Rules changes you would like to see.

[Biggems]

Here are mine

1. Roster size increased to 60, make all players eligible to play that day.

2. 60+ yd FGs worth 4 points...sure makes the decision to kick a FG or punt much more intriguing. Also, down 4 late, just get to the opponent 4 for a chance to tie. I think it would add a lot more fun to the game.

3. Move KOs back to 30 yd line. Will never happen, but I miss all the exciting returns.

4. Allow 2 challenges per half, as long as the team has at least 2 timeouts to cover.

5. QB driven league, so make starting QB contract only count either half or a quarter of the actual amount towards the cap, allowing more money for other key players.

6. Get rid of Thursday night football, except 1st game and 3 turkey day games. Player safety is supposed to be a priority, right?

7. Show doubleheader on both fox and cbs every week.

8. Finally, add a 7th team to each conference for playoffs. This gives only 1 seed a bye rightfully so. 3 wild card games per conference. Still gives us 4 divisional games, 2 championship games, and the SB. Two extra games means more wild and more fun, more late season hope for on the bubble teams and more chance for upsets during first round. It also means more money for NFL and more gambling.



What are some of your ideas?

[spurraider21]

If there’s a presnap penalty and it’s either false start or offsides... if any lineman points their finger to the other side, the finger pointer is penalized and that overrides the actual false start/offsides call

that finger pointing really grinds my gears for whatever reason

[Chucho]

Cut the play clock in half and stop the game clock between snaps on every play. Speeds a slow game up and gives the fans more action for their buck.

[Millennial_Messiah]

I agree with 6, 7, and 8 in the OP, but the rest are mostly dumb.

[DeadlyDynasty]

No NFL fan genuinely cares about player safety. I agree with the kick-offs, back to the 30. Continue to protect the QB from low-hits, but do away with the launching and landing rules if the QB still has the ball. Roughing the QB and face-mask still apply, but bring back the incidental (5yds, no automatic 1st down) face-mask call. Continue to regulate the receiver-mugging at the LOS (a la 2003 Pats), but allow Ronnie Lott/Jack Tatum kill-shots if it's a catchable ball.

Illegal hands to face is also a very cheap first down, imo.

Do away with Thursday night games like mentioned in OP...not for player safety, but because the quality of football is terrible and the games are rarely competitive.

Disagree about long FGs. If you can't get it in the endzone then 3 is all you get.

[Blake]

I've never thought the pass interference rule where you put the ball at the spot of the foul was fair.

But I don't really like the college rule of 15 yards.

I might make it half the distance to the spot of the foul

[Chris]

Get rid of holding. Like Madden said you could call it on every play.

[Blake]

Get rid of holding. Like Madden said you could call it on every play.

Sure because who wouldn't want to see teams average 800 yards of offense every season

[spurraider21]

Get rid of holding. Like Madden said you could call it on every play.
you'd just have linemen tackling each other every play. game would be a mess

[Chris]

you'd just have linemen tackling each other every play. game would be a mess

Better than a phantom holding call on a great play. Just get rid of it, and let the best man win.

[spurraider21]

No NFL fan genuinely cares about player safety.
depends if its something unnecessary like late hits, etc. nobody wants to see star players on IR all season because some talentless goon took a cheap shot. but yes, the bullshit like a hand glancing off the qb's helmet 0.4 seconds after he threw the ball shouldn't be a 15 yard penalty. those roughing calls on clay matthews last year were terrible


I agree with the kick-offs, back to the 30.
i'm good with this. keep the "wedge" illegal for all i care, but kickoffs are good for the game.


