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Speaking about the NFL expanding to an 18-game regular season, “NFL RedZone” host Scott Hanson said he heard an interesting concept about bye weeks.
Hanson, 54, said he heard a concept of a possible league-wide bye week if the NFL were to expand to 18 games.
“If you had an 18th game, do you add another bye week? I’ve even heard a concept where they might add an extra game, but add an extra bye week that’s a complete league-wide bye week,” Hanson told Pakinomist Digital in a recent interview as he partnered with Lowe’s.
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NFL Network’s Scott Hanson speaks onstage during the third day of the 2025 NFL Draft in Green Bay, Wis., on April 26, 2025. (Perry Knotts/Getty Images)
“Maybe there’s an NFL weekend in mid-October, early November, somewhere in the middle of the season where nobody plays a game, where nobody plays a game, lets the players come back, get their bodies right, everybody can get away from football, just a little bit, and then come and play the back half of the season.”
Hanson began that for an 18th game to be considered a possibility, many major units need to get on the same page.
“Well, look, the biggest thing about it is the league and the Players Union and all the partners within the NFL ecosystem all have to get on the same page. And this is a big business and a big change. Should it happen? So they have a lot of conversations to do through it,” Hanson said.
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NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell speaks with NFL Network’s Scott Hanson before Super Bowl LVI between the Cincinnati Bengals and Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif., on Feb. 13, 2022. (Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
Hanson also noted how much later the Super Bowl would take place if the NFL implemented an 18-game regular season.
“But if you add that game, you extend the season, maybe by two weeks if there’s that extra bye, which means the Super Bowl gets pushed back to maybe even beyond Valentine’s Day, a lot of moving parts there,” Hanson said.
Super Bowl LVI was the furthest in a calendar year that a Super Bowl has been played, when the Los Angeles Rams beat the Cincinnati Bengals 23-20 on February 13, 2022. Super Bowl LXI, next year’s big game, will push the date even further as it is scheduled to be played on February 14, also known as Valentine’s Day 20.
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Host Scott Hanson speaks onstage during round four of the 2022 NFL Draft in Las Vegas, Nev., on April 30, 2022. (David Becker/Getty Images)
Hanson said he personally will be happy if they add more games because he loves football.
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“More plays means more action. That means more touchdowns for me in the NFL Red Zone,” Hanson said. “I’m going to smile, you know, if it ends up being a reality.”
