NFL commissioner Roger Goodell aims to expand the NFL season to 18 games within five years

The NFL Commissioner, Roger Goodell, plans to host 16 games outside the United States per year, which he says will be tied to also hosting 18 regular-season games. This is a pretty obvious way of expansion: every team plays eight games within its traditional venues, eight games on the road in the traditional venues, and one neutral-site game.
Meaning he'd play in neutral-site games only 16 total, with 32 teams playing one each. So frankly, the NFL wants to expand to 18 regular-season games because it wants to expand to 18 regular-season games. Tying it to more international games is convenient but hardly dispositive.

According to Sports Business Journal, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has thrown huge and ambitious challenges at his league: eight international games next season and increasing the number of games to 18 per season in five years and executing that plan. Not to forget, he wants to increase the international game total to 16 a season, which theoretically would allow all 32 teams to play one international game each season. The NFL played five international games this season, their most ever in one season.
“We’re looking at a change from the 17-and-3 format to maybe 18 regular season games and two preseason games,” Goodell said Thursday at Liberty Media’s investor day. “And that will open up more inventory to allow us to play more globally.”
The NFL and NFL Players Association agreed to increase to 18 games in five years, but this decision had become due and pending considering the cancellation of their current Collective Bargaining Agreement. They can change the terms of the agreement whenever possible because they did that in the case of the pandemic. More bargaining power, the players now have before the 2031 expiry date of the current CBA contract because the owners cannot place them on lockout so that they can stand firm and demand more before the end of the contract.
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It may even allow the NFL to end broadcast contracts with providers altogether by the 2029 season, which would coincide perfectly with the release of the 16 international games and 18 regular-season games in time to coincide with an end to TV deals, like the NBA did.