We’re basically through NFL free agency and headed toward the NFL draft. And with the owners meetings next week, let’s dive in …
• With the owners meetings just a few days away now, it’s rules proposals time. So I’ll give you my take on these changes, and also what I think might actually happen …
Green Bay Packers’ proposal to ban the tush push: I’ve gone on record on this—I really don’t like the idea of banning a play because a particular team (Philadelphia Eagles) is simply better at it than everyone else. And I have a hard time seeing 24 teams voting (any rule change must be approved by 24 of 32 owners) this one through for that reason.
Detroit Lions’ proposal to eliminate the automatic first down from defensive holding and illegal contact penalties: I’m not wild about this one because of the unintended consequences that could come: A defensive backs coach teaching his corner to tackle a receiver if he gets beat off the line or shove a guy off a double move. You could have a second penalty for something intentional, but then you’re legislating intent. I just don’t think this is enough of a problem as it stands to open that can of worms.
Eagles’ proposal to bring playoff overtime to the regular season: I like it, personally, and believe it produces a fairer result—though I still like the idea of a whole 10- or 15-minute overtime best. Do I think it’ll pass? I wonder if the networks would push back on it because of the desire to keep games in their broadcast windows. So I’d lean that the owners vote no.
Pittsburgh Steelers’ proposal to allow contact between players and teams during the negotiating period: As it stands, during the 52-hour “legal-tampering” window, only agents can communicate with teams. Pittsburgh’s proposal would allow teams to conduct a zoom with a player for an hour and make travel arrangements after agreeing to terms ahead of the start of the league year. I don’t know what the argument against it would even be. The proposal should be voted through with no objection. I think it passes.
After that, there are two other proposals: one to allow teams to prepare K-balls for the kickers ahead of gameday and another to allow for teams in the playoff race to live scout other prospective postseason teams in Weeks 17 and 18. These likely will pass, too, almost as a matter of procedure.
We’ll have a ton more on all this next week from Florida.
• It was interesting to see how the teams atop the draft approached Cam Ward’s pro day at Miami on Monday.
The Tennessee Titans were out in full force, as you’d expect, with president of football operations Chad Brinker, GM Mike Borgonzi, assistant GM Dave Borgonzi, director of scouting A.J. Highsmith, VP/football advisor Reggie McKenzie, head coach Brian Callahan, OC Nick Holz and quarterbacks coach Bo Hardegree. The New York Giants also brought a crew: GM Joe Schoen, assistant GM Brandon Brown, director of player personnel Tim McDonnell, OC Mike Kafka, quarterbacks coach Shea Tierney and tight ends coach Tim Kelly (likely there to look at Elijah Arroyo).
Meanwhile, the Cleveland Browns had only assistant GM Glenn Cook (an ex-Hurricane linebacker), national scout Chris Buford and no coaches in attendance. I haven’t been able to dig out a reason for the sparse Cleveland attendance yet, but it’s at least interesting.
As for how Ward threw, most of what I got was that it was a very good, not great, workout reflecting Ward’s tape—a high-ceiling quarterback who still needs some refinement.
“He had some misses, particularly as the workout went on,” one NFC exec told me, referencing some misfires that sailed high during late red-zone work that had Ward on the run. “I thought it was a fair representation of what you saw on film all season.”
“Really good workout,” an AFC scouting director says. “He has impressive release quickness and accuracy. I’d say it was an A-minus workout. The deep ball was just O.K. early on, and he missed a couple throws at the end trying to do off-platform stuff. Zero concerns for me, though. I’m a big fan. He has every tool you need physically.”
Which, ultimately, is what I think separates him from Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders and Ole Miss’s Jaxson Dart at the top of this year’s quarterback class.
• The quote that J.J. McCarthy gave Kay Adams is worth noting here. Adams asked McCarthy when he found out he was going to be the Minnesota Vikings starter.
"They haven’t told me, and I’m happy they didn’t, because I try to earn it every single day,” he said. “I never want that to be given to me. It’s such a privilege and an opportunity to give me that chance, I’m just gonna make the most of it every single day.”
