One of the more transformative rule proposals up for vote at the Spring League Meeting is no longer in play.
The Lions withdrew their playoff reseeding proposal on Wednesday, NFL Network Senior National Columnist Judy Battista reported.
Detroit's proposal was to amend the current playoff seeding format to allow wild-card teams to be seeded higher than division champions if the wild-card team has a better regular-season record. Under that format, the division champion with the best record would be seeded No. 1 and thereafter the remaining six seeds would be determined strictly by record, regardless of division finish.
Following the withdrawal, there was an extended discussion during Wednesday's meeting among owners about the idea of the proposal. There is some support for the Lions' proposal and the NFL will study possible reseeding scenarios for potential changes in 2026, NFL Network Insider Tom Pelissero and Battista reported.
"On the reseeding, that is something that had gotten a lot of discussion in March," Commissioner Roger Goodell said during his post-meeting news conference. "There are different forms of reseeding, as you can imagine. What I wanted to look at and what we eventually got the discussion on, where is the ownership's position on where they want us and the committees to evaluate. Is it no reseeding at all, some form of reseeding? After the first week, after the second week? What is it that would be of interest to them? And I think we got some direction on that and some timing issues on that, so that was helpful."
Goodell later added: "I think [the owners] are interested potentially in looking at some type of reseeding. Where that goes, it would be somewhat limited I think. But it would also maybe take into where we might be on an expanded season, what other things that we think we should evaluate a little bit further. So I think we'll probably come back with some ideas and be able to share it with you when we share it with the membership."
The proposed playoff format revamp was among the biggest potential changes at this year's Spring League Meeting.
The competition committee's proposal to tweak the onside kick was passed by NFL owners on Wednesday. The rule allows teams to declare an onside kick at any time while trailing -- not just in the fourth quarter -- and line up one yard closer to opponent. Pelissero added that the hope is to modestly increase success rates from 6% last year.
NFL owners later voted against the Green Bay Packers' revised proposal that would ban the tush push play. Along with Detroit's withdrawal, the pair of major proposals voted on in Eagan, Minnesota, during the Spring League Meeting will not go forward into 2025.
