NFL To Reject Patrick Mahomes’ Plea As Report Hints at Roger Goodell’s Revenue Plans

Picture the 1993 Dallas Cowboys, granted two precious bye weeks in an experimental NFL schedule. Emmitt Smith, nursing a separated shoulder, used that extra rest to deliver a legendary 168-yard performance against the New York Giants on ‘Monday Night Football’ – a victory that catapulted them toward Super Bowl glory. It was a brief glimpse of what strategic recovery could achieve.

Fast forward to today, and that second bye week has vanished like a fumble in the end zone, replaced by a relentless push for more games. Now, Patrick Mahomes, the league’s brightest star, finds his voice joining a chorus of players pleading for relief, only to be met with the cold calculus of the NFL’s calendar ambitions.

Mahomes minced no words about the league’s reported push for an 18th game. “I’m not a big fan of it,” Mahomes told CNBC’s Alex Sherman. His concern cuts deep, rooted in the brutal reality of the season’s grind. “I think that you’d have to find a way to have more bye weeks, more time spread out,” he insisted, pointing to the late-season injury carnage that sidelines stars when stakes are highest.

Enter Mike Florio and the league’s unyielding counterplay. The NFL’s vision isn’t driven by player wear-and-tear but by a specific, lucrative alignment: ‘President’s Day weekend, Super Bowl.’ As Florio bluntly laid out on ‘NFL on NBC,’ “More often than not, an 18-game season with one bye week based on a season beginning the weekend after Labor Day takes you to President’s Day weekend. Far more often than not, that’s what they want to do.”

Why the obsession? Imagine a Super Bowl Sunday followed by a national holiday Monday. Guaranteed massive viewership, minimal work absenteeism, and a marketing bonanza—a trifecta the league covets. Adding that coveted second bye, however, “throws a wrench into the meticulously planned machinery,” pushing the championship past the holiday and disrupting the golden goose.

As Mahomes added, “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… if there were a way, I think you got to add some bye weeks in there to give more time for guys’ bodies.” His message, echoed by peers like Joe Burrow, is clear: More games demand more recovery. Period.

The Presidents’ Day Payoff

The potential windfall is undeniable. Roger Goodell himself has mused about the appeal: “If we get to 18-game season and 2 [preseason games], … [Super Bowl] ends up on Presidents Day weekend … and then you have Monday off.” Jason Kelce, ever the fan advocate, even pitched rebranding the holiday: “Nobody’s going to barbecue … Let’s nix the Presidents’ Day thing and just call it Super Bowl weekend.”

It’s a broadcaster’s dream slot—a captive audience with nowhere to be the next morning. This alignment isn’t a happy accident; it’s the primary driver behind the push for 18 games with only one bye. The league views the second bye, Mahomes and players crave as a direct threat to this billion-dollar scheduling nirvana. It’s gridiron chess, and player health risks becoming a pawn sacrificed for perfect calendar positioning.

The chasm between the sideline and the suite couldn’t be wider. While Mahomes speaks of bodies breaking down, the league office sees spreadsheets lighting up. Lloyd Howell Jr., NFLPA boss, reports a stark reality. “When I’ve talked to the players over last 2 seasons, no one wants to play an 18th game. Seventeen games are already too long for many of the guys,” he said at the 2025 NFL Combine. Players like Austin Ekeler shudder at the thought:

“The thought of 18 games makes me cringe… That 18th game… is something that is really outrageous to me.” Yet, the league marches forward, its AI-powered scheduling machines—evolved from Dan Rooney’s dominoes to modern algorithms crunching quadrillions of possibilities—already plotting that 19-week, 18-game path towards Presidents’ Day.

It’s a high-stakes game of chicken, reminiscent of the chaotic ‘wild west’ days of early NFL scheduling, now playing out with billion-dollar precision. Think less ‘Friday Night Lights’ and more intricate ‘Red Dead Redemption’ map unfolding across a national calendar.

The NFL’s history is a symphony of violence, strategy, and ever-expanding ambition. From 12 games to 14, then 16, and now 17, each expansion promised more revenue and more drama. The 18th game looms as the next movement. But at what cost? Players argue the math isn’t mathing—more collisions require more healing time, not less. The league counters with the siren song of Presidents’ Day riches and a perfectly timed crescendo.

As Florio succinctly framed the league’s stance, “I just don’t think the league is” budging on that second bye. This isn’t just about adding a game; it’s a fundamental clash over the soul and schedule of America’s most brutal ballet. Will the players’ plea for recovery time find an audience before the league locks in its Presidents’ Day payday? The final whistle on this negotiation is years away, but the opening kickoff reveals a stark divide as wide as the goalposts.