NFL Players 'Have No Appetite' for 18th Regular-Season Game, NFLPA's David White Says

The NFL seemingly hasn't gotten player support behind a potential 18th regular-season game.

NFLPA interim executive director David White told reporters Tuesday that players "have no appetite" for a longer regular season.

White cited injuries suffered by players during this winter's Wild Card round as an example of what an extra regular-season game could cost players.

"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," White said.

"The 18th game is not casual for us. It's a very serious issue... as it stands right now, players have been very clear: they don't have any appetite for it."

White also pointed back to the regular season, highlighting a Week 15 during which both Green Bay Packers star Micah Parsons and Kansas City Chiefs star Patrick Mahomes went down with season-ending injuries.

"If you looked at even Week 16, the biggest storyline was arguably about the critical contributors going down," White said.

Roger Goodell said in a news conference ahead of Super Bowl LX that the league has not yet held formal talks with the players' union about an extra regular-season game.

"We have not had any formal discussions about it and frankly very little of any informal conversations," Goodell said Monday, per the Associated Press' Rob Maaddi. "It is not a given that we will do that. It's not something we assume will happen. It's something we want to talk about with the union leadership."

Goodell's discussion of the topic marked an apparent step back from the confidence recently expressed by New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft that the league would soon be adding an 18th regular-season game.

Kraft said in a Jan. 20 appearance on Boston's 98.5 The Sports Hub that "every team will go to 18 and two, and eliminate one of the preseason games."

Goodell has spent years hinting at the league's desire to eliminate a preseason game and expand the regular season. He said in an April 2024 appearance on ESPN's Pat McAfee Show that he would "rather replace a preseason game with the regular season any day."

Being able to sell another regular-season game to broadcasters and advertisers would likely allow the NFL to further increase annual revenue that reportedly hit a record $23 billion after the 2024 season.

It would also mean another game and more injury risk for starters, many of whom see limited playing time during the preseason ahead of Week 1.

The NFL last expanded the schedule when the league added a 17th regular-season games 2021. The current collective bargaining agreement, which caps the regular season at 17 games, expires in 2030.

The discussion of an additional meaningful game comes amid a 2026 postseason that has been impacted by player attrition.

Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix and San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle and Buffalo Bills wide receiver Tyrell Shavers are among the players who suffered season-ending injuries necessitating surgery before their teams were eliminated from the postseason.

Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold will be playing through an oblique injury when he takes on the Patriots on Sunday when Super Bowl LX kicks off in Santa Clara.