The ‘Tush Push’ remains in the spotlight as the NFL offseason rolls on.
Not just because the Philadelphia Eagles won Super Bowl LIX, but because of the push — pun intended — from other teams to have the play banned. The play has been the subject of constant discourse since the Eagles first began using the design, and the league even amended the rule regarding the play ahead of the 2024 season. The NFL adjusted the rules for the Tush Push, requiring the players behind the quarterback to be one yard or more away from the QB.
Still, that is not enough for at least one team.
The NFL released three proposed rule changes submitted by teams, and on the list was a proposal submitted by the Green Bay Packers to ban the play. The proposal to amend Rule 12, Section 1, Article 4 reads as follows:
“No offensive player may … immediately at the snap, push or throw his body against a teammate, who was lined up directly behind the snapper and received the snap, to aid him in an attempt to gain yardage.”
Now, the lawyer in me sees an immediate loophole: Since this proposal prevents you from pushing a player who received the snap, just have the player hand the ball off to someone who can then be pushed. Of course, that would take longer to develop but where there is a will, there is a way …
This is not the only proposed rule change. The Detroit Lions have proposed a modification to the rules regarding defensive holding and illegal contact, eliminating the automatic first down component of that penalty.
And the Eagles themselves proposed an amendment to Rule 16, Section 1, regarding overtime. Philadelphia is hoping the league brings regular-season overtime rules into line with postseason overtime rules, making sure both teams have a chance to possess the football during overtime in the regular season.
The Lions did not stop with the defensive holding/illegal contact penalties. Detroit also proposed a change to the NFL bylaws, seeking to allow Wild Card teams to be seeded higher in the playoffs than Division Champions, provided the Wild Card team has a better record. This situation arose in the NFC a season ago, when the Minnesota Vikings finished 14-3 but dropped to the #5 seed in the conference, losing on the road to the Los Angeles Rams.
In addition the Lions, who were hit with a ton of injuries in 2024, proposed a modification to the 90-player roster limit, seeking to exclude players on the Reserve/Injured list “before or on the day of the roster reduction to 53 players” from that limit, unless the players are designated to return:
This is interesting: The #Lions proposed a bylaw change that would allow wild card teams to be seeded higher than division winners based on record.
This would’ve been helpful to the rival #Vikings last year, and could be a factor in future years in competitive divisions…. pic.twitter.com/cKs1JBGJU9
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) March 19, 2025
The next step in this process is a set of rule proposals from the NFL’s Competition Committee, which will come later this offseason.
Still, you can bet that the proposed rule change that will get the most attention is the latest move to ban the Tush Push.
