Eagles fans can exhale again. The tush push is not on the ballot at next week’s NFL owners meetings in Arizona, and competition committee chair Rich McKay made it clear that the conversation has largely died down.
“There is less talk about it in the football community,” McKay said.
The tush push nearly died last May. NFL owners voted 22-10 to ban the play, falling two votes short of the 24 needed. Philadelphia spent the 2025 season running it anyway, but no team submitted a formal proposal to ban it this cycle; without that, the committee had no mechanism to bring it to a vote. So it lives on… for now.
5 Proposals That Could Actually Change the NFL Game
The more consequential story is what is on the ballot. Five changes head to an owner vote at the Annual League Meeting (March 29-April 1).
The most significant addresses what happens if the NFL Referees Association’s CBA expires May 31 without a new deal. The committee wants a one-year rule allowing the replay center to correct “clear and obvious” mistakes by replacement referees if games are staffed by substitute officials. The 2012 Fail Mary haunts this proposal.
A second proposal would allow the replay center to eject players for flagrant acts that on-field officials miss. This one comes directly from Steelers wide receiver DK Metcalf swiping at a Lions fan on the sideline last season in Detroit. No flag was thrown. He played the rest of that game, a Steelers win that contributed to Detroit missing the playoffs. He got a two-game suspension after the fact. This would close that gap.
The committee also proposed expanded onside kick options. Under the current setup, only trailing teams in the fourth quarter can attempt an onside kick. The new proposal allows teams to declare one at any point in the game.
Two additional proposals address kickoff mechanics: one closes the 50-yard line kickoff loophole (intentionally kicking out of bounds to avoid the dynamic kickoff alignment), and another adjusts receiving team setup to improve safety and return rates.
There will be no discussion about the Tush Push at next week’s NFL owners’ meetings; the play will be back in 2026. https://t.co/A05FcqAuEo
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 25, 2026
All five proposals need 24 of 32 owners to pass. The replacement-ref protocol is the one worth watching most closely. The officials’ CBA situation arrives in 10 weeks.
The Onside Kick’s Steady Evolution
The expanded onside kick proposal represents the third consecutive year of tweaks to that play. In 2024, the league limited onside kicks to the fourth quarter when a team was trailing. Last year’s change allowed a trailing team to declare an onside kick at any point in the game. Now, the committee wants to remove the scoreboard requirement entirely.
Teams still would not be permitted to attempt a “surprise onside” or stack one side of the field to increase their odds of recovery. The declaration requirement stays. But the strategic calculus shifts dramatically. A team nursing a lead could gamble on possession rather than play defense.
The safety-driven changes to onside kicks have led to an alarmingly low success rate, and that lack of success has led to rumblings about alternative options that could increase conversions while adding more excitement.
The 50-yard line kickoff fix addresses an unintended consequence from last season. Under the current rule, kicking teams were incentivized to kick out of bounds from the 50 to give the receiving team the ball on the 25 instead of the 35 for a touchback. Under the new proposal, touchbacks on kicks from the 50 would be spotted at the 20.
Two bylaw proposals also head to owners, though they’ve drawn less attention. Cleveland wants draft picks to be tradable up to five years into the future instead of three, and Pittsburgh wants to make permanent the video and phone calls with free agents during the negotiating period. The league allowed that practice on a trial basis this offseason.
Sean Payton returned to the competition committee this offseason after being re-appointed by commissioner Roger Goodell in January. He previously served before stepping away from coaching, and his fingerprints are on these proposals.
