NFL won’t switch to 18-game seasons under new NFLPA president Eric Winston
By Josh Hill
A lot of major things happened in the NFL on Wednesday and none of them had to do with any free agent contracts that were signed. No major head coach was hired or fired and there wasn’t a new stadium announced. Rather, a new NFLPA president was elected, and former Kansas City Chiefs, Houston Texans and Arizona Cardinals offensive tackle Eric Winston is new the voice of the NFL player.
Winston’s new gig as the NFLPA means that he’s the guy who gets to be the voice of what the players in the league want, and he gets to advise the NFL and fight them on issues the players see as important. One of those issues, as he told USA Today’s Tom Pelissero, is the length of the season.
According to Winston, as long as he’s president, 18-game seasons won’t become a reality.
"I can tell you 16 to 18’s dead in the water. I won’t let it happen. I don’t think any of these other guys are going to let it happen. It’s a safety issue."
A longer season is something that has been proposed in the past but hasn’t officially been a movement that anyone has really gotten behind. But Winston clearly isn’t waiting for that to let his opposition be known. A longer season would be good for bank accounts but bad for the longevity of the league, and Winston sees that right off the bat.