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FRISCO, Texas — Dallas Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones said Friday the NFL is not far away from an 18-game regular season and that the change could come as soon as next year if it is negotiated with the players.
Jones made the comments during his weekly appearance on 105.3 The Fan’s K&C Masterpiece. The NFL moved to a 17-game regular season in 2021, and the current collective bargaining agreement with the NFL Players Association runs through the 2030 season.
Jerry Jones On Cutting The Preseason For An 18th Game
A shorter preseason would be part of the change, Jones said, with teams developing in the first few regular-season games the way they now try to in the preseason.
“No, I’m a big no. I don’t think we’re far away from it. I don’t know how, what is far away. Next month, no. Next year, maybe. Next year, maybe,” Jones said. “That has to be negotiated with the players. But it’s in everybody’s best interest.”
“You’d cut back on the preseason games. You’d have teams more develop in the first few games as the type of thing you were trying to get done at preseason, but it’s in everybody’s interest, and it certainly is in the players’ best interest in my mind, for sure,” Jones continued. “And having said that, I would anticipate that coming.”
Jones On Labor Talks Across Sports
A host raised the possible labor fight in Major League Baseball, whose collective bargaining agreement expires Dec. 1.
“In general, yes. All of that is part of it. First of all, the interest is keen relative to how other sports and how they evolve with, especially the ones that are involved with labor agreements, which most of the professional ones are,” Jones explained.
Jones said he recently met with “the new head of the NFL labor,” and that the official then visited with the players.
“Met with him out here, and we had a good visit and had our ownership there to meet with him,” Jones continued.
“But beyond that, it’s an integral part of getting to play football. And so, from the get-go, I’ve always been involved because I think I have something to offer,” Jones added. “If they’re talking to me, they would have trouble finding someone else that has had a more benefit out of football in my life.”
Jones and the Cowboys host the 7-1 San Francisco 49ers at 3:25 p.m. CT on Sunday.
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