Tag: rule changes

NFL changes the injured reserve and practice squad rules for 2022

The NFL expanded the practice squad eligibility but put some restrictions on players returning from I.R.

The NFL has adopted some changes to the injured reserve and practice squad rules for the upcoming 2022 season. The modifications alter some of the changes the league implemented to expand roster flexibility during the COVID-19 pandemic over the last two seasons.

One that should be of particular interest to the Detroit Lions after their injury-ravaged 2021 campaign involves players returning from the injured reserve. After being unlimited in the number of players who could come back off I.R. last year, the NFL has now capped the amount of returning players at eight for 2022. The same player can be designated to return more than once, but it counts each time against the limit of eight.

Players can return after sitting out four games, up from the 3-game standard during the previous year. The bye week, which Detroit gets in Week 6 in 2022, does not count in the total.

The league also expanded the practice squad roster from 14 to 16 players. In addition, a player can be promoted from the practice squad to the active gameday roster three times instead of just two without being officially signed to the 53-man roster. It goes in hand with the injured reserve modification. The league will still allow teams to protect up to four players on the practice squad each week, too.

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NFL practice squad rule changes and how they impact the Lions

The NFL has made radical changes to the practice squad rules for 2020

Forget everything you know about the NFL’s old practice squad rules. Those days are gone in 2020. The NFL and NFLPA made some serious changes to the practice squad to help teams adapt to football life in the time of the coronavirus.

From number of players a team can carry to who is eligible, so much has changed with NFL practice squads. Some of the key changes:

Teams can now carry up to 16 players. There was already set to be a bump from the traditional 10 to 12 this year, but the NFL and NFLPA agreed to raise the limit to 16 for the COVID-19 impact

Four of those 16 players are allowed to be protected each week. The Lions will be able to designate four players each week that other teams cannot sign away, not even to their active rosters as in past years. Those four players can change from week to week.

Vested veterans are now eligible. In the past, players were only eligible for the practice squad if they had three years or less of NFL experience, including years on the practice squad. Now teams can carry up to six players who have four or more years in the books, the qualification for a vested veteran status. For the Lions, that means a player like Miles Killebrew can stick on the practice squad when he previously could not.

Claiming players comes with a cost. Teams can still sign players from other team’s practice squads, provided they’re not protected. But the COVID-19 protocols change the dynamic. Any player signed from the outside has to first go through two full days of COVID-19 testing. So if the Lions want to poach a player from the coming week’s opponent, the earliest he could join the team is for Thursday’s practice — waiver claims are not processed until Tuesday at 4 p.m. ET. Expect that to put a severe damper on the claim process.

Two practice squad players are eligible to be active on game days. The 53-man roster limit has changed, but just for game days. Two players who spent the week on the practice squad can be designated active for that week’s game. In addition, when those players go back to the practice squad, they are immune from having to pass through waivers the first two times they are called up.

As an example, the Lions could keep CB Mike Ford on the practice squad during Week 2 but make him active to face the Packers on Sunday. Ford could then go back to the practice squad after the game and not be subjected to waivers, which normally happens to any player transitioning from the active roster to the practice squad.

Here’s some of the exact nomenclature from the NFL, for those who like to read the actual fine print:

Beginning in the 2020 League Year, the Practice Squad shall consist of the following players: (i) players who do not have an Accrued Season of NFL experience; (ii) free agent players who were on the Active List for fewer than nine regular season games during their only Accrued Season(s); (iii) a maximum of four free agent players per Club who have earned no more than two Accrued Seasons, with those four players to have no limitation as to the number of games on the game day Active List in either of those seasons; and (iv) a maximum of two free agent players per Club with no limitations as to their number of earned Accrued Seasons; provided, however, that the NFL shall increase the maximum number of players in category (iv) above from two players to four players for the 2022-30 League Years.

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NFL rule proposal for 4th-and-15 attempt instead of onside kick fails

The recent proposal for NFL teams to attempt a 4th-and-15 conversion following a score failed to pass for the second consecutive year.

The proposition for NFL teams to skip an onside kick and go for it on fourth-and-15 from their 25-yard line following a score failed to pass for the second consecutive year.

This rule was proposed in response to the extremely low probability of an onside kick being recovered by the kicking team, which was 10.7% for the 2019 season. Research found that plays that require converting a fourth-and-15 after a score have a 28.6% success rate.

