NFL’s 18-game season could hinge on this simple request from Patrick Mahomes

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes has expressed hesitancy about the NFL’s potential move to an 18-game regular season. While he’s “not a fan” of the idea, Mahomes said he would be open to it - under one condition.

Patrick Mahomes’ condition for an 18-game NFL season

Mahomes insisted that with the extra game, players would be more tired, and teams would need an extra bye week as well. So although he’s not thrilled about the idea of an 18-game season, he’d be open to it with the addition of extra bye weeks to help reduce injuries and give players more recovery time.

“I think that you’d have to find a way to have more bye weeks, more time spread out,” Mahomes said in an interview with CNBC. “Because, I mean, you’ve seen the amount of injuries that have kind of piled up there at the end of seasons, and you want to have the best players playing in the biggest games.”

His comments echo sentiments shared by other top NFL players, including Joe Burrow, suggesting that additional rest would be a major sticking point in any negotiations. The change, however, can’t happen before 2027 due to the current Collective Bargaining Agreement, which runs through 2030. Negotiations between the NFL and NFLPA likely won’t start before 2026.

If approved, an expanded season with extra byes would push the Super Bowl deeper into February, unless the league adjusts the start of the season - possibly by playing games on Labor Day weekend, which hasn’t happened since 2001.

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