Steelers LB Patrick Queen Rips Idea of Adding More Games
To say the least, Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Patrick Queen is not fond of the idea of a 20-game schedule. The ides was floated out there by former Steelers teammate Breiden Fehoko, who said he wouldn’t mind a 20-game schedule if there’s two bye weeks.
“20??? You crazy if you think ppl will last through that! Pre season is how under the radar players make their cases! We play 17 games we should have 2 bye weeks as is.. Definitely scratch otas and mini camp start training camp back up around July 17,” Queen wrote on X in response to Fehoko’s post.
Judging by his comment that there should be two bye weeks with the current 17-game format, I’d imagine that Queen is not in favor of an 18-game schedule.
The NFL owners and NFLPA are expected to begin discussions on adding an 18th game to the regular-season schedule at owner’s meetings this week, according to a report by Charles Robinson of Yahoo! Sports.
The league’s top executives are gathered in Palm Beach for the annual meetings, which include several rule and bylaw changes on the agenda.
Adding an 18th game is not on the official agenda, but has been part of NFL commissioner Roger Goodell’s agenda for quite some time, and the expectation is that at least preliminary discussions in that direction will begin this week.
Queen thinks 20 games is just too much on the players, even if there’s two bye weeks.
“So you gone add more games in or out of division? Coaches still gone have you practicing so bye week really not even restful.. How you gone have pro bowlers after just 10 weeks? 20 regular season games is mentally and physically too demanding and takes away from what makes the sport great,” Queen wrote.
Goodell expressed on the Pat McAfee Show during the draft last year that he’s in favor of eliminating one of the three current preseason games to expand the regular-season schedule from 17 games to 18.
“I’d rather replace a preseason game with a regular-season game any day,” Goodell said. “That’s just picking quality. If we got to 18 and two, that’s not an unreasonable thing.”
Goodell pulled back on that comment at the spring league meeting in May, but acknowledged it is something the league considers as part of its future plans. Goodell said an 18-game schedule would have to be agreed to by the NFL Players Association.
“The key thing for us is looking at making sure we continue to do the things that make our game safer,” Goodell said. “Seventeen games is a long season, so we want to make sure we look at that and make sure that we continue the safety efforts.”
Steelers safety DeShon Elliott isn’t a fan an 18-game schedule. He thinks the NFL is already taking advantage of the players.
“They’re not paying us enough money already,” Elliott said, per ESPN’s Brooke Pryor. “They’re stingy with their money, so they want to make us play 18 games, as a player union, we should get way more money than what we’re getting—and not just the top guys.
“And the thing is, they’re not out here playing football. They’re not here running around putting their bodies on the line. They don’t care. All they care about is making money, but if you’re going to make money on the top end, the bottom end has to make money too.”