Roger Goodell continues to claim 18-game season isn't "inevitable"
Goodell frames it as "if," but it's clear that the real question is "when."
At a time when most believe an 18-game regular season is a matter of "when" not "if," Commissioner Roger Goodell continues to frame expansion of the schedule as a matter of "if. " Goodell addressed the possibility of an 18-game season during a Friday appearance on The Pat McAfee Show . "One, safety has to be the primary concern, right?
" Goodell said. "If you can't do it safely for our players, we're not gonna do it. And that's why I would say it's not inevitable.
Two is I think this is the same issue when we went from 16 [regular-season games] and four [preseason games] to 17 and 3, we did it successfully because we did it with the players. We had taken out a lot of initiatives to make our game safer, and I think we did. " Still, he later used "when" and not "if" when discussing growth of the season.
"I think when you get to that point, double byes will be a question, roster size will be a question," Goodell said. "All of those things are gonna be really important to consider, to balance, both with the players' association and with the Competition Committee, so that we can do it really successfully. " As to roster size, Goodell later suggested that there would be two or three additional spots on the active game day roster.