Continue to protect the QB from low-hits, but do away with the launching and landing rules if the QB still has the ball.
TBH... the automatic penalties for "landing with your weight" are terrible. i do think there should be a judgment call. killshots on QB just for the sake of killshot that has nothing to do with ending the play should have subjective calls. nobody wants to see qb's get knocked out for multiple games on a hit that didnt matter. but its unfair when the fat fucks like cam and ben break tackles, and then when a defender tries to tackle harder next time, they get flagged


Roughing the QB and face-mask still apply, but bring back the incidental (5yds, no automatic 1st down) face-mask call.
why would you want the 5 yard facemask back? as of now, they dont even flag the incidental ones anymore. they only call the 15 yard version if you grab/twist the facemask. having your hand glance off somebody's mask shouldnt be a penalty. i dno why you'd want the 5 yarder for those


Continue to regulate the receiver-mugging at the LOS (a la 2003 Pats), but allow Ronnie Lott/Jack Tatum kill-shots if it's a catchable ball.
if the receiver is in the process of making a catch, they are fair game for anything barring a helmet to helmet hit imo


Illegal hands to face is also a very cheap first down, imo.
yeah... but its a pretty unfair pass rush method by putting pressure on the guy's neck instead of beating his block. defenders should just be disciplined


Do away with Thursday night games like mentioned in OP...not for player safety, but because the quality of football is terrible and the games are rarely competitive.
agree, save for turkey day


Disagree about long FGs. If you can't get it in the endzone then 3 is all you get.
yeah. and its kinda retarded to give an offense a chance for more points in situations where they advance the ball LESS. i mean, why should a team get bonus points for driving to the 45 yard line instead of getting to the 25? makes no sense

[SpursforSix]

Better than a phantom holding call on a great play. Just get rid of it, and let the best man win.

To even it out, you'd have to allow CB to hold WR. Maybe just get rid of pass interference as well.

[spurraider21]

Better than a phantom holding call on a great play. Just get rid of it, and let the best man win.
it wouldnt even be football anymore if it was a free for all like that between linemen. the game would be unrecognizable and probably unwatchable tbh. blocking schemes, gap rushing schemes would all be thrown out the window. i get the sentiment behind it, but i dont think its even a consideration

phantom and seemingly arbitrary holds do suck. but refs to a pretty good job like 95% of the time. i dont think the average NFL game is ruined by holding calls to the point where we need to completely revamp the sport to work around it

[Chris]

To even it out, you'd have to allow CB to hold WR. Maybe just get rid of pass interference as well.

Not at all. You could still enforce illegal blocking and clipping. It would reward technique and saavy.

[Chris]

it wouldnt even be football anymore if it was a free for all like that between linemen. the game would be unrecognizable and probably unwatchable tbh. blocking schemes, gap rushing schemes would all be thrown out the window. i get the sentiment behind it, but i dont think its even a consideration

phantom and seemingly arbitrary holds do suck. but refs to a pretty good job like 95% of the time. i dont think the average NFL game is ruined by holding calls to the point where we need to completely revamp the sport to work around it

I know it's not a consideration - more like a pet peeve for me. I know I'm not the only one who feels it's an arbitrary rule.

[spurraider21]

I know it's not a consideration - more like a pet peeve for me. I know I'm not the only one who feels it's an arbitrary rule.
its often called arbitrarily tbh... you're not wrong.

[Chinook]

Give teams an option to stretch out a prorated signing bonus for more years if a player is released. If that's too much, then make it for every reason other than performance. If a guy keeps getting arrested or is injured or whatever, let the teams spread that money out a bit. I know the player's union would be against this because high cut costs keeps under contract. But it would be better for everyone if teams weren't stuck with a ton of dead money for something they couldn't predict.

Along those lines, remove the rule preventing teams from paying part of the salary of an outgoing player in a trade. The league already sort of lets this happen with the bonus conversions for guys like Clowney or Eugene Monroe back in the day, but get rid of the line in the book so teams don't have to skirt around it. Let teams sell cap space. If you don't change the proration rules for trades, then that is still a pretty big disincentive to sign a guy to a big deal just to try to trade him later. Or hell, limit it to a percentage of the player's salary or whatever. But I don't think there's anything wrong with selling cap space in a league with a hard cap and no salary matching.

I'd also like to see them raise the compensation for practice-squad players and make them more like two-way guys in the NBA are. A team has the option to sign X many guys to exclusive practice-squad deals with guaranteed money but also no chance of the player being poached. That player can then be called up just like in the NBA, and the team doesn't have to make a corresponding roster move like they do now. When called up, that player gets the NFL min for however many weeks they are on the roster. You can balance it out by not letting players sign those contracts if they are draft picks unless they are first released and put on waivers. But doing this gives guys at the bottom of the roster more money and allows teams to have way more flexibility than they currently do. You could have something like a four-week limit before the contract has to be converted too. Just like the PS deals in this scenario, the converted contracts would be guaranteed for the season to prevent abuse.

