NFL: New CBA deal reached; to have 17-game regular season

There has been a new CBA deal approved for the NFL, approved by the NFLPA and that means there will be one more game per season.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter has reported, and the NFLPA has released a statement that the owners and players have reached an agreement for a new deal that will last the next 10 years. The new deal includes a 17-game regular season (also one less preseason game), an expanded salary cap (near $200 million per team), and it also includes an expanded playoff format, according to the following Tweet by Schefter on Sunday morning:

The NFLPA also released a statement on Sunday morning via Twitter saying the vote was 1,019 to 959 in favor of the new CBA agreement.

One player that was against this CBA publicly was Houston Texans defensive end and 10-year veteran J.J. Watt. He made it clear this offseason he was not in favor of the new CBA proposal at the time saying:

"“Hard no on that proposed CBA.”"

NFL.com reporter Judy Battista wrote the following on why the CBA passed, quoting NFL veteran Sam Acho:

"“Sixty-five percent of players in the NFL last year made minimum salaries,” Acho said. “So when you talk about a 20 percent increase effectively year over year, in exchange for one extra game, that’s a really good deal.”"

Not all NFL players are in favor of this new CBA, as it is good and bad for the players. If the league wants to keep touting safety, this new CBA with one more regular-season game, plus more playoff games, isn’t the best way to support that message. That said, the rosters will be larger, and that is how the NFL is saying they want to not have as much “wear and tear,” on players.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and the NFL released the following statement about the ratification of the NFL CBA:

"​”We are pleased that the players have voted to ratify the proposed new CBA, which will provide substantial benefits to all current and retired players, increase jobs, ensure continued progress on player safety, and give our fans more and better football.“We appreciate the tireless efforts of the members of the Management Council Executive Committee and the NFLPA leadership, both of whom devoted nearly a year to detailed, good faith negotiations to reach this comprehensive, transformative agreement.”"

Again, this won’t all take effect this upcoming season — but there will be seven teams in each conference in the playoffs — but soon the NFL will look a little different, and things are going to change with more players on the active roster, another game in the regular season and the aforementioned more teams in the playoffs.

Having more football is great in one sense, and the players receiving more money in their check is an excellent factor too, but let’s all hope the safety of the players is watched over closely, because without players, the NFL wouldn’t be much fun to watch.