NFL Owners Vote to Change Rules for Overtime and Kickoffs

It’s that time of the NFL off-season that’s typically considered the doldrums for football fans.

Free agency has largely wound down, and the NFL Draft is still several weeks away — but leave it to the NFL owners to nab some headlines from both the MLB (just started) and the NBA (in the midst of the playoff push) as spring hits its stride.

In a variety of leaks and reports, a number of NFL rule changes were announced Tuesday.

Two of the most critical changes are coming to overtime and kickoffs.

ESPN NFL reporter Adam Schefter posted to X that the league’s most significant change was coming to its overtime rules.

NFL owners now have passed a rule that both teams will be allowed to possess the ball in overtime in the regular season.

The original proposal was for a 15 minute OT; that now has been amended to 10 minutes.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 1, 2025

Both teams will now be guaranteed a possession in overtime in the regular season. It used to be that if a team scored a touchdown in overtime, the game was over. A similar rule change had already been implemented for playoff games.

Schefter noted that the  original overtime proposal called for a 15-minute period but has since been amended to a 10-minute period.

NFL insider Ari Meirov, meanwhile, posted to X that the league was also tinkering with its new dynamic kickoffs.

Rule Change: NFL owners have approved moving the touchback spot on kickoffs from the 30-yard line to the 35-yard line, which the league believes will lead to more returns.

— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) April 1, 2025

While the overtime change was largely accepted as a no-brainer extension of a rule that’s already implemented in the playoffs, the kickoff rule was met with a bit more backlash for being unnecessary tinkering (and taking a shot at the referees):

this is gonna backfire… if they wanted more returns, then move the kickoff back 5 yards…

— It’s Buc’n Prinny (THE PIRATES STILL SUCK) (@ItsBucnPrinny) April 1, 2025

Why change it?
Nobody is complaining.

Referee calls are probably the largest issue for fans.

— floridanow1 (@floridanow1) April 1, 2025

Meanwhile, a rule change that’s not happening is also garnering some attention.

As Schefter noted in a separate X post, “NFL owners have tabled the tush-push conversation. No decision about its future at this league meeting.”

The “tush-push,” for those not in the know, is a polarizing play wherein the quarterback is “pushed” by players behind him to pick up one-to-three yards. It’s an evolution of the the classic quarterback sneak play, only this play is virtually unstoppable, particularly when deployed by the Philadelphia Eagles.

(The Eagles and Buffalo Bills are probably the two teams most associated with this tush-push.)

Many critics of the play say that it’s a boring, low-skill, non-football play, while supporters of it — like Eagles fans — happily tell them to figure out how to stop it, then.

Additionally, per Yahoo Sports, the league is expanding how replays can be used. A smattering of penalties will be challengeable and reviewable, such as roughing the kicker, facemasks, and horse-collar tackles.

These changes have been announced after it was leaked that the league was changing its unsportsmanlike rules to include the “nose wipe” celebration.

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