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An 18-game NFL season seems inevitable.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has already stated he favors expanding the regular season by another game. Now, NFLPA executive director Lloyd Howell says the players’ union is open to an agreement before the current labor deal expires after the 2030 season.
“We have talked at a very, very, very high level superficially, with a recognition. … about, ‘Yeah, this is something that we should be talking about. And we should really kick the tires and understand what else goes into that decision-making process,’” Howell told Washington Post reporters and editors during a meeting Monday at the NFLPA’s headquarters in Washington, D.C. “Where does the 18th game come from? I think the foregone conclusion is well, you just grab it, like, in what would otherwise be (preseason games) in August. You play it forward. But these are details that really need to be fleshed out. But, again, there are other economic, health and safety matters that also need to be clear to our members before there’s ever an agreement about an 18th game.”
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Of course, it’s going to take a lot of convincing to get most of the league’s players on board with another game. But the NFL usually gets what the NFL wants. The league persuaded the union to allow a 17th game in the last round of CBA discussions and the schedule was expanded in 2021.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has already stated he favors expanding the regular season to 18 games.
Many players felt the NFLPA should have extracted more concessions during the last labor negotiations so the 2020 CBA only passed by a slim margin of votes, 1,019 to 959.
More games equals more money for everyone. Ultimately, more money gets most deals done in sports and business.
Under the current CBA, the players’ share of league revenue increased from 47% to 48% starting in 2021. A “media kicker” that went into effect with the 17-game regular-season schedule grew that share to 48.5% based on an increase in revenue from the league’s new television contracts. The maximum amount the players’ could’ve reached was 48.8%. They’re going to want at least 50% to add another game.
“The simple fact of the matter is when you have a growing enterprise and there are opportunities within that intervening period of time where progress could be made and you could tweak the existing CBA legal document, why wouldn’t you want to do that?” Howell told the Post’s staff. “So whether it’s field surface, whether it’s the (offseason) schedule, if you want to call that formal — I call it bargaining. I call it amendments. I call it updates to what is now a living document called a CBA. Yeah, I want to be able to have our membership in a position to jump on it when we can, not wait until their playing days are done and it’s like you go through the cycle all over again.”
The preseason schedule decreased from four games to three when the 17th game was added. It would likely drop to two for an 18th game. Many coaches would have a problem with that because it limits opportunities for younger players to gain game experience and earn roster spots in some cases.
“If you reduce a preseason game, you have all these young guys you’re trying to develop, and you have to have them every year,” Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell said. “You look at what we were able to do with some of our young guys last year, and how important they were to us winning, but there’s a process to it. If you don’t get them developed or get them enough reps to where they help you, then — that’s the only thing. That’s what you lose, so there again, we’ll make it work. It’s a long season right now, and we’ll make it work either way.”
Many players already want the league to add another bye week because playing football is physically demanding and they want more time to rest and heal their bodies. That extra bye would have to be a major part of negotiations.
Fans cheer at Arrowhead Stadium during the first half of a game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Detroit Lions on Sept. 7 in Kansas City, Mo.
“Eighteen games is definitely a big ask. That’s not easy adding that extra game,” Cincinnati Bengals star quarterback Joe Burrow said. “Obviously, it would be great for revenue, but I feel like adding that bye week, if you’re going to have the 18-game schedule, is pretty critical for our bodies. If you keep that first bye week, and some teams have the bye in Week 5, Week 6, and then you’re going 12, 13 games in a row, that’s not easy. Probably a Thursday night game thrown in there, too, so that’s never easy. Those two byes are pretty critical.”
Beyond getting more money through a larger revenue share and an extra game check and an additional bye, the union could seek lifetime healthcare for players. Currently, vested players — guys with at least three credited seasons — receive five additional years of benefits after retirement.
Eliminating funding rules to help make guaranteed contracts more feasible could be another priority for the NFLPA. The current CBA requires owners to pre-fund contract guarantees by putting the entire sum in escrow. Teams argue they can’t fully guarantee contracts because of that financial commitment.
“Our membership is interested in a myriad of things before we even get to the number of games: health and safety, field surface, OTA makeup, compensation, what percent of their annual compensation is guaranteed,” Howell told the Post. “So there are many things before we get to (the) 18th game. … It’s a negotiable point.”
Reducing the preseason schedule to two games and adding an 18th game and a second bye means the Super Bowl would take place on President’s Day weekend — a dream scenario for the NFL.
“I mean, 18 games seems kind of lofty right now. … It just would depend on things,” New York Jets tight end Tyler Conklin said. “You hear about how the offseason might change with OTAs and just kind of coming back at the beginning of July or the end of June and just going all the way through the year. I guess there’s just so many variables in how they structure that that’ll determine, and you’re not going to know if you like it until you do it. And once you do it, there’s no going back. So, I guess whatever happens, you control what you can control and we’ll do it.”
