I'm not sure why some consider 16 games to be the breaking point? The league went from 12 to 14 to 16 game seasons all before medical and nutritional science had really evolved.

Of the 4 preseason games, starters have rarely played in the 1st or 4th game so the preseason could easily just be 2 games.

2 more regular season games means 2 more paychecks for the players so I don't think they'll turn that down when it comes time.