The NFL maintained a 16-game regular season schedule for decades after expanding its slate from 14 to 16 games in 1978.
However, after expanding to a 17-game regular season calendar in 2021, everyone around the league has an eye toward expanding to an 18th game. Cincinnati Bengals Pro Bowl quarterback Joe Burrow laid out his perfect plan for a new 18-game schedule, and now Dallas Cowboys COO and EVP Stephen Jones, who is on the NFL's competition committee, admitted the shift to an 18-game schedule is "probably inevitable."
"I'm on the competition committee. We talked about this knowing that it's probably inevitable," Jones said on The Athletic's "Scoop City" podcast on Friday. "I do know at the end of the day the players enjoy the compensation that's coming their way, and they get, for the most part, half of every revenue dollar that comes through the door. So certainly we are getting paid well, we all know when we go to 18 games revenue is going to jump. Certainly that should only help the money available to pay players and get players the compensation. I do think whether you're the general manager, whether you're the head coach, whether you're a coach, there is going to be some strategy in terms of taking care of your players."
Jones addressed the committee is still in the ideas phase of figuring out what adjustments the NFL's 32 teams will have to make in order to keep their players upright for both an expanded regular season and the playoffs.
"How you manage through your full 53-man roster: how many guys can be up and available. All those are very great questions in terms of how you manage through a season if it goes to 18 [games]," Jones said. "Obviously that has to be bargained with the [player's] union, and it will be a great conversation because no one wants to protect our players and have them up and healthy more than the National Football League and the 32 individual teams. We all know at the end of the day you want your best players up and healthy and playing for the championship when you get to the playoffs. I think coach McCarthy, our head coach, is one of the best at managing our team and keeping them healthy. Keeping them upright and keep them feeling good as the season progresses. It'll be something we'll have to continue to manage."
Jones revealed an extra bye and an active roster increase on game day are among things being considered in order to balance out the potential of adding an extra game.
"All of those are being touched on, especially at a high level, the competition committee level," Jones said. "Most teams, I know we do as a team, certainly look at it with 17 games. I know Mike, we want to be at our best when the playoffs roll around. Certainly the success rate doesn't show it in the playoffs, but it's certainly on our mind with how we manage that. That goes to another level with how we would do that [with 18 games]."
