Every Major NFL Rule Proposed and Changed at Owners Meeting

The NFL owners' meetings that began on March 30 and run until April 2 have already produced some interesting tidbits of information. Plenty of changes have already been approved, while others are still in discussion with the potential to be approved.

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Some of the changes that have come out of the meetings could have a significant impact on the league next season. The biggest ones that have been approved so far are changes to overtime rules and how first downs are measured.

The overtime rule change will only impact the regular season, with the change being taking the playoff overtime rules and applying them to the regular season. Both teams will now possess the ball at least once, and the overtime quarter will now be shaved down to 10 minutes.

Gone are the days when a team can win the game immediately in overtime if they score a touchdown on the first possession.

First-down measurements have also been changed, with them now being electronic rather than solely done by the chain gang. The chain gang will still be on the field as a backup option, but the archaic measuring system will no longer be the primary way to determine a first down or not on close plays.

This change likely stemmed from a play in the Buffalo Bills-Kansas City Chiefs playoff game where it appeared Josh Allen crossed the first down line on a sneak late in the game, but without electronic confirmation, it was hard for the refs to conclusively overturn the call on the field of him being short of the line to gain.

Other big changes include moving touchbacks to the 35-yard line, more replay assists on penalties, adjustments to Thursday Night Football flexing, and some changes to uniform rules.

The Thursday football changes involve moving the deadline to flex a game from four weeks in advance to three, which should help improve the quality of play for those games.

The uniform rule change will allow teams to wear throwback and alternate jerseys more often, another welcome change for fans.

Two significant rule changes have also been tabled. The tush push ban and the playoff seeding change have not reached a final verdict, with both being hotly debated.

The tush push ban would essentially be a punishment on the Eagles, with them being the only team having mastered the play, but medical concerns could be a legitimate reason to ultimately ban it.

The playoff seeding restructure proposal would involve scratching division winners having higher seeds than wild-card teams. This would stop a five-seeded team that is 14-3 from playing a division winner that went 9-8 in the first round, with the 9-8 team having home-field advantage.

Overall, these changes seem to be good changes to improve the NFL product, making for a potentially different and exciting 2025 NFL season.

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