Steelers Propose Major Free Agency Rule Change
The Pittsburgh Steelers have proposed a rule change to the way that NFL teams go about free agency, as one of a number of proposals formally submitted by NFL teams on Wednesday.
The Steelers have proposed two changes to the free agent contact period. The first would let teams have one video or phone call directly with a prospective free agent during the contact period that starts at noon on Monday before the start of the new league year.
Currently, teams can only have contract through the agents of players that are pending unrestricted free agents of other clubs, while they can have whatever type of meeting they like with their own pending free agents and players who have been released by their previous team.
The Steelers also would like to be able to book travel for players that have agreed to terms during the signing period so that they can travel to the team’s city and officially sign their contract at the start of the new league year.
This season, the Steelers traded for DK Metcalf and agreed to terms with Darius Slay and Malik Henderson early in the contract period, but they weren’t able to get them to Pittsburgh to finalize those deals until the Thursday following the start of the new league year.
Other proposals varied from on-field rules to other process items.
The Green Bay Packers put forward a rule to ban the “tush push” or any other play where the ballcarrier is pushed from directly behind by a teammate.
The Detroit Lions submitted a number of proposals, including eliminating the automatic first down on penalties for defensive holding and illegal contact.
The Lions also made a proposed bylaw change to allow wild card playoff teams to pass division winners in the seeding if they have a better record, and also to allow teams to exceed the 90-man roster limit by use of the injured reserve.
The Philadelphia Eagles want to change the overtime rules so that the current playoff standard is also the regular-season rule. That allows both teams to possess the ball at least once, no matter what happens on the first possession.
The Washington Commanders proposed some minor changes to the way scouting credentials are assigned at the end of the season and seven teams together put forth a change to allow teams to prepare kicking balls for games ahead of time.
The eight rule changes will be voted on by the NFL owners at the league’s annual meeting in Palm Beach, Florida later this month.