It's not a surprise but NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith said they haven't talked about an 18-game schedule in negotiations with the NFL and, even if they did, the NFLPA wouldn't be agreeing to an "enhanced" season.
SB Nation's Hogs Haven attended an event with Smith on Wednesday night in Washington D.C. and he was asked the chances of an 18-game schedule: "None."
Smith later went into detail with Jim Trotter of SI.com:
"First of all, the league has never presented a formal proposal for 18 games," he told SI.com. "But more importantly, it's something that our players don't want. Eighteen games is not in the best interest of our players' safety, so we're not doing it."
What baffled me about this entire situation is that NFL folks, like Commissioner Roger Goodell, continually said that fans wanted 18-game schedule when that is simply not the case. Polls have clearly demonstrated that the support for an "enhanced" season is not there, at least nowhere near the level the NFL has suggested it is.
As we've said here, the NFL heard from their fans that the preseason is kind of worthless and they're right -- that's what we think. From there, I think Goodell took that to mean fans would support reducing preseason and expanding the regular season.
False.
Fans don't want to pay full prices for preseason tickets. Some fans do want 18 games but certainly not the majority of fans as the league has insinuated.
This is one thing I'm glad the union is standing strong on. What really soured me on this idea was the NFL overstating the public's interest in 18 games. Not only do (most) fans not like to be told what they believe, they also don't like to be used as a negotiating tool.
Adding two games may help grow the pie for everyone, which is the NFL's ultimate goal, but there are more cons than pros involved.
(H/T Tarkus)