The Cowboys' KaVontae Turpin returns a kickoff for a touchdown during a November game last season against the Commanders at Northwest Stadium. (Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
The NFL’s competition committee is proposing changes to the sport’s year-old kickoff format, including moving the spot of the football on touchbacks on kickoffs in an attempt to further boost the rate of returns.
The committee also is proposing modifications to expand the scope of the league’s replay-assist system to allow instant replay to intervene with objective aspects of certain calls, including facemask violations and illegal hits on defenseless players, on plays on which the on-field officials called a penalty.
The proposals were released Wednesday by the NFL ahead of next week’s annual league meeting in Palm Beach, Florida. Team owners will consider the proposals made by both the competition committee and by individual NFL teams, including measures that would ban the push-the-quarterback sneak that has become the signature play of the Philadelphia Eagles, modify the regular season overtime format and change the playoff seeding system.
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Any proposal must be ratified by at least 24 of the 32 owners to be enacted.
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The competition committee is proposing to make the kickoff format permanent, with possible changes. The owners approved the format last offseason on a one-year basis, mandating that there would be reconsideration of it this offseason. League leaders have called the first-year results a success, saying that the new format fulfilled its dual mandate of increasing returns while making the injury rate more comparable to that of a play from the line of scrimmage.
The NFL competition committee is, as expected, proposing to move the spot of the touchback on kickoffs from the 30- to the 35-yard line, in an effort to discourage kicks into the end zone and further boost the return rate. https://t.co/R0MAgc4FIq
— MarkMaske (@MarkMaske) March 26, 2025
But the league and competition committee have said they would like to bolster the return rate even further after 32.8 percent of kickoffs were returned last season, up from 21.8 percent during the 2023 season. They will attempt to achieve that by moving the spot of the touchback on kickoffs from the 30- to the 35-yard line. That is designed to discourage the kicking team from launching kicks into the opposite end zone.
Rich McKay, the chief executive officer of the Atlanta Falcons and the co-chairman of the competition committee, said the designers of the kickoff rules estimate that the return rate will jump to 60 to 70 percent if the proposed change to the touchback spot is enacted.
The committee also considered proposing to move the spot of the kickoff itself further from the opposite goal line, to make it more difficult for kickers to put the ball into the end zone. But it did not propose that.
It did propose changes to the onside kick, in a bid to improve the minuscule success rate for the kicking team. But those changes involve the alignment requirements on onside kicks, not revisiting previous proposals for a fourth-and-15 or fourth-and-20 offensive play that would serve as an alternative to the onside kick. Special teams coaches who helped formulate the proposal told the committee at the NFL scouting combine that they believed the modifications to the alignment could make it easier for the kicking team to recover an onside kick. The competition committee also proposed allowing the trailing team to declare its intention to attempt an onside kick at any point during the game, instead of only during the fourth quarter.
On replay-assist, the competition committee is proposing to allow the replay official to intervene on objective aspects of facemask violations, illegal hits on defenseless players, horse-collar tackles, tripping and roughing the kicker. Replay-assist only could intervene on those plays on which a penalty was called by the on-field officials. The proposal comes after the replay-assist system was expanded last offseason to give replay officials an increased role in assisting the on-field officials with certain objective aspects of penalties for roughing the passer, intentional grounding and late hits out of bounds.
🧵 2/3 — In addition to Dynamic Kickoff changes, the @NFL Competition Committee is proposing expansion of Replay Assist.
See all of the 2025 Rules Change Proposals here: https://t.co/LFQl2Md8cS pic.twitter.com/czNCcXm3hl
— NFL Football Operations (@NFLFootballOps) March 26, 2025
The Green Bay Packers have proposed to make it illegal for a player to “immediately at the snap, push or throw his body against a teammate, who was lined up directly behind the snapper and received the snap, to aid him in an attempt to gain yardage.” That proposal, if ratified, would effectively eliminate the quarterback push play, popularly known as the “Tush Push” or “Brotherly Shove.”
But a person familiar with the rulemaking process said this week it’s unclear whether the Packers’ proposal will be approved by the owners, adding: “Not sure it can get 24 [votes].”
The Eagles have proposed to “align the postseason and regular season overtime rules” by guaranteeing each team at least one offensive possession during a 15-minute regular season overtime. Currently, the regular season overtime rules allow a team to win with a touchdown on the opening possession of a 10-minute overtime.
The Detroit Lions have proposed to allow a wild-card team with a superior record to be seeded ahead of a division winner. Similar proposals in the past have failed to gain the approval of the owners. Even so, McKay said during a video news conference Wednesday: “I do believe it’ll be an interesting discussion.”
The Lions also have proposed to eliminate the automatic first down associated with defensive holding and illegal contact penalties.
The league has said that it expects to put its electronic system to measure first downs into regular season use beginning during the upcoming season. That does not require a ratification vote by the owners. The system would still involve the on-field officials manually spotting the ball following a play, after which the electronic system would be used to determine whether a first down was achieved.