I'd like to see the IR system continue to evolve. A short-term disabled list makes a lot of sense in a league where guys get hurt all the time. Being designated to return is a nice step, but really if a guy is going to be out like four weeks or whatever, there should be an option to replace that player. If you combine this with the two-way practice squad, you can limit the ways teams could abuse this system. You couldn't use it to keep a bunch of guys, because you have to expose everyone to waivers if you put them on the practice squad. And if you could only use guys from this practice-squad pool to supplement guys on the DL, then you aren't actually adding more players than you've already signed. If you need to actually sign a guy to replace an injured player, then that player has to go on season-ending IR to get the roster spot back.

[chunticakes]

Allow players to use steroids and other PEDs. We all want to see peak performance. Level the playing field and let everyone juice up.

[Roscoe P. Coltrane]

The rule changes I would like to see are all the rule changes that have been made after 1998 go back to the rules prior to 1998

[spurraider21]

Give teams an option to stretch out a prorated signing bonus for more years if a player is released. If that's too much, then make it for every reason other than performance. If a guy keeps getting arrested or is injured or whatever, let the teams spread that money out a bit. I know the player's union would be against this because high cut costs keeps under contract. But it would be better for everyone if teams weren't stuck with a ton of dead money for something they couldn't predict.

Along those lines, remove the rule preventing teams from paying part of the salary of an outgoing player in a trade. The league already sort of lets this happen with the bonus conversions for guys like Clowney or Eugene Monroe back in the day, but get rid of the line in the book so teams don't have to skirt around it. Let teams sell cap space. If you don't change the proration rules for trades, then that is still a pretty big disincentive to sign a guy to a big deal just to try to trade him later. Or hell, limit it to a percentage of the player's salary or whatever. But I don't think there's anything wrong with selling cap space in a league with a hard cap and no salary matching.

I'd also like to see them raise the compensation for practice-squad players and make them more like two-way guys in the NBA are. A team has the option to sign X many guys to exclusive practice-squad deals with guaranteed money but also no chance of the player being poached. That player can then be called up just like in the NBA, and the team doesn't have to make a corresponding roster move like they do now. When called up, that player gets the NFL min for however many weeks they are on the roster. You can balance it out by not letting players sign those contracts if they are draft picks unless they are first released and put on waivers. But doing this gives guys at the bottom of the roster more money and allows teams to have way more flexibility than they currently do. You could have something like a four-week limit before the contract has to be converted too. Just like the PS deals in this scenario, the converted contracts would be guaranteed for the season to prevent abuse.

I'd like to see the IR system continue to evolve. A short-term disabled list makes a lot of sense in a league where guys get hurt all the time. Being designated to return is a nice step, but really if a guy is going to be out like four weeks or whatever, there should be an option to replace that player. If you combine this with the two-way practice squad, you can limit the ways teams could abuse this system. You couldn't use it to keep a bunch of guys, because you have to expose everyone to waivers if you put them on the practice squad. And if you could only use guys from this practice-squad pool to supplement guys on the DL, then you aren't actually adding more players than you've already signed. If you need to actually sign a guy to replace an injured player, then that player has to go on season-ending IR to get the roster spot back.
i think the practice squad one is a very good idea tbh.

[Will Hunting]

Allow players to use steroids and other PEDs. We all want to see peak performance. Level the playing field and let everyone juice up.
Yeah this argument has some valid points but ultimately people shouldn’t be required to destroy their body with PEDa more than football already does in order to play in the NFL.

[Mark Celibate]

tbh I'm sick and tired of the pick plays. Idk who was the guy who first exploited it(most likely Belichick, as the Pats were the first team that I saw run it successfully), but it's gotten out of hand especially at the goalline.

I get that the whole point of the play is to make it look like receivers are just running their routes and the defender just "happens" to be in the way. But it's always obvious when it's intentional. Refs just need to make a judgement call on it which will obviously lead to a lot of bitching but this shit needs to stop.

