Is the NFL Extending the Football Season to 18-Games?

The short answer according to Bill Polian is "that it's a fait accompli." Bill Polian is the National Football League's competition committee member, former league executive and current president of the Indianapolis Colts.

On Monday, during Polian's weekly radio show, a caller asked how close the league was to expanding to 18 games and how the Colts would respond to fewer preseason games, trimming the number of opportunities players would have to win roster spots.

The Colts' president responded, "The short answer is that it's a fait accompli, I'm afraid, and we're going to have to find ways to get those evaluative experiences. We're not going to sit back and say, 'Oh oh, 18 games. Now we're going to become a veteran team. That's not going to work. And it's not the way we want to play."

NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said the league would not respond to Polian's comments. Additionally, the format change hasn't been approved by either the owners or the NFL Players Association.

Bill Polian believes that is just a formality and added, "I think that the owners, and principally the commissioner, have decided that it's the way to go, and so the debate, such as it was, is over."

League owners and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell have indeed expressed support for cutting the preseason schedule from four games to two and expanding the regular-season schedule from 16 to 18.

Some fears among the league players are centered on the increased risk of injury in an expanded regular season and that reducing the preseason schedule to facilitate a new 18-game season may decrease the opportunities for undrafted rookies.

Indianapolis Colts' star Quarterback Peyton Manning and Center Jeff Saturday expressed that an 18-game season could be detrimental to undrafted rookies trying to make the team.

On Tuesday, the league and NFL players are scheduled to meet in D.C. to resume labor talks. Both sides are expected to discuss the extended regular season issue including how to factor that in future collective bargaining agreements. The existing NFL labor contracts expire in March.

Don't look for an 18-game regular season until at least 2012, which is the target date.

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Sources: http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=5623441