NFLPA's Smith shoots down possibility of 18-game schedule

NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith rejected the idea of an 18-game regular season going into the next collective bargaining agreement (CBA).

"I don't see an 18-game schedule - under any circumstance - being in the best interest of our players," Smith said Friday, according to ESPN's Cameron Wolfe. "If somebody wants to make an 18-game proposal, we'll look at it. I haven't seen anything that makes me think that it would be good for the players."

Smith confirmed that the league did propose an 18-game slate wherein each individual player would be capped at 16 contests. NFL owners have long sought to extend the regular season in order to increase revenue. In exchange, they would trim the preseason to two games.

"Fans and media discuss what would happen to ratings and revenue or whether (18 games) is a good idea or bad idea," Smith said. "For us, it comes down to who players are as men and is it good for us. If a coal miner is willing to spend more time in the hole, does it likely result in more money? Yeah. Is that a good thing for him as a person? Probably not. That's the question nobody confronts. It's easy to say it's more money. But is it good for us? The answer is no."

The current CBA will expire in 2021. The NFL and NFLPA have already started negotiations on a new deal, with Smith categorizing the talks thus far as "positive."