was asked to give his thoughts on a possible 18-game schedule and like everything with Flacco these days, he had a lot to say. The 18-year veteran is against the expansion of the schedule and he gave two compelling reasons why he doesn’t want to see it happen.Â
Reason 1: The playoffs could suffer
If the NFL expands to 18 games, Flacco is worried that adding an extra game for each team could lead to more injuries, which could water down the quality of the postseason.Â
“As a player, I loved playing 16 games, and I think the NFL had an awesome formula for 16 games and four rounds of playoffs and I think it was super competitive,” Flacco said. “I don’t think people realize that when you put guys through an 18-game regular season schedule, I think what could happen is the playoffs start to suffer and you get teams that are so beat up by that point in the year that they’re not really at their best, so instead of getting top-level football you’re getting a couple teams going against each other at 75 percent, and basically, it becomes a war of attrition.”
The NFL is a sport where players get hurt all the time, and Flacco understands that, but adding an extra game only exacerbates those injury risks.Â
“I think the more games you add on to the season, the less chance you give yourself of having that competitive true event where everybody can really enjoy and know they’re seeing the best of the best,” Flacco said.Â
The NFL playoffs are at their best when the best players are healthy.Â
“[Injuries are] part of football, but I think by the time we get to the playoffs in the NFL, it’s a one-game winner-take-all, you do want to see each team at top strength and see which team can battle it out and win,” Flacco said.Â
The 41-year-old pointed to the last two Super Bowls as an argument for why the NFL doesn’t need MORE games in the regular season.Â
“The last two years, the Super Bowls haven’t really been super competitive and I think maybe you have to look at that a little bit,” Flacco said.Â
It’s certainly an interesting argument from Flacco. Not only does it take into account player safety, but he also points out that the quality of the NFL’s product could go down with an added game, which is certainly one way to get the league’s attention.Â
Flacco also had another reason why the NFL shouldn’t expand the schedule.Â
Reason 2: It won’t mean more money for players
If the NFL does add another game, the biggest benefit for players is that they’ll eventually make more money. However, Flacco explained that that’s not usually what happens. During his 18 years in the league, the former Super Bowl MVP has seen everything and if the league expands to 18 games, he says most players won’t see a huge bump in their pay.Â
“What you have to realize is that if there’s a whole extra week added on to the season, then the revenue’s going to go up, and naturally, the salary cap is going to go up,” Flacco said. “So over time you are going to be making more money, but it’s just like every other time that there’s more money in the pot: It usually goes to two or three guys, it doesn’t usually get spread out and diluted evenly.”Â
Basically, the most important players on the roster — like the starting quarterback — will likely see a pay bump with an added game, but for most players, there won’t be a significant increase in pay.Â
Flacco is also afraid that the NFL could get greedy and try to expand the schedule again if 18 games is a financial success.Â
“It’s got to stop at some point,” Flacco said. “What happens when we go to 18? Are they going to want 20? Are they going to want 22? We used to play 14 games before I was even born. At some point it has to stop.”
Despite his concerns, Flacco is also a realist and he understands that an 18-game schedule is almost certainly going to happen.Â
“It looks like we’re probably eventually going to play 18 games, and we’ll just have to do it, and that is what it is,” Flacco said.Â
The good news for Flacco is that he might not ever have to deal with an 18-game schedule. CBS Sports NFL insider Jonathan Jones reported last week that 2028 would likely be the soonest that the NFL could implement an 18-game schedule, and at that point, Flacco would be 43. Of course, Flacco proved last season that he can still sling the job and if he’s content being a backup, then he might actually still be playing in 2028. Jones also noted a possible schedule expansion could be pushed out to 2031 if the league can’t get the NFLPA on board, and if that happens, then Flacco won’t ever have to worry about playing 18 games.Â
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