The "momentum is growing" for a new NFL CBA including a 17-game season, with the league "preparing to formally present its proposal to players after the regular season," according to sources cited by Jason La Canfora of CBSSPORTS.com. The NFL has "spent years honing the revised schedule and logistics, and has made overtures to high-ranking union officials thus far, but player representatives will become more formally involved in the process as their seasons end." The goal is to have a new CBA "before the start" of the '21 season. Sources said that target date "remains on course, with the NFL showing a willingness to bend significantly on issues like the marijuana policy and commissioner's powers over off-field investigations." The 17-game proposal would allow the NFL to have "playoff games on air throughout the month of February -- critical sweeps weeks for its broadcast partners -- and would include two byes for each team." Sources said that the additional game for each club "would be played out-of-market," with a "heavy emphasis on key international locales" like the U.K., Germany, Mexico and Brazil. It also "opens the possibility of a full eight-game regular season schedule of games in London." Additional international games also would allow the NFL to create a new broadcast package "aimed toward streaming/digital without disrupting or taking away from the current packages" (CBSSPORTS.com, 11/17).