Ranking the biggest NFL Draft busts of the last 30 years
#10. QB Zach Wilson – 2nd Overall Pick 2021, Jets
Zach Wilson NFL Career Statistics
Zach Wilson had a strong senior season at BYU and the New York Jets bought into Wilson’s rising stock, drafting him with the second-overall pick in 2021. The 2021 NFL Draft class for quarterbacks has become one of the more scrutinized in recent years, and Wilson is arguably the worst QB in that underwhelming group.
The Jets’ signing of Aaron Rodgers in 2023 signaled the end of Wilson’s time in New York after just two years. Rodgers suffered an ankle injury on the Jets’ opening drive of the season, and head coach Robert Saleh had to trot out Wilson as the “starter” for one more abysmal campaign. Considering that Wilson is now a member of the Denver Broncos, it’s fair to say that the Jets were unimpressed.
#9. WR Troy Williamson – 7th Overall 2005, Vikings
Troy Williamson NFL Career Statistics
The Minnesota Vikings traded Randy Moss to the Oakland Raiders in March 2005, and the following month in the 2005 NFL Draft, Minnesota selected Troy Williamson, a speedy receiver from South Carolina to fill the Moss-sized hole in their receiving corps.
Williamson’s quick feet couldn’t work in tandem with his stone-like hands. After dropping enough passes to drop himself down the depth chart, Williamson quickly fell out of favor for the Vikings. Minnesota passed on Roddy White, who went to Atlanta with the 27th pick. White would catch 808 passes for 10,863 yards and 63 touchdowns, which would have made a better fit as a Randy Moss replacement.
#8. RB Lawrence Phillips – 6th Overall Pick 1996, Rams
Lawrence Phillips NFL Career Statistics
Nebraska Cornhusker Lawrence Phillips was a star running back in college, winning back-to-back championships in 1994 and 1995. It was Phillips’ off-field matters that continuously made headlines. Phillips was charged with a series of crimes in 1994, and his 1995 season was shortened to just five appearances after yet another arrest.
The St. Louis Rams ignored the red flags and focused on the talent, drafting Phillips sixth overall in 1996. On the same day that St. Louis selected Phillips, the Rams would trade their then-running back (and future Hall of Famer), Jerome Bettis, to the Pittsburgh Steelers. After 25 games as a member of the Rams, Phillips would eventually be cut from St. Louis’ roster for drinking during pregame warmups and finding himself in a series of legal troubles.
#7. WR Justin Blackmon – 5th Overall Pick 2012, Jaguars
Justin Blackmon NFL Career Statistics
Justin Blackmon won the Biletnikoff Award (NCAA’s Best Receiver) twice in his college career, so naturally he was high up on draft boards. After being selected with the fifth pick in the 2012 draft, Blackmon showed promise in his first season, leading the Jaguars in receptions.
Blackmon’s 2013 was limited by groin surgery and violating the league’s substance abuse policy before the season. Blackmon violated the policy several more times, and, while still under suspension, Blackmon was arrested for marijuana possession. The parade of violations led to Blackmon being suspended for the entirety of the 2014 season. The NFL denied Blackmon’s petition for reinstatement in 2015 and the fifth-overall pick’s NFL career was over after only 20 games.
#6. RB Trent Richardson – 3rd Overall Pick 2012, Browns
Trent Richardson NFL Career Statistics
Trent Richardson was the focal point for a championship-winning offense at Alabama and a highly touted draft prospect. Cleveland would take the swing on Richardson with the third pick in the 2012 NFL Draft (two picks before Justin Blackmon).
Richardson struggled to split the gaps in the offensive line and fought for little-to-no yards on almost every carry, plodding for measly gains. In 2013, Cleveland completed a rare September trade, sending Richardson to the Indianapolis Colts after just 17 games in a Browns uniform. Richardson’s career never materialized in Indianapolis either and his NFL career was over after only 46 games. Since the Richardson blunder, Cleveland has not selected a running back in the first round.
#5. QB Heath Shuler – 3rd Overall Pick 1994, Washington
Heath Shuler NFL Career Statistics
After a successful 1993 season at the University of Tennessee, finishing runner-up in Heisman voting and being named SEC Conference Player of the Year, Heath Shuler was a top QB Draft prospect heading into the 1994 NFL Draft.
Shuler put on myriad terrible passing displays in his rookie year, including a five-interception disaster in a Week 7 loss to the Arizona Cardinals. At various points of the 1994 season, Shuler was being replaced by Washington’s seventh-round draft pick, quarterback Gus Frerotte, with Frerotte taking over the QB1 spot in 1995. A third-overall pick losing his job to a seventh-round pick is a telltale sign of a bust.
#4. QB Akili Smith – 3rd Overall Pick 1999, Bengals
Akili Smith NFL Career Statistics
The Cincinnati Bengals drafted Akili Smith third-overall in 1999 and his tenure with the club got off to a rocky start. Smith held out of training camp prior to his rookie season over a contract dispute, and in the end, Smith received a seven-year, $56 million contract before ever taking a snap in the NFL.
