NFL Does Not Expect Many Rule Changes This Year
In the past few off-seasons, rule changes, or at least rule change proposals, dominated headlines. Last year it was the Tush Push debate. 2024 saw the NFl completly overhual its…
In the past few off-seasons, rule changes, or at least rule change proposals, dominated headlines. Last year it was the Tush Push debate. 2024 saw the NFl completly overhual its Kickoffs. But do not expect many big changes in 2026. NFL Co-Chairman of the Rules Committee Rich McKay told NFL Network's Judy Battista that he does not expect many rule changes this offseason.
Notably, it does not seem there will be another push to ban the Tush Push. The NFL tried to ban the play, popularized by the Eagles, last year. It was a heated debate, with Roger Goodel personally leading the charge for banning it. But McKay also told reporters that there is currently no proposal to ban it.
"There's no team proposal that I've seen from it," McKay said. "So, I wouldn't envision it. But you never know."
There may not be many proposals on the table, but there are conversations currently being had that could turn into bigger debates. One thing being discussed is the use of replay to review if a flag should be thrown. There have also been talks around how to address the catch/no catch debate.
"Our technology today is extraordinary, so the ability to go frame by frame and slow things down," McKay said. "It's a great solution for a lot of things, but it does present challenges for others. We need to make sure your rules, as written, don't just match up [with] what's on the field but how it's looked at in replay."
Those conversations could turn into larger debates. But the NFL does not currently expect any big changes this offseason.
Rams Propose 1 Rule Change
One proposal we do know about is from the Rams. They submitted a proposal to address the controversial 2-point conversion between them and the Seahawks.
In case you forgot, the play in question took place ina regular season game betweent he Rams and Seahawks.
The play was ruled a lateral that got tipped forward by a defender. So when a Seahawks player picked it up, it was ruled a successful attempt.
We do not know exactly what the proposal is, just that it is meant to address this play. But given how rare a play like this is, it is unlikely the proposal will result in a major change.
