The NFL and its owners seem to favor an eventual move to an 18-game season. The players, on the other hand, don't appear to be interested in such a change.

"No one wants to play an 18th game. No one," NFL Players Association executive director Lloyd Howell Jr. told reporters on Wednesday. "Seventeen games is already, for many of the guys, too long. Seventeen games is also so lengthy that you're still dealing with injuries going into the next season. So, there are a variety of issues that hang off of the length of the season before any formal negotiations."

That mirrored the comments from a number of current players on the subject.

"I would say even just the thought of 18 games makes me cringe," Washington Commanders running back Austin Ekeler told reporters. "... That 18th game—personally speaking, not speaking for the membership—is something that is really outrageous to me. ... Definitely very heavily against [an] 18th game."

"We all love playing football. ... This time of year, though, the training room is pretty full," Houston Texans backup quarterback Case Keenum added. "All of us are struggling to get our bodies back right. ... So this is probably not the time to talk about adding another game."

It's easy enough to understand why the NFL might want an 18th game, offering them another week of the regular season and the excellent television ratings that would come with it. When the league negotiates its next television and streaming rights deal, an 18th game would make those packages all the more valuable.

For players, however, adding another game of wear-and-tear on their bodies is a major safety concern.

The league could look to offset that by any number of measures—removing a preseason game is an obvious choice, while adding a second bye week, shortening the mandatory offseason calendar and expanding active rosters would also make sense as potential concessions—but under the current CBA, the players can nix any 18-game proposals.

Both Howell and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell have said the two sides have had conversations about regular-season expansion, but no formal negotiations.

"Any commentary outside of a formal negotiation is just commentary," Howell told reporters. "It's a players' decision as to what they will agree to do or not."