When Smith finally got on the field, his disastrous performances were largely attributed to his inability to learn the team’s playbook, his lackluster approach to film study, and missing offseason appointments. The next QB off the board was Daunte Culpepper with the eleventh pick, and Culpepper would throw 33 touchdown passes in his first full season in 2000.
#1. QB JaMarcus Russell – 1st Overall Pick 2007, Raiders
JaMarcus Russell NFL Career Statistics
JaMarcus Russell’s physical presence was impossible to ignore. Listed at 6’6″ and weighing 265 pounds, the big-bodied QB was viewed as “the quarterback of the future.” Despite being the first-overall pick, Russell only started one game in his rookie season, and once Russell stepped onto the field, it was hard to imagine his own future.
Russell’s size began to be noticed for all the wrong reasons, showing up overweight, and his on-field production was reaching new lows. After producing the lowest passer rating in the NFL in 2009, Russell was released by Oakland prior to the 2010 season and never played another snap.
The pool of talent in every NFL Draft is a minefield of superstars and busts, and when a franchise lands on a bust, it sends a shockwave through the organization and their fanbase. The NFL Draft is not an exact science, and “can’t-miss” prospects can miss. As these 10 players have shown, massive hype and high hopes can be fleeting.
This story was produced by BestOdds.com and reviewed and distributed by Stacker Media.
Ranking the biggest NFL Draft busts of the last 30 years
In the NFL Draft, each franchise is provided 10 minutes to make their draft choice. To prepare for that crucial moment of being “On The Clock” and selecting that potentially franchise-altering pick, every club puts in an incalculable effort of study and scrutiny. Everything is examined thoroughly under a figurative microscope. From a players’ score on the Wonderlic test of cognitive ability to the size of a quarterback’s hands, no stones are left unturned.
Despite the endless undertaking of finding that perfect selection, sometimes, it just doesn’t work out.
The few draft picks that go on to have long and very successful careers are forever enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame with a well-sculpted, lifelike bust. Ironically, the players who couldn’t live up to their Draft Day hype, are forever labeled as a bust.
A player being labeled as a bust can be subjective, but BestOdds.com has employed a simple methodology designed to create the most credible possible rankings: the players must have been a top 10 pick, their on-field performance must be terrible based on comparative metrics for their position (or the player must have issues keeping them off the field entirely), and their negative impacts on their respective franchises must be widely recognized.
These rankings were produced by researching the last 30 editions of the NFL draft, dating back to 1994. Obviously, there were Draft busts prior to 1994, like the Buffalo Bills drafting linebacker Tom Cousineau with the first-overall pick in 1979 and the Green Bay Packers No. 2-overall selection of “The Incredible Bulk,” offensive tackle Tony Mandarich, in 1989.
Cousineau never suited up for Buffalo, taking a larger contract offer from the CFL’s Montreal Alouettes. Mandarich was later tabbed as “The Incredible Bust” after steroid issues dismantled his career. Mandarich was the only man of the top five picks in the 1989 Draft to not end up in the Hall of Fame; the other four were Troy Aikman, Barry Sanders, Derrick Thomas, and Deion Sanders.
Cousineau and Mandarich were draft busts, but luckily for them, they played out their short careers on standard-definition television, and long before the internet took over. Some of the more recent draft busts had their careers go up in smoke in ultra high definition television or in crystal clear 4K for all to see, even when we wanted to shut our eyes to block the horror of their failures.
Let’s examine the 10 biggest NFL Draft busts of the last 30 years.
#3. WR Charles Rogers – 2nd Overall Pick 2003, Lions
Charles Rogers NFL Career Statistics
Charles Rogers produced 1,000+ receiving yards and 10+ touchdowns in both of his seasons at Michigan State and was viewed as the top receiver in the 2003 NFL Draft. The Detroit Lions made Rogers the highest-drafted receiver with their second-overall pick.
One injury after another kept Rogers off the field. Rogers broke his collarbone in a practice session in 2003, then broke his collarbone again on the opening drive of the 2004 season. Adding to the series of injuries were multiple violations of the NFL’s substance abuse policy. After just 15 career games, Rogers’ NFL career came to an end.
#2. QB Ryan Leaf – 2nd Overall Pick 1998, Chargers
Ryan Leaf NFL Career Statistics
The discussion for the first overall pick of the 1998 NFL Draft came down to two names: Peyton Manning and Ryan Leaf. After Leaf made it known to the Indianapolis Colts that he would prefer to be in San Diego, Leaf fell to the Chargers with the second-overall pick.
Leaf’s rookie season was a disaster, but his potential growth in his sophomore season was cut down by a shoulder injury. After pushing back against his teammates and the media and failing to put in the work, Leaf was released by San Diego after only 18 starts.