""... The 18th game is not casual for us. It's a very serious issue. It's something that comes out of negotiations, and nothing will move forward until players have the opportunity to account for all of those factors, take that into consideration and then through negotiations, agree or not to the 18th game. "But as it stands right now, players have been very clear they don't have any appetite for it.""
""I want to tell you guys that we're going to push like the dickens now to make international [games] more important with us," Kraft told the "Zolak & Bertrand" show. "Every team will go 18 [regular-season games] and two [preseason games] and eliminate one of the preseason games, and every team every year will play one game overseas.""
"As it stands, NFL ownership can't expand the regular-season schedule unless the league and the players' association agree to open negotiations ahead of the March 2031 expiration of the collective bargaining agreement."
NFL players oppose adding an 18th regular-season game, citing health and safety risks associated with a longer schedule. NFLPA interim executive director David White emphasized that any change would require negotiation and player agreement. Some owners and executives, including Robert Kraft, publicly favor expansion and more international games, proposing one overseas game per team each year. Ownership cannot implement an expanded schedule without the league and players' association agreeing to open negotiations before the March 2031 collective bargaining agreement expiration. Commissioner Roger Goodell said an 18th game is not guaranteed, and no formal negotiations have occurred.
Read at ESPN.com
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