[Mark Celibate]

Better than a phantom holding call on a great play. Just get rid of it, and let the best man win.

no way, this is the circus that would ensue if you eliminated holding.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=baCeMpAZIgI

I would rather deal with one or two questionable calls then watch that garbage

[Will Hunting]

tbh I'm sick and tired of the pick plays. Idk who was the guy who first exploited it(most likely Belichick, as the Pats were the first team that I saw run it successfully), but it's gotten out of hand especially at the goalline.

I get that the whole point of the play is to make it look like receivers are just running their routes and the defender just "happens" to be in the way. But it's always obvious when it's intentional. Refs just need to make a judgement call on it which will obviously lead to a lot of bitching but this shit needs to stop.
Peyton was the first one who whored it out as a goal line play tbh.

[Mark Celibate]

Peyton was the first one who whored it out as a goal line play tbh.

yeah you're right, i was thinking 2015 Patriots but i forgot the Broncos did it beforehand

[Mark Celibate]

tbh I'm sick and tired of the pick plays. Idk who was the guy who first exploited it(most likely Belichick, as the Pats were the first team that I saw run it successfully), but it's gotten out of hand especially at the goalline.

I get that the whole point of the play is to make it look like receivers are just running their routes and the defender just "happens" to be in the way. But it's always obvious when it's intentional. Refs just need to make a judgement call on it which will obviously lead to a lot of bitching but this shit needs to stop.

saw it again on Thursday in the Eagles/Packers game. Howard, the running back, runs a flat out of the backfield and an Eagles receiver intentionally runs route right into the linebacker responsible for covering the runningback. The receiver didn't even try to hide this one, he just shoulder checked the linebacker right when they met clearing Howard for a walk in 20 yard touchdown.

such a bullshit play

[Millennial_Messiah]

saw it again on Thursday in the Eagles/Packers game. Howard, the running back, runs a flat out of the backfield and an Eagles receiver intentionally runs route right into the linebacker responsible for covering the runningback. The receiver didn't even try to hide this one, he just shoulder checked the linebacker right when they met clearing Howard for a walk in 20 yard touchdown.

such a bullshit play
that's the Green Bay defensive coordinator's fault for calling man instead of zone then

Pick plays don't work against zone

[Mark Celibate]

that's the Green Bay defensive coordinator's fault for calling man instead of zone then

Pick plays don't work against zone

still doesnt sit well with me. I guess you could technically stop it with zone, but i hate the idea having to stop playing man to man due to a cheap gimmick that any team can run.

some asshole saw this loophole a few years ago and now everybody is whoring it to death. It's time to adjust the rulebook accordingly by throwing flags for this shit when it's obvious.

[Millennial_Messiah]

still doesnt sit well with me. I guess you could technically stop it with zone, but i hate the idea having to stop playing man to man due to a cheap gimmick that any team can run.

some asshole saw this loophole a few years ago and now everybody is whoring it to death. It's time to adjust the rulebook accordingly by throwing flags for this shit when it's obvious.
Belichick, duh. And we all know it's very hard to stop Brady with zone so that's why the Patriots offense is pretty unstoppable when they decide to lift a finger.

I do think teams might want to try hard flat cover 2 against the Patriots again, with Gronk no longer in place

[Will Hunting]

:lmao anyone claiming Brady is the worst pick play offender. Peyton whored the pick play touchdown way more than anyone else ever did.

[Mark Celibate]

i do remember the Broncos running it in 2013 or so, but regardless i dont have as much of a problem with Brady, Peyton, Rodgers, etc doing it but moreso when scrub quarterbacks (ala 2012-14 Russell Wilson) get huge chunks of passing yards off of it

[Millennial_Messiah]

Make challenges such that you get whichever ones back that you win. That stupid "you have to win BOTH to get a third" needs to die.

Ties need to die. Lions look pretty good this year but would like to have seen them have a chance to win with a post-OT FG kick off to win, I'd trust Prater over Zane Gonzales of Arizona.

[spurraider21]

going back to what DD and I discussed on page 1... this "defenseless player" shit makes no sense when its a receiver who is in the process of making a catch. are you required to stop playing defense if a receiver is diving for a ball?

that was a clean hit... refs only throw a flag if the receiver stays down tbh, its bullshit