INDIANAPOLIS – Ryan Kelly has no appetite for what the NFL might be whipping up.
The Indianapolis Colts’ Pro Bowl center also is a prominent member of the NFLPA Executive Committee, and he’s had his fill with the league’s increasing numbers game.
*16 regular-season games, the norm from 1978 through 2020, was enough.
*17, which has been the case the past three seasons, is too many.
*18, which was broached recently by commissioner Roger Goodell, is a bridge too far.
Does Kelly have an interest in an 18-game season?
“Absolutely not,’’ he said with a stern glare.
Kelly was in a scrum with the media Wednesday during the second of three mandatory minicamp sessions.
The lead-in question focused on the NFLPA possibly approaching owners about altering the offseason schedule.
That might include eliminating the current nine-week program that begins in mid-April and culminates in the mandatory minicamp and replacing it with an earlier report date for training camp. The latter would feature a ramp-up period, perhaps in early July, for players that mirrors the Phase 1 and Phase 2 portions of the current structure.
“I don’t think it’s a perfect system now,’’ Kelly said. “There’s going to be some back and forth and I don’t think there’s going to be a perfect answer or solution.’’
Quickly, the discussion turned to Goodell’s comments regarding a possible 18-game schedule. He made them during an April appearance on the “Pat McAfee Show.’’
“I’d rather replace a preseason game with a regular-season game any day,’’ Goodell said. “If we got to 18 and 2, that’s not an unreasonable thing.’’
Even if that was a trial balloon floated by the league, it’s not hyperbole to mention Goodell and the NFL generally get what they want. The draft is bouncing from city to city. The NFL Scouting Combine, a fixture in Indy since 1978, might soon be on the move.
“I think there’s a reason they’re already putting it out in the media, right?’’ Kelly said, adding Goodell is “smart talking about it and the next thing you know people think that’s going to happen. 18 games sounds great when Roger’s saying it on the Pat McAfee podcast. But until you’re the one going out there and putting the helmet on for 18 of those games, yeah, then come talk to me.’’
Any change – to the offseason workout regimen or with the actual schedule – must be a collaborative effort. The current CBA runs through the 2030 season.
Does Kelly see any scenario under which an 18th game is enticing?
“No,’’ he said. “You start looking at 16 was a lot for guys and 17s even more, right? It’s a lot to take on your body. I (wish) people understood how hard it is to play 16, then they (added) another one.’’
The decision ultimately will boil down to owners and players finding common ground. Players will want something significant in return for another taxing week of their bodies.
“I think it’s up to every player to decide that,’’ Kelly said. “If they said, ‘Hey, you guys get 70 percent of the revenue and we’ll take 30 as owners,’ a lot of guys would sign up for that. You’d make $100 million dollars playing quarterback. I think everybody’s got a line to draw in the sand and we’ll see where that is.’’
Kelly was the Colts’ 2016 first-round draft pick. He’s entering his ninth season.
“I don’t think I’ll be in the league for that decision to come down,’’ he said. “But it’s a business and it’s about making money.’’
You can follow Mike Chappell on Twitter at @mchappell51.