NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell held his annual state of the NFL press conference Monday from the Bay Area, the site of Super Bowl LX.
Goodell, who is near the end of his 20th season as commissioner, touched on a number of topics, including the future of the league’s international schedule, a potential increase to the regular-season slate, Bill Belichick’s reported exclusion from this year’s Pro Football Hall of Fame class and Giants co-owner Steve Tisch’s inclusion in the latest release of the “Epstein Files” regarding convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Here’s a rundown of some of the main topics Goodell addressed with the assembled media.
International schedule
Goodell said the NFL will play nine games overseas in 2026, including a return to Mexico City in December. Earlier in the day, the league revealed that the New Orleans Saints will serve as the home team in the first-ever regular-season game played in Paris.
The nine international games in 2026 mark an increase from the seven the league played overseas in 2025. Goodell said his goal is to reach 16 international games per season, with every team playing at least one game abroad.
“We’re getting great reactions from our teams,” Goodell said. “They all want to play. Our players loved it. One of the greatest things from last season was talking to our players and our coaches about how proud they were to be there and talk about the game to help globalize the game. They felt like ambassadors, and they enjoyed the experience, and that’s really part of it.”
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Steve Tisch in the ‘Epstein Files’
“I would say that absolutely, we are going to look at all the facts,” Goodell said. “We’re going to look at the context. We’re going to try to understand that, and we’ll see how that falls under the policy. But I think we take one step at a time. Let’s get to facts first.”
A follow-up asked whether the NFL will investigate Tisch’s involvement in the files and whether Goodell is concerned about more NFL figures being named.
“We’ll continue to follow any of the facts that come up,” he said, “and we’ll determine whether we open an investigation based on those facts.”
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Bill Belichick’s Hall of Fame exclusion
“That’s a Hall of Fame career, but there’s a decision-making process here, and it’s a timing issue,” Goodell said. “There are a lot of people who are deserving of this, so I think that’s something that the media will have to make that determination on as they go. But there’s a lot of people who want to be in that Hall of Fame, and Bill Belichick deserves to be in that Hall of Fame too.”
Goodell made it clear that the NFL and the Pro Football Hall of Fame are separate entities. He also brushed off a question about whether he feels responsible for Belichick’s exclusion after he fined Belichick and the Patriots for their role in Spygate, which was reportedly one of the things that kept Belichick out of the Hall of Fame this year.
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Lack of diversity hiring
Goodell acknowledged that more work needs to be done to improve diversity in hiring. Of the 10 head coaching vacancies recently filled, only one went to a minority candidate (new Titans head coach Robert Saleh). No head coaching openings were filled by a Black candidate.
Of the NFL’s 32 head coaches, only three — Todd Bowles, DeMeco Ryans and Aaron Glenn — are Black.
Despite expanding the Rooney Rule in recent years and taking other steps to address the issue, the league continues to face challenges in that area. Goodell said he will keep working to find solutions to one of the NFL’s biggest problems.
Goodell also defended the Rooney Rule, which has faced criticism for years. Established in 2003 and named after former Steelers owner Dan Rooney, the rule requires teams to interview at least two external minority and/or female candidates for head coach and general manager vacancies, as well as one for various coordinator positions.
“I think the Rooney Rule has been seen as a positive by our clubs,” Goodell said, “by giving them an opportunity to look at a diverse set of candidates. They make the choice ultimately, but I think it’s shown them the value to look at talent where you might not know it, or you may not see it.”
“We’re in a competitive league. … We have 10 openings this year. Teams are trying to get the coach that they think can win. So I think taking the time pressure off of that is one of the things we focus on as a league … to give them that time so they can make a really good decision independently, but one that is based on being able to look at a diversity of candidates. I think that only benefits the NFL.”
Regular-season expansion
Goodell said adding a game to the regular-season schedule “is not a given.” The league expanded from 16 to 17 regular-season games in 2021, with a common assumption that an 18th game could be added in the next Collective Bargaining Agreement, which does not expire until 2031.
“We have not had any formal discussions about it, and frankly, very little with any informal conversations,” he said. “It is not a given that we’ll do it. That is not something that we assume will happen. It is something that we want to talk about with the union leadership.”
Goodell listed several factors that could go into whether the league expands the regular season.
“It’ll depend on a lot of factors, including safety of the game,” he said. “What other changes can we make … from a safety standpoint, but also a competitive standpoint? Should we have two byes? What are the roster sizes? There are a number of issues that need to be discussed with the players.”
Honoring Paul Tagliabue
Goodell announced the league is creating the “Paul Tagliabue Academic Achievement Award” in honor of former NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue, who died in November.
The award will go to an NFL player “who demonstrates their desire to continue their education, to excel in that area, not for what they do on the field, but rather the work that they do.”
“Bobby Wagner just went back and got his MBA and is playing world-class football,” Goodell said. “That’s pretty amazing. And so we want to acknowledge that, celebrate that, but also celebrate Paul’s legacy in a way I think he’d be proud.”
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