NEW YORK — The head of the NFL’s negotiating team says it will be much easier to reach a new labor agreement with the players’ union if the accord includes an 18-game regular season.

“It’s something that both sides recognize the value of, and so both sides will work hard to incorporate it into the new agreement,” NFL executive vice president of labor and chief counsel Jeff Pash said Thursday in an interview with The Associated Press.

Pash also said the league is “focused on a full 2011 season” and the owners want to have a deal in place “well before” the summer.

The current collective bargaining agreement expires in March, and the union’s executive director, DeMaurice Smith, has said he believes owners are preparing for a lockout. In a letter sent to players last week, Smith advised members to save their last three game checks in case next season is canceled.

The NFL has not missed games because of labor problems since 1987, when the players went on strike.

“If both sides are equally committed and equally focused,” Pash said, “then there’s no reason why we can’t get an agreement.”

Pash doesn’t have a drop-dead date in mind for getting a deal done in time to avoid missing games.

“I haven’t even begun to think about it,” he said, “because we’re focused on getting an agreement. We’re focused on a full 2011 season. That’s where our head is.”

Asked whether the season could be played if there is not a new CBA in place until the summer, Pash replied: “The goal is to have an agreement well before that.”

Pash declined to provide details on where the negotiations stand right now. He listed the most prominent issues as economics, the 18-game season, the rookie salary system and free-agency rules.

Pash believes the back-and-forth the sides already have had about increasing the regular season from 16 to 18 games demonstrates they are aware of that subject’s importance to the talks. He said the NFL and union “exchanged detailed proposals” and had “detailed discussions” on that topic and added he thinks they’ll “continue to do so.”

“It’s a season that would deliver more value to the fans. It would allow a lot of growth opportunities that don’t exist with the current structure, and those growth opportunities would be beneficial for the players as well as for the clubs,” Pash said. “There is a recognition that it is realistically an easier agreement to reach in the context of an 18-game regular season.”