Around the NFL: New Kickoff Rules Explained, NFL Trade Deadline Extended, More

NFL owners ratified  on Tuesday, embracing a format inspired by the XFL following three days of deliberations at the league’s yearly gathering. Essentially, the new format relocates the bulk of🅠 both kicking and return teams further downfield to mitigate high-speed collisions. Initially implemented for a single year, the adjustments anticipate potential future refinements.

The NFL also approved a handful of other rule changes, bylaws, and resolutions, which we’ll try to make sense of today.

New NFL kickoff rules explained

In the 2024 season, the kicker will continue to kick from the 35-yard line. However, the other 10 players on the kickoff team will line up at the receiving team’s 40-yard line. At least nine retu𝔍rn team members will line up in a “setup zone” between the 35- and 30-yard lines. Up to two returners can line up in a “landing zone” between the goal line and the 20-yard line. No one other than the kicker and returner(s) can move until the ball hits the ground or hits a player inside the landing zone.

Touchbacks will be marked at the 30-yard line, and no fair catches will be allowed. If a team wishes to attempt an onsideꦍ kick, it must inform officials of its intent and then be allowed to use the NFL’s traditional formation. Surprise onside kicks will not be permitted.

The💦 proposal is based on the structure and philosophy of the XFL version, with a slight shift in the players’ alignment. A notable difference is that they line up farther downfield in the XFL, between the returning team’s 30- and 35-yard lines.

The NFL special teams coaches who designed the NFL version of this♉ format hope for a return rate of at least 8𒉰0% in 2024. During the XFL’s two seasons, more than 90% of kickoffs were returned.

Here’s from Eric Galko, who was on the XFL rules team that helped design the new kickoff policy with Sam Schwartzstein, who now works for TNF’s Prime Vision crew and previously helped create the XFL’s rules when they returned to play in 2020.

I’m privileged to have been part of XFL team, led by , that created, tested, and developed the now New NFL Kickoff.

We tested it for 2+ years before we put it into a live game.

There’s some major scouting/roster-building dynamics that many may not realize yet🧵 — Eric Galko (@EricGalko)

NFL Trade Deadline pushed back an extra week in 2024

NFL o﷽wners gre𒊎enlit a revision on Tuesday to extend the 2024 trading deadline to the Tuesday following Week 9 matchups, setting the new deadline for November 5th. It fell on October 31st in 2023.

Previously, the trade deadlin𝓰e co💦ncluded on the Tuesday after Week 8.

Even after the shift to a 17-game schedule sta𝄹rting in the 2021 season, the trade deadline remained unadjusted and it led to discrepancies in the timeline. The 2024 amendment, initiated by the Pittsburgh Steelers, reinstates the deadline to a more congruent schedule. While several teams advocated for a further extension, suggesting a deadline beyond Week 10, this proposal was defe💜ated, and the league opted for the more cautious post-Week 9 arrangement.

Traditionally, the NFL trade deadline tends to be quieter compared to other sports due to various factors such as the salary cap, contractual obligations, compensatory picks, and its early placement in the season. Despite calls for a more extensive postponement, the league has been reluctant, fearing it could promote tanking strategies. By extending the deadline by just a week for 2024, the NFL aims to strike a balance that encourages activity🍌 while maintaining competitive integrity.

Other rule changes approved by the NFL for 2024:

Banning the hip-drop tackle.

Expanding the standard elevation rules to permit clubs to elevate a bona fide quarterback an unlimited number of times from their practice squad to their active list to be their emergency third quarterback. Previously, the QB3 needed to come from the active roster.

Permitting coaches a third challenge if they get at least one of their first two correct.

Allow a ruling of a passer down by contact or out of bounds before throwing a pass as a reviewable play.

Authorizing a replay review when clear and obvious visual evidence shows that the game clock expired before any snap.

Newly approved rules, bylaws, and resolutions for the 2024 NFL season including new kickoff rules and an extended trade deadline. — Patrick K. Flowers (@PatrickKFlowers)

Extra Points

The Detroit Lions are “prioritizing” contract extensions for Jared Goff and Amon-Ra St. Brown. “Yeah, ,” Campbell said via Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. “Those are certainly priorities. I’m not going to get into those, but certainly there’s conversations that are being had.”

The Lions met with Amon-Ra St. Brown at the Scouting Combine to begin those conversations, and Jared Goff has mentioned that he would like to remain in Detroit long-term.

The Bears will be joining Devin Hester in Canton this summer. The Pro Football Hall of Fame announced today that the Bears and Texans will square off in this year’s Hall of Fame Game in Canton, Ohio.

New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft said that wide receiver Calvin Ridley was a target of the Patriots this month, but that Ridley’s girlfriend preferred to stay in the south. “It was not because of finance. He made clear his girlfriend wanted to be in the South, and we had a situation where the taxes were, like, almost 10 percent higher, and we offered and were willing to keep going at that premium, but he didn’t want to be in the Northeast. Part of it might be the quarterback situation as well.”

The important part of that quote is at the end, where Kraft admits that their quarterback situation isn’t a desirable one for a high-end wide receiver target on the open market. The Patriots hold the third overall selection in next month’s NFL Draft, and it sounds like Kraft is looking to solve the quarterback problem. “We’re gonna be open to whatever can come our way,” Kraft said. “In the end, I’ll let the team make the decision what they think is best. One way or another, I’d like to see us get a top-rate, young quarterback.”

Cornerback L’Jarius Sneed and the Titans agreed on an extension, . It’s a four-year, $76.4 million deal that includes $55 million guaranteed and a $20 million signing bonus, making Sneed one of the highest-paid corners in the league.

According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, on playing another Christmas Day game this year. Christmas is on a Wednesday this year, but that won’t stop the NFL from cashing in on the Christmas Day viewership.