NFL competition committee chairman Rich McKay told USA TODAY that teams do not want to make it too easy for an opposing team to come back from a deficit.

“There definitely is that theory that you don’t want to make a comeback too easy,” McKay said. “You’ve worked hard all game to be ahead, and you don’t want a rule change to come in and all of a sudden say, ‘We’re going to completely change the odds of you being able to preserve that lead.’ People wanted to hear those statistics. … In those people’s minds, ‘Let’s not make this too easy.’”

There have been a few new rule changes, but nothing related to onside kicks for 2020.

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The Bill Belichick loophole is gone now, thank goodness

Good riddance.

Last season, Bill Belichick used a dead-ball penalty loophole to burn time off of the clock in a late game situation against the Jets.

After the game, he had a good laugh about it and said the loophole should (and probably would) be closed once the league discusses new rule changes during the offseason’s owners meetings.

It turns out that, once again, Belichick was right. The rule did change. It officially happened today.

As part of newly approved regulations from out of the league’s owner meetings, the Bill Belichick loophole is now closed. The league’s competition committee approved a new rule that prevents teams from burning down the game clock by committing multiple dead-ball fouls with the game clock running.

Good on the league to nip this thing in the bud before it ever ballooned into something major

Unfortunately for Belichick, he became a casualty of the loophole before the rule was changed. It was used against him by Titans head coach and former Patriots assistant Mike Vrabel in the playoffs last year in their win on the way to the AFC Championship Game. Go figure.

It’s gone now. And with it, we’ve lost maybe the only thing we’ve ever seen make Belichick crack (somewhat?) of a smile.

Oh well. The league is better for it.

A look at the approved NFL playing rules and bylaw summaries

A look at the rule changes and bylaw summaries approved by the National Football League ahead of the 2020 NFL season.

The NFL has announced a number of rule and bylaw changes that have been approved for the 2020 season.

Here is the press release issued by the league on Thursday morning.

Approved 2020 Playing Rules Summary

2.      By Philadelphia; to amend Rule 15, Section 2, to make permanent the expansion of automatic replay reviews to include scoring plays and turnovers negated by a foul, and any successful or unsuccessful Try attempt.​​

8.     By Competition Committee; expands defenseless player protection to a kickoff or punt returner who is in possession of the ball but who has not had time to avoid or ward off the impending contact of an opponent.

9.    By Competition Committee; prevents teams from manipulating the game clock by com​​mitting multiple dead-ball fouls while the clock is running.​

Approved 2020 Bylaws Summary

2.    By League Office; increases the number of players that may be designated for return from two to three. Incorporates interpretations applicable to bye weeks during the regular season and postseason.​​​

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The NFL missed an opportunity by not approving the onside kick alternative

BOOOOOOOOO

Well, football fans, it looks like we’re going to have to wait for the 4th-and-15 idea to make the wretched onside kick obsolete in the NFL.

NFL owners were mulling over a bunch of potential rule changes and creating an untimed 4th-and-15 down from the kicking team’s 25-yard line as an alternative to the onside kick was one of them. Last week, it actually seemed possible that the league would end up doing it.

This week, apparently that has changed. At least for now. The owners are scrapping the rule change and tabling the conversation for another time, according to reports from NFL Network. Basically, close but no cigar.

Listen, man. If anyone from the NFL is reading this: GET IT TOGETHER. This is the right thing to do. Go ahead and do it.

The league is right to consider an alternative to the onside kick. Simple math says so.

Pretty much no one recovers onside kicks these days — well, except the Falcons. Because they have Onside Kick God Younghoe Koo, but still! Everyone else struggles.

The all-time recovery rate on onside kicks is 13.2%, according to NFL Operations. But that number has dropped to around 10% since 2018 because of new kicking rules.

Meanwhile, teams have been generally better than that over the last few years at converting on fourth and long.

Come on, NFL. This is a no-brainer. We’ve got to be honest about onside kicks — they’re not fun, they’re anticlimactic and they’re dangerous. Fourth and 15 plays are not only safer, but they also bring more actual excitement to the game.

It’s really a win-win for everyone. And it’s not like the onside kick would be gone — there’d just be a new alternative to it. So, if a team wants, they could still use it. I’m speaking to you here, Falcons fans. There’s no good reason not to get this done.

This is a chance for the NFL to do something out of the box and exciting, so of course they’re going to pass on it for now. But there’s still a chance. The league just needs to stop playing around and do it.

