It’s been a few weeks since our last Thursday Thorns entry, so we’re back today with some uncomfortable facts, and this is not a new idea here: the NFL needs to scrap its preseason schedule, and if it needs to extend the regular season to 18 games as soon as possible to compensate financially, then it’s time to do it in time for the 2026 regular season. College football doesn’t have a preseason, so why should the NFL have one?

We know it comes down to money, as it almost always does (“Follow the money!“), of course. Yet the preseason games are merely exhibition games, and the risk to players for injury is too great. If the NFL turned August into extended training camp, giving the players more time to ramp up rationally before the start of the regular season on the first Thursday after Labor Day, the injuries would decrease, period.

And when it comes down to it, the NFL is wasting a lot of money on injured players that teams lose in August preseason games. Yes, practice injuries happen, too, but it’s often because players have to accelerate their football-shape regimen too fast in order to be ready for these dumb exhibitions in August. Giving them an extra month to practice, train, and solidify their bodies properly would make all the difference.

So, what is the cost analysis of lost revenue from killing the preseason to lost capital investment in players who get unnecessarily injured in the preseason? We really don’t know, but adding an 18th game to the regular season while also avoiding a lot of player injuries seems like it would overcompensate aplenty for the loss of preseason revenues, considering a lot of football fans aren’t that interested in the exhibitions.

Yeah, the diehards care, but even a lot of those fans are watching baseball in August still as playoff chases sort themselves. By September, much MLB suspense is gone, and the average sports fan definitely is ready for both college and football seasons. And again, if the colleges can do it safely for their “student athletes” then the NFL can do it even better, probably, given the resources, in terms of keeping players safe and sound.

This seems pretty obvious to us, and we know it’s not as simple as flipping a switch; the players’ union has to agree to it, and moving the regular season season one week deeper into January also has some challenges, but come on, people: when profit margins are at stake, the American sports world can move mountains on a dime if needs be. It’s time to cut bait on the NFL preseason exhibition schedule and add the 18th game, too.