How Patrick Mahomes and Tommy DeVito factored into one NFL owner voting against international growth

Here's why the Chicago Bears were the lone holdout

IRVING, Texas — The NFL is continuing its global push by expanding its international game sampling from four to eight games beginning in 2025 after voting upon it at Wednesday's league meetings. The measure didn't pass with unanimity, but it did go through with a good laugh.

The lone "no" vote, according to sources, came from the Chicago Bears. George McCaskey, the chairman of the Bears, issued the one dissenting vote. Not because the Bears don't want to leave the country, mind you, but because of some of the fine print.

In previous years, the league has allowed teams to protect four home games from being selected to go internationally. With the new measure voted upon Wednesday, those protections were cut in half to two. The point being that higher quality games could be selected to go out of the country.

McCaskey spoke up in the meeting on this topic. According to sources, he told membership that fans will want to see some of the best quarterbacks come to town, and he wanted to preserve the right to host those games.

"We have generational talents coming in," McCaskey said, according to a source in the room. "Fans want to see Patrick Mahomes coming in. They want to see Josh Allen coming in. They want to see Jalen Hurts coming in. They want to see Tommy DeVito coming in."

The room burst into laughter.

"It was the best line of the entire meeting," one source in the meeting said, adding it was a good-natured and well-received quip.

An undrafted rookie, DeVito is 3-1 as a starter for the Giants after starter Daniel Jones tore his ACL and backup Tyrod Taylor was placed on injured reserve. DeVito has enjoyed a Jeremy Lin-like run in New York as an Italian American, and the Giants have been riding the wave in recent weeks. Big Blue is 5-8 but still in playoff contention in the NFC, where DeVito just won Player of the Week honors for Week 14.

The Bears aren't afraid to travel overseas, and they have played in London twice. Under new team president Kevin Warren, the Bears are looking to grow the brand both domestically and internationally.

The NFL is expanding to Brazil in 2024, and an NFC team will be the "home team" for that regular-season game next year. Germany will get a game for a third consecutive year, and London will host three games.

In 2025, that number will go up to eight. No team will be asked to play more than one game outside of North America unless they request it. The NFL experimented with that this season with the Jaguars playing consecutive games in London, and Jacksonville won both games against the Falcons and then the Bills.

No international games will take place after Week 14. In recent years, the NFL has usually given teams a bye following their European trip.