PHOENIX – Robert Kraft, the visionary who bought the flailing New England Patriots in the 1990s and turned them into an NFL dynasty, was imagining the NFL’s future when he spoke with reporters on Monday.
Kraft, who definitely gets it, would like to see a future NFL that plays 18 regular-season games, plays only two preseason games, includes two bye weeks and, oh yeah, has every single team playing one of its games internationally.
So there it is … the NFL’s dream scenario for the 2030s.
“I like it long term for the growth and development of the league because, to keep our league healthy and grow revenue, I think preseason games have not been what it used to be when we owned the team,” Kraft told New England area reporters during a break in the NFL annual meeting. “And changing to 18 games and having that real content and being mindful of player safety, I’d personally like to see us have a second bye week.
“But then, it would allow us to also grow the game internationally. Every team in the league would play a game overseas … I think it would be a lot more exciting for the fans to have an extra game rather than the way our preseason games stack up.”
This is not a daydream. It’s a league that craves growth and money building a penthouse over its already lofty perch atop American sports.
And we know this because commissioner Roger Goodell has leaked a somewhat similar vision of Kraft’s outline in drubs and drabs the last couple of years — usually before offering a requisite amount of temperance to lower expectations.
“We’re not there yet,” Goodell said before Super Bowl LX in Santa Clara. “There’s more work to be done.”
NFL owners are apparently doing some of that work at the current meetings. And so the topic is leaking out into the media.
Colts owner Carlie Irsay-Gordon wants an 18-game regular season and made that point clear in speaking with local Indianapolis area reporters as well as during an appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show.”
She has complained in the past that 17 games doesn’t give teams financial certainty from year to year, because some years teams play eight home games and some years they play nine and some years one of those home games goes overseas to an international venue.
“I think, as long as the players want it – which I think they would, because it would mean more revenue and, ultimately, a better product – I think it’s reasonable and something we would work toward,” Irsay-Gordon told the Indianapolis Star.
Adding an 18th game would have to be collectively bargained with the NFL Players’ Association. And the NFLPA has over the last several years been vehemently opposed to the addition of an 18th game.
But the same NFLPA has never been vehemently opposed to more money and benefits for players. And it’s never uttered any complaint when the idea of expanded rosters, meaning more jobs for more players, has been floated.
So, do you smell a negotiation in the works?
Speaking hypothetically, one agent told OutKick a negotiation might start with the idea that the NFL wants one more game. And then the players would get the extra bye week, expanded rosters, a higher minimum salary, greater post-retirement benefits and more off time during the offseason.
Beyond the extra game, placing 18 of them overseas – twice as many as planned for 2026 – sounds easier than it actually is.
“We’re early in that process,” NFL executive vice president Peter O’Reilly said. “We’re expanding each year, we’re learning each year. We’re going into new markets and making sure every move we make, every new market we go into has to be successful.
“Obviously, a lot has to be worked through to get to a stage that you described. I think the work we’re doing is making sure we have the foundation ready should that opportunity exist.”
