NFL Owners Table Proposal to Reward Minority Hires with Draft Pick Incentives

The NFL owners enacted several changes in the league’s hiring process on Tuesday during the virtual spring league meetings, but tabled one of the more controversial parts of the proposal to add more diversity to the league’s coaching and front office ranks.

Proposals to expand the scope of the Rooney Rule to include coordinators and front-office executives and to prevent teams from blocking candidates for coordinator and assistant general manager positions were passed on Tuesday.

Left on the table was an incentive program to reward teams that hire minority candidates with better or additional draft picks as compensation.

NFL Network’s Jim Trotter reported that the owners tabled that discussion, a sign that it did not have the required votes to pass. A tabled proposal can be brought back to the forefront of the discussion if it gains traction at a later date, but Tuesday’s tabling likely takes it off the table for 2020.

The NFL’s owners meetings will continue with a second virtual session on May 28 that is expected to discuss on-field matters.