Bengals' Joe Burrow has the correct take on the NFL leaning towards 18-game schedule

It didn't take long for Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow to become one of the faces of the NFL. He's as well respected among players and fans alike as anyone in the league. When Burrow speaks on important matters for the sport, his peers should expect him to represent them well. 

Burrow managed to fulfill that responsibility this week when asked about the NFL's recent push for an 18-game regular season schedule.  

Joe Burrow wants that extra bye week, like any player would

During Burrow's press conference following his first practice of the offseason, the fifth-year QB mentioned that the 18-game format isn't a new idea to him or his peers. It's been an inevitability for the league since the 17-game slate was put into action in 2021. 

It's also a nonsensical idea without the players receiving an extra week of rest during the gauntlet. 

"That's definitely something that we've thought about. 18 games is definitely a big ask," Burrow told media members Tuesday. "That's not easy--adding that extra game. Obviously it'd be great for revenue, but I feel like adding that bye week, if you're going to have the 18-game scheduled, is pretty critical for for our bodies.

"If you keep that first bye week and then some teams have the bye Week 5, Week 6, and then you're going 12, 13 games in a row. That's not easy—probably a Thursday night game thrown in there too. So that's never easy. Those two byes are pretty critical." 

Burrow and the player base had to accept one extra game on the docket with the same solo week of rest before. Doing so again would be a major loss for the NFL Players Association. 

So how could the NFL make it work? Burrow referenced another major sports league as an example. 

"Maybe you could do something like the first bye is kind of how we have it now and the second bye, everybody has it at once, and you make it like the Pro Bowl week or something like a like an All-Star break for the NBA," Burrow suggested. "People get paid a lot of money to have those discussions and make those decisions, but we'll see how it plays out."

The NBA, MLB, and NFL all have midseason All-Star games and breaks to provide a breather during their long seasons. The NFL following suit would be a drastic change from the current setup, which has the Pro Bowl Games scheduled a week before the Super Bowl, but it could make the logistics of fitting an extra bye week into the league-wide calendar. 

No matter how the NFL gets it done, adding that second bye week is the right thing to do. Good on Burrow for speaking on it.