It's always a nice thing when labor and management can get together to agree peacefully about something management was already hell-bent on getting. This is what made it so heartwarming to see NFL Players Association executive director Lloyd Howell Jr. already greasing the skids for an 18th regular-season game by saying discussions are already well underway on the union's price for caving yet again.
"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,'" Howell told the Washington Post's Mark Maske. “And we should really kick the tires and understand what else goes into that decision-making process." When this is the opening public position, it makes sense to assume that the conversation is mainly going to be about terms.
In other words, the tires have already been kicked, the understandings have already been reached, and the only thing left to do is to sell the inevitable to those who will have to perform it. We are at the bribery stage of the proceedings despite formal negotiations not having begun. It’s a swift acceptance by the union of what began when the owners started talking about adding a 17th game just five years ago.
At least Howell's not teasing anyone with the possibility of the union putting up an actual fight about any of this. It's a small wonder that Roger Goodell isn't already skipping to the part where he hints at a 19th and 20th game. When you know the result before the contest has begun, well, think of it as a mutant form of game-fixing: "We're getting this, we know it, you know it, and there's no need to be coy. We'll give you new air fryers in your training facilities and you give us more of your weekends. Now take the knee so we can go back downtown."
It's hard to remember the last time the NFLPA actually fought back and won on an issue—maybe the 1982 strike that mostly caused the players to revolt against then–union boss Ed Garvey, if you want to call that a win. But since we all gave up as a culture and accepted the NFL's dominion over the American sporting psyche, the league's thorniest issues have been mostly outside the labor-management sphere—things like Jerry Jones' paternity suit, the $4.8 billion DirecTV lawsuit, and whatever new stadium boondoggle is being held up by some recalcitrant local politician who hasn't yet gotten his taste. The product itself, in contrast, has been shockingly reliable.
And it's not like everyone didn’t already know that the 18th game was a mortal lock once Goodell started hinting at it with his bright red size-35 oxfords. He tips his hand mostly so the union understands what's going to happen to it. It’s a symbiotic relationship, provided you consider the relationship between a restaurant patron and their food to be symbiotic.
Howell tipping his hand and saying the informal strong-arms are already in process can only be of help to the three of you who wondered whether the players would go for another game en route to the inevitable three, five, or nine more somewhere down the road. The union already has; they just have to wait until the next crop of players comes in to find out that their work schedule is growing. It’s mostly about money, of course, and about owners continuing to grab as much of everything as they think they can get away with, but there’s a practical element to it, too. After all, the best way to eliminate annoyances like Aaron Rodgers missing a mandatory minicamp for an optional trip to Egypt is to fill those weeks with regular-season games. We just have to be patient and cock our ears for the rumble of dropped shoes.
