An 18-game NFL regular season isn't a slam dunk. NFLPA executive director Lloyd Howell pushed back on it Wednesday even though NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has openly talked about it as if it's inevitable.

Last year, Howell said this about the possibility of expanding to an 18-game regular season: "It sounds attractive. Who doesn’t want to see more football, myself included?" On Wednesday, Howell made it clear that plenty don't want to see more football.

The NFL and its owners seem to favor an eventual move to an 18-game season. The players, on the other hand, don't appear to be interested in such a

Leaders of the NFL Players Association made it clear Wednesday that adding an 18th game to the NFL’s regular season is still a non-starter for the majority of the roughly 2,000 players on NFL rosters.

If Roger Goodell intends to push to expand the NFL's regular season to 18 games, he's going to have to go through the NFL Players Association to do so, and it's going to be an uphill fight.

NFLPA Executive Director Lloyd Howell discusses the state of the union and its direction for the upcoming year before fielding questions from the media on February 05, 2025 in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Just a little over three years after the NFL instituted a 17-game regular season schedule, there’s been plenty of talk about adding an 18th game in the future. And this week, commissioner Roger Goodell said an 18th game is a “possibility” and he understands fans want more football.