The NFL approved seven rule changes at the league meetings on Tuesday, but not the one commissioner Roger Goodell supported during his Super Bowl week press conference.
There’s been no word in either direction about the proposed rule that would lead to the ejection of players who are penalized twice for “certain types of unsportsmanlike conduct fouls.” Multiple reports from Florida indicate that there will be more discussion of that proposal on Wednesday.
The rules that were adopted include banning chop blocks, an expansion of the types of tackles banned under the horse-collar rule and making permanent the change in extra point kicks that the league put in place on a one-year basis in 2015.
In addition to those changes, offensive and defensive play callers on the coaching staffs will now be able to use the coach-to-player communication system regardless of whether they are on the field or in the coaches’ booth. It is now a foul for delay of game when a team attempts to call a timeout when it is not permitted to do so while the five-yard penalty for an eligible receiver illegally touching a forward pass after being out of bounds has been eliminated. Teams will now lose a down if that happens and the league also eliminated multiple spots of enforcement for a double foul after a change of possession.
All of the accepted changes were proposed by the Competition Committee, which continue to be the proposals likeliest to be accepted when the 32 owners vote each year.