As representatives of the NFL and the players’ union prepare to intensify negotiations on a new labor deal, some team owners favor revisiting the possibility of an 18-game regular season or an expanded playoff field. In exchange for securing an agreement from the players on the issue, many owners seem willing to make concessions on the commissioner’s disciplinary authority and the sport’s marijuana policy.
The views of owners toward the negotiations were described by several owners, high-ranking team officials and others familiar with the league’s inner workings at last week’s meeting of the owners in Key Biscayne, Fla.