NFL May Extend Its Season by a Game

Talk of adding an 18th game to the NFL schedule has been swirling for a while, and the Washington Post reports that things have just gotten a lot more real: The players' union and the NFL have been engaged in "high-level discussions" about the possibility, according to the story. It's too early to say when the league might go from 17 to 18 games, but it's starting to look like it would happen well before the current contract expires in 2030.

• "We have talked at a very, very, very high level superficially, with a recognition … about, 'Yeah, this is something that we should be talking about,'" NFLPA chief Lloyd Howell tells the newspaper. Lots of logistics must be worked out, however, particularly about protecting the health and safety of players, he adds.

• One scenario: Star quarterback Joe Burrow of the Cincinnati Bengals laid out a potential scenario on the Pardon My Take podcast: Add a second bye week and put the All-Star Game in Week 13 to provide another league-wide bye. The Super Bowl would be played the Sunday before Presidents' Day, which falls on the third Monday of February.
• Inevitable? Dallas Cowboys exec Stephen Jones, who is on the league's competition committee, called an 18th game "probably inevitable" on the Scoop City podcast, per CBS Sports. And that was after NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said in May that he would prefer an 18-game season, perhaps by reducing the number of preseason contests, per the Post.

(More NFL stories.)