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The NFL adopting an alternative to the onside kick totally makes sense

This seems like a no-brainer.

Onside kicks are thrilling when they work in the NFL. But let’s be honest — they almost never do.

That’s why it’s a great thing that it seems like the league is seriously considering turning the Philadelphia Eagles’ alternative onside kick proposal into a reality.

The league will vote on potential rule changes that were proposed in March on May 28 and it seems that the main one gaining steam is the Eagles’ proposal. The rule change would allow teams to maintain possession by going for it on 4th-and-15 at their own 25 yard line instead of trying to recover an onside kick.

The league seems to be into it, according to a report from NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero.

This absolutely needs to happen. Not only would it be a safer, more sensical alternative to the onside kick. But it’ll also be more exciting, more often than not!

It turns out teams are pretty good at 4th-and-15 plays, according to data from NFL research.

This seems like a pretty good idea to me. High-octane offenses going for it on fourth and long with the game hanging in the balance? Sign me up.

Come on, NFL. Do the right thing.

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Report: Support seems to be growing for change to NFL’s onside kick rule

The NFL will consider allowing teams to attempt a fourth-and-long situation in place of a traditional onside kick, up to two times a game.

NFL teams might soon have an alternative option to traditional onside kicks.

The NFL announced seven rule change proposals on Thursday and the most notable is a proposal to attempt a fourth-and-long scenario in place of an onside kick. The rule was proposed by the Philadelphia Eagles:

By Philadelphia; to amend Rule 6, Section 1, Article 1, to provide an alternative to the onside kick that would allow a team who is trailing in the game an opportunity to maintain possession of the ball after scoring (4th and 15 from the kicking team’s 25-yard line).

It’s important to note that if this rule goes through, teams would only be allowed to attempt this two times a game, according to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero. The league changed onside kick rules two years ago, no longer allowing players to get a running start. That has made onside kicks even more difficult to recover.

The Denver Broncos will likely support this rule proposal given that they suggested a similar change last year. The Broncos’ proposal included a 4th-and-15 from the attempting team’s own 35-yard line, available to use just once per game.

Denver’s proposal was shot down by owners last year. Support for a revised onside kick scenario seems to be growing, according to Pelissero, so Philadelphia’s proposal might generate more support than the Broncos’ did.

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NFL approves expansion of playoffs starting in 2020 season

The NFL owners have officially approved the expansion of the postseason, providing for two extra wild-card teams beginning in 2020.

The NFL playoffs will look dramatically different following the 2020 season and the changes have nothing to do with the current COVID-19 outbreak.

Clubs around the league have now voted to expand the playoffs by two additional teams starting this year.

Owners voted during a remote league meeting on Tuesday to follow the recommendation of the Competition Committee, Management Council Executive Committee and Media Committee to increase the playoff teams from 12 to 14.

The two extra teams will play in the wild-card round, one each from the AFC and NFC. Only the top seed in each conference will receive a first-round bye. The remainder of the wild-card round will proceed as follows: No. 2 seed will host the No. 7 seed, the No. 3 seed will host the No. 6 seed and the No. 4 seed will host No. 5.

This is the first time since 1990 the NFL has expanded the postseason. NBC and CBS have the broadcast rights to the additional wild-card games.

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2 potential rule changes will be tested in 2020 NFL Pro Bowl

The NFL will be testing two potential rule changes during the 2020 Pro Bowl in Orlando.

The NFL Pro Bowl is more than an opportunity for the league’s top talent to showcase their skills, it’s also a chance for potential rule changes to be tested in a game-day atmosphere.

Two potential rule changes will be tested at this year’s NFL Pro Bowl in Orlando, per NFL Operations.

The first involves two options after a successful field goal or try attempt in lieu of a kickoff. The second relates to negating false starts on a flinch by a flexed receiver.

Here’s a look at the language of the two new proposed rule changes. More in-depth explanations and notes can be found at the Football Operations website.

The 2020 NFL Pro Bowl is set to kick off Sunday, Jan. 26 from Camping World Stadium in Orlando.

Three Seahawks have been named to the NFC squad – quarterback Russell Wilson, linebacker Bobby Wagner and alternate cornerback Shaquill Griffin as a replacement player.

Pete Carroll and the Seahawks staff will be coaching the NFC roster.

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