Former Tennessee Vols linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin is a busy guy these days.
Not only is Reeves-Maybin a core special teams player for the Detroit Lions (he received a two year contract extension worth $7.5 million earlier this offseason), but he was also elected as the new president of the NFL Players Association (NFLPA) in March.
Reeves-Maybin, who was elected to a two year term, begins his run as the president of the NFLPA in the midst of the NFL trying to expand the regular season schedule from 17 games to 18 games.
Back in April, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell hinted at a potential 18-game regular season with just two preseason games.
"The reality is, I'd rather replace a preseason game with a regular-season game any day," said Goodell during an appearance on The Pat McAfee show earlier this spring (via ESPN). "That's just picking quality. If we get to 18 and 2, that's not an unreasonable thing."
While it feels inevitable that the NFL will eventually move to 18 games (more regular season games means more money), it doesn't sound like the NFLPA has had any serious discussions with the league just yet about adding an additional game.
"We haven’t had any conversations with the league about 18 games, so I mean, everything will be from ground zero," said Reeves-Maybin to The Detroit Free Press this week. "There’s no – I think people think way too – the general public is way ahead of that then we are."
While there haven't been any conversations yet according to Reeves-Maybin, it wouldn't be a surprise if things move quickly on the 18-game front. Once the whispers start, it's usually not long before a change is made.
It looks like Reeves-Maybin's time as the president of the NFLPA could coincide with a landmark NFL scheduling decision.
