It seems inevitable that the NFL will expand to an 18-game season. One concession, if you can even call it that, will be the elimination of a preseason game. That maintains a CBA-mandated 20-game overall season, two preseason games, and 18 regular season contests. But that should be far from the union’s only bargaining chip. Jerome Bettis believes the NFL must expand the 53-man roster in order to survive an even longer regular season.
“You gotta open up that roster. You gotta have more positions,” Bettis told guest host Kirk Morrison on Thursday’s Rich Eisen show.