With the annual league meetings set to take place from March 30 to April 2 in Palm Beach, Fla., the NFL has announced its list of proposed rule and bylaw changes owners will vote on at the end of the month. If approved, the league would allow wild-card teams to leapfrog division winners in playoff seeding based on wins and even put an end to the Philadelphia Eagles’ “tush push.”
Rule changes are submitted each year by any of the 32 NFL teams across the league. To pass and become official, any proposal needs approval from 24 of the 32 NFL voters.
The Detroit Lions were the only team to propose any potential bylaw changes during this cycle, submitting two such proposals for the league meeting vote. Most notably, Detroit has proposed an amendment to the league’s current playoff seeding format, allowing wild-card teams to be seeded higher than division winners if the wild-card team has a higher record. In a fiercely competitive 2024 NFC North division race, the Lions, Minnesota Vikings and Green Bay Packers all finished with 11 or more wins. Each of those three teams finished higher than the eventual NFC South-winning Tampa Bay Buccaneers and NFC West-winning Los Angeles Rams, both of whom secured home playoff games with a 10-7 record.
Detroit has also suggested excluding any player from the 90-player roster limit if they are placed on season-ending injured reserve on or before the day when NFL rosters reduce from 90 to 53 players. Players designated for return would be excluded from this rule.
Three different teams submitted proposals for rule changes, the most prominent of which is Green Bay’s suggestion to ban the “tush push” popularized by the Eagles. In specific language, the Packers look “to prohibit any offensive player from pushing a teammate who was lined up directly behind the snapper and receives the snap, immediately at the snap.” The Packers lost twice to the Eagles in 2024, once in the teams’ season opener in São Paulo and again in the wild-card round. While Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts did account for a combined four touchdowns in those two games, Hurts did not have a single rushing touchdown against the Packers last season.
Philadelphia Eagles QB Jalen Hurts scores a touchdown with the “tush push” play against the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium. (Photo: Al Bello / Getty Images)
The Eagles have a rule proposal of their own, looking to align postseason and regular-season overtime rules. Philadelphia washes to “(grant) both teams an opportunity to possess the ball regardless of the outcome of the first possession, subject to a 15-minute overtime period in the regular season.”
The Lions have also submitted a rule change seeking to eliminate automatic first downs when penalized for defensive holding and illegal contact. Detroit led the league with 11 defensive holding calls in 2024.
Changes to resolutions were proposed as well. The Pittsburgh Steelers are looking to potentially curb some of the moves made during the legal tampering period before free agency. According to the Steelers’ resolution proposal, Pittsburgh wants “to permit clubs during the two-day negotiation period to: (i) have one video or phone call with a prospective unrestricted free agent and his player agent; and (ii) permits clubs to arrange for the player’s travel upon agreeing to terms with a prospective unrestricted free agent. Travel cannot occur until the beginning of the new league year.” During the 2025 free agency period, most of the league’s top free-agent candidates were already off the market by the time the league’s new calendar year began in Wednesday, Mar. 12.
The Eagles, along with the Baltimore Ravens, Cleveland Browns, Houston Texans, Las Vegas Raiders, Minnesota Vikings and Washington Commanders, have all proposed that teams be allowed to prepare kicking balls (also called “K-Balls”) before game day in a similar process to how teams already prepare game balls for quarterbacks. Washington is also looking “to permit clubs that may qualify for the postseason to obtain scouting credentials for two consecutive games (Weeks 17 and 18) played by a potential postseason opponent. Also requires clubs hosting Wild Card games to provide scouting credentials to all teams within the same conference who are participating in the postseason.”
Which rule is most likely to pass?
The proposal that sparks the most debate involves the outlawing of the “tush push.” Several teams run variations of the play, but none with the effectiveness of the Eagles. The play may frustrate some coaches and players, but it doesn’t seem that there is enough outrage to prompt change, a person familiar with private deliberations said. Outlawing the play would require at least 24 owners to vote approvingly.
The proposal with a good chance of passing involves the overtime format, which calls for the regular season operation to mirror of that of the postseason, allowing both teams to possess the ball once. There’s strong support in favor of such a modification, according to people with knowledge of the situation. — Mike Jones, national NFL writer
Required reading
(Top photo: Christian Petersen / Getty Images)
