NFL Teams Will Vote on Big Changes to Overtime, Seeding, Tush Push

A set of rules and bylaws proposals for the upcoming NFL annual meeting could, if approved, significantly change how the postseason is structured, alter critical parts of the game, reshape roster management, and outlaw the league’s most controversial play. 

The league released Wednesday a set of proposals for the upcoming meeting, set for March 30 to April 1 in Palm Beach, Fla., and the measures could have far-reaching impacts. Among the planned votes:

• A shift in the playoff-seeding structure to rank teams strictly by regular-season records, instead of the current method of giving the top four seeds to division winners, before any wild-card teams. The proposal, made by Detroit, comes after the Lions could have fallen from the NFL’s top seed last season to the No. 5 slot had they lost the regular-season finale to the Vikings. The move, however, would radically change who gets a playoff home game and the business benefits stemming from it, and also diminish the value of winning a division. A division title, however, would be used as tiebreaker in seeding. The Chargers unsuccessfully made a similar proposal in 2023. 
• A potential ban on the oft-debated Tush Push, perfected by the Eagles en route to their Super Bowl LIX triumph. The Packers are proposing the ban, citing injury and pace-of-play concerns, and want that prohibition paired with a 10-yard penalty for infractions. 
• A possible shift, proposed by the Eagles, in the regular-season overtime rules to guarantee each team at least one possession, even if the receiving team scores a touchdown on the first drive, and extend the extra period from 10 minutes to 15. The changes would align with what is in place for the playoffs.
• The Steelers have proposed a modernization of what is often known as the “legal tampering” period before the start of free agency in which teams would be allowed a video or phone call with a prospective unrestricted free agent. Pittsburgh’s proposal also includes a pre-free-agency window for teams to arrange travel for free agents with whom they have agreed to terms but not formally signed. The player travel itself would happen after the start of the new league year. 
• A group of seven teams is seeking to have k-balls, used for kicking in games, prepared by teams in the same manner as other balls. The shift is aimed at easing game-day preparations, but it will bear watching whether such a shift also improves kicking performance that had numerous issues last season, particularly at shorter distances. 
• The Lions are also seeking to eliminate an automatic first down for defensive holding and illegal contact penalties, arguing the current rules are “too punitive for the defense.”
• Yet another proposal from the Lions seeks to have players placed on injured reserve before the 53-man roster cutdown exempted from counting against the larger, 90-man roster. 
• The Commanders are seeking to allow potential playoff entrants to gain scouting credentials for other teams during weeks 17 and 18 of the regular season. 

The changes will require 75% support, or 24 of 32 teams, for passage. At last month’s NFL Scouting Combine, Packers GM Brian Gutekunst said regarding the Tush Push, “We’re not very successful against it, I know that.” Injury concerns, however, have not been supported as league officials said there have not been any reported injuries directly stemming from the play.