On Tuesday, before next week’s NFL owners meetings, the league unveiled many rule recommendations that would be considered. As previously stated, there are only two team-submitted proposals: The Browns want to allow draft selections to be exchanged up to five years in the future, while the Steelers want to increase the use of video/phone conversations with free agents during the negotiating process.
However, the NFL competition committee offered eight new recommendations for discussion next week in Arizona, one of which concerns a circumstance in which the Detroit Lions were engaged last year.
The change in regulation is as follows:
By the Competition Committee, League personnel are permitted to contact with on-field officials when reviewing disqualifications for both flagrant football and non-football acts, without being summoned to the field.
As you may recall, receiver DK Metcalf punched a spectator in the Ford Field crowd during Week 15 against the Pittsburgh Steelers. The on-field officials did not detect the violation, and it was not punished. As a result, the league’s hands were tied in terms of possibly dismissing Metcalf for the rest of the game. And, while the Steelers receiver had little effect on the game—finishing with only four receptions for 42 yards—it definitely seemed wrong for him to be permitted to play after an easily ejectionable infraction. Metcalf was given a two-game ban following the game.
Under this new law—if it passes—the NFL would have the authority to interfere and dismiss Metcalf if a similar incident occurs again. Here’s the exact wording of the regulation as proposed:
If authorized members of the officiating department assess before to the next legal snap or kick that an action not requested on the field is flagrant, they may confer with the on-field officials about the possibility of dismissing the offending player.
Penalty: Disqualification from the game if actions are determined to be flagrant.
The difficult component here is spotting the action that occurred before to the following legal snap or kick. Something occurring on the sidelines, such as Metcalf’s case, is sometimes missed or noticed until a few minutes after the event. Someone from the league would have to notice this activity and respond quickly. As a result, it’s difficult to say if Metcalf would have been expelled if this law had been implemented.
Here’s a complete list of rule recommendations for 2026. Each one’s exact language may be found in the official PDF here.
Playing rule proposals
- By the Competition Committee: To allow the kicking team to call an onside kick at any point throughout the game.
- By the Competition Committee; to remove the kicking team’s motivation to deliberately kick the ball out of bounds while kicking off from the 50-yard line.
- By the Competition Committee; to revise the starting arrangement standards for the receiving team players in the setup zone.
- To enable League employees to communicate with on-field officials when evaluating disqualifications for both flagrant football and non-football conduct without being called onto the field, according to the Competition Committee.
- By the Competition Committee; for one year only, to allow the NFL Officiating Department to rectify obvious errors made by on-field officials that affect the game, in the event of a work stoppage involving game officials represented by the NFL Referees Association.
Bylaw Proposals
- By the Competition Committee; it amends Article XVII, Section 17. 1 of the Constitution and Bylaws to allow the League office to adjust the procedures and deadlines for the final roster cut to accommodate an international game scheduled in the first week of the regular season.
- By the Competition Committee; amends Article XVII, Section 18. 1 (B) of the Constitution and Bylaws to designate Labor Day weekend Saturday and Sunday as business days, allowing clubs to distribute personnel notifications during the first weekend following roster reductions.
- By the competition committee, allowing players on Reserve/Physically Unable to Perform to begin a 21-day practice period following the club’s second game of the regular season.
Resolution proposals.
- By Pittsburgh; to make permanent the change enacted during the 2025 season that allows clubs to have one video or phone call with no more than five prospective Unrestricted Free Agents during the Two-Day Negotiation Period, and to allow clubs to make travel arrangements with such players upon agreeing to terms.
- In Cleveland, draft selections may be traded up to five years in advance.
