PHOENIX — The NFL on Tuesday officially announced the approval of five new playing rules and four other modified procedural bylaws. Two of the rules changes trace back to incidents involving last season’s Pittsburgh Steelers.
As part of business taking place at the owners meetings at the Arizona Biltmore resort, the league approved a competition committee proposal “to allow League personnel to consult with on-field officials when considering disqualifications for both flagrant football acts and non-football acts without being called on the field.”
In the past, the NFL office was not able to consult with on-field officials on any play in which a flag was not thrown related to an infraction. That became relevant during the Dec. 21 Steelers game at the Detroit Lions when receiver DK Metcalf was involved in an altercation with a fan that the league deemed serious enough that it resulted in a two-game suspension.
However, on-field officials did not see Metcalf’s interaction with the fan, Ryan Kennedy, and therefore did not throw a flag on the play. Metcalf was able to finish the game when he otherwise would have been ejected for an incident that millions saw replayed repeatedly on television.
The league was powerless to step in under the previous rules. Now, that has changed.
Another rule that changed was in part compelled by former Steelers special teams coordinator Danny Smith. One of the most tenured coaches in the league and most respected of the special teams coordinators, Smith during a November game against the Colts instructed kicker Chris Boswell to purposely kick the ball out of bounds when he was kicking off from the 50 after an Indianapolis penalty.
This was because rules dictate that a kickoff out of bounds is spotted 25 yards from the kick spot. That is advantageous field position for the kicking team — but the optics of a kicker deliberately sailing a ball into the bench area are less than ideal.
The new approved NFL rule seeks “to eliminate the kicking team’s incentive to intentionally kick the ball out of bounds when kicking off from the 50-yard line.” The method by which the league addressed this was that in lieu of out of bounds kicks it instead incentivized touchbacks. A ball kicked out of the end zone (or not returned from it) is placed at the 20 yard-line.
Smith was not the only special-teams coordinator who used the technique during 2025. He is now the coordinator for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The Steelers additionally formally initiated a procedural change to “to make permanent the change implemented during the 2025 season that permits clubs to have one video or phone call with no more than five prospective unrestricted free agents during the ‘legal tampering period,’ and to permit clubs to make travel arrangements with such players upon agreeing to terms.”
NFL VP Jeff Miller talking about the data back from Year 2 of the dynamic kickoff rule as how it relates to decreasing injuries pic.twitter.com/1UGGgcLxRZ
— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) March 31, 2026
Other rules changes approved and announced Tuesday:
• A team can now declare an onside kick at any time during the game (it previously had to be trailing in the contest).
• The dropping of from six to five the required number of players from the receiving team for kickoffs to be lined up with their front foot on the receiving team’s formation.
• A temporary rule related to an anticipated work stoppage by on-field officials that could result in replacement officials “to allow the NFL Officiating department to correct clear and obvious mistakes made by on-field officials that impact the game.”
• Players on injured reserve or the physically unable to perform lists when the regular season begins are now allowed to return to practice after two games.