Here's a timeline.
March 15, 2020: Players vote 1,019 to 959 to approve a new Collective Bargaining Agreement. As part of that agreement, the 1,019 yea votes approved the addition of one regular-season game per team.*
Feb. 7, 2021: The NFL finishes its 267-game season, missing no games. Sports Business Journal reports the league’s revenue for the season was down $4 billion, or 25 percent, from 2019. Players receive full salaries, unlike players in basketball and baseball.
March 1, 2021: I [Peter King] report it’s “highly likely” that the NFL will institute the 17th game for the 2021 season, with the Super Bowl likely to be pushed back one week to Feb. 13, and with the 17th game duplicating the cross-conference matchups from the 2019 season.
Sunday: Adam Schefter tweets the NFL “is expected to” approve the 17th game as virtual league meetings this week.
The move was made 54 weeks ago. It’s not big news now.
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*I would not call that overwhelming enthusiasm.
https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2021/03/29/urban-meyer-jaguars-trevor-lawrence-nfl-draft-trades-fmia-peter-king/