It’s the right attitude for McCarthy, and also, as I see it, it’s understandable why the Vikings would handle things this way. They made substantial offers to Sam Darnold and Daniel Jones to come back. They obviously wanted to generate a situation where McCarthy had to earn it after losing a regular season’s worth of on-field development. So to just hand him the job now, by default, could be read by McCarthy’s teammates a ton of different ways.
I still believe McCarthy will be the Vikings starter. Having him earn it isn’t a terrible thing.
Which, based on what he said, is how he feels, too.
• Interesting quote here from Puka Nacua, the 23-year-old Los Angeles Rams star heading into his third NFL season from the Join The Lobby podcast.
“I know I want to retire at the age of 30,” Nacua said. “I’m 23 right now, I’m going into Year 3—it wouldn’t even be 10 years. It’d be maybe seven or eight. I think of Aaron Donald, to go out at the top, I think it would be super cool. But, also, I want to have a big family. I want to have at least a starting five. I came from a big family, so I need five boys, for sure. But also, like, I want to be able to be a part of their lives and be as active as I can with them.
“The injuries are something you can’t control [as] part of the game, so you never know. Hopefully, the rest of the career can go healthy, but you have shoulder surgery, you have knee surgery, you have ankle. By the time my kids could be 18, I could be barely walking if you play the game and sustain all the injuries and stuff like that, but I want to retire early.”
Nacua, to me, is just saying the quiet part out loud.
Sam Hubbard, to me, is a great example of it. He’s 29 years old. He played seven NFL seasons, retiring three weeks ago, and no one batted an eye.
Now, think back to Calvin Johnson announcing his retirement at 30 years old after nine NFL seasons back in 2015. Or Patrick Willis announcing his retirement at 30 after eight NFL seasons. Yes, Johnson and Willis are Pro Football Hall of Famers, so naturally there was going to be bewilderment over their decisions to walk away. But that someone such as Hubbard, a good starter for the Cincinnati Bengals for seven years, could walk away at his age without people wondering much about it represents a shift in how we look at these things.
And that’s a good thing. It means players are more informed on the long-term risks in playing into their 30s, are financially capable of walking away, and are prepared (mentally and otherwise) for post-football life.
So hearing Nacua talk like that is worth mentioning. But it’s also probably more of representative of changing mindsets than anything else. (Also, good for Puka.)
• I’m still not sure where Russell Wilson’s landing spot is. Jameis Winston’s presence won’t impact the Giants’ pursuit of Aaron Rodgers, I’m told, but could change how they view Wilson as an option. And that might leave Cleveland as his most likely landing spot, and that might only be if the Browns don’t take a quarterback with the second pick or find a reasonable price for Atlanta Falcons QB Kirk Cousins.
If those two are off the table, Wilson’s best option might be to wait and see if an injury somewhere in the spring or summer brings an opportunity.
• Ohio State’s pro day Wednesday will be a big one for scouts, and not just because the Buckeyes have a bumper crop that could threaten the record for players drafted in a single year from a single school (Georgia had 15 three years ago, breaking the record of 14 held by Ohio State’s 2004 group and LSU’s 2020 class). It’s also because of what the college football calendar has done—with the Buckeyes’ national title run ending Jan. 20.
Because of the tight timeframe, a little over a month between their season and the combine, and the resulting lack of time to train, plenty of Buckeyes opted out of some or all of the testing in Indy. So it’ll be a big day for several of their best prospects.
• While we’re there, I’m excited to see if and what Abdul Carter runs in the 40-yard dash Friday at Penn State’s pro day. Word is he might be in the 4.3 range, and the Nittany Lions’ track is notoriously fast. So an eye-popping number might come out of State College.
• And one more of these to finish up: NFL teams will get a nice look at potential 2026 first-round quarterback Garrett Nussmeier (Wednesday at LSU) and Drew Allar (Friday at Penn State). So it’ll be interesting to see what teams send GMs, OCs or QB coaches to see those guys throw—maybe, in part, to compare them to what’s coming into the NFL this year.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Predicting Which NFL Rules Proposals Pass and Which Ones Don’t.
