"I think it'll go to 17 first," Cross said, adding that he could foresee such a change as soon as the 2009 season. "I think we'll see the 17th in pretty short order and then if that works well, go to 18 somewhere down the line."

But Kraft said he would favor a jump from 16 to 18 regular season games per team.

"I could support the other [17 games] if my colleagues thought that was the way to go," Kraft said. "But we all want to win and it's about competitive balance. If you go to 17, there would be some competitive imbalance each season. I would support 17. But I think 18 is a little cleaner."

In May, Goodell was noncommittal when asked whether talks with the union to secure the players' approval of lengthening the regular season would have to come as part of the labor negotiations, or in a separate set of discussions that could be more quickly resolved. He said that had yet to be determined. This week, Kraft said he believes such talks with the union must come as part of the labor negotiations.

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If so, that would mean the change probably wouldn't be made before the 2010 season. Under the current labor agreement, the 2009 season is the final one with a salary cap. That is likely to push the owners and players to try to get a new labor deal done in the spring of 2010, and any changes negotiated into that agreement would take effect the following fall.

The TV money could be negotiated soon thereafter. The league's deals with NBC, Fox and CBS run through the 2011 season. Its deal with DirecTV expires after the 2010 season, and its deal with ESPN runs through the 2013 season.

"I would only see it as part of a new labor deal," Kraft said. "We could probably negotiate on the TV end of it. It would create some opportunities to do a few things. But I really see this in the context of the labor agreement."

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