The onside kick can be one of the most exciting plays in the NFL when executed properly. Though the conversion percentage is incredibly low, there have been recent rule changes meant to incentivize teams to attempt them more often.
How Proposed NFL Onside Kick Rules Shift Strategy
In 2024, a rule was passed requiring a team attempting an onside kick to announce its intention, allowing the opposing team to line up accordingly. Last season, a new rule was added allowing teams to declare an onside kick at any point in the game, as long as the declaring team was trailing.
This year, as ESPN’s Adam Schefter elaborated, the NFL Competition Committee has submitted a proposal that would allow teams to declare an onside kick at any time during the game, regardless of the score or how much time is left on the clock.
At the 2026 NFL League Meetings in Arizona, the possibility of that proposal passing is one of multiple new rule changes looming over the proceedings.
“Not necessarily from a depth chart standpoint, more so, ‘who are you playing, what’s the score, what does that look like in this game opportunity to affect that?'” Carolina Panthers head coach Dave Canales explained the potential impact of the rule proposal on how teams approach kickoffs.
“It’s not a surprise, the onside kick. They know it’s coming,” Canales added. “It might fit in different scenarios.”
“George Li, our game management [coordinator], and I were looking at a couple scenarios from last year where that might have been utilized. There was a handful. It wasn’t a lot, but it would’ve been useful in a couple of games, not necessarily ours, but with some of the other teams.”
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In 2025, 46 onside kicks were attempted, with 6 successful, for a 13.0% conversion rate. It was the highest success rate across the NFL since 2021, when 16.07% of kicks were recovered by the kicking team. This past season was also the first time since 2021 that a double-digit percentage of kicks was recovered.
Should the new rule pass, allowing teams more flexibility to call onside kicks, expect to see a few more take place over the course of the regular season.
