NFL Approves Rule Changes For The 2024 Season

The NFL announced several rule changes they're applying ahead of the 2024 season. During offseason meetings with owners and NFL executives, the league agreed to change a specific play on the field. They also voted in favor of altering the process for challenges and certain reviewable plays.

NFL Rule Changes

The play on the field is the most important aspect of football and the NFL is altering it again. Citing safety concerns, the NFL agreed to ban the use of the hip-drop tackle, a form of bringing down a ball carrier from behind using one's own body weight as leverage.

Baltimore Ravens tight end, Mark Andrews, was famously injured on a play like this and he missed significant time with a leg injury. The league is specifically defining this tackle and giving officials parameters to judge upon.

Officials will now be specifically looking for defenders grabbing the runner with both hands or wrapping with both arms. Also, if a defender "unweights" himself by swiveling and dropping the hips or lower body, landing on or trapping the runner's legs below the knee; this results in a 15-yard penalty and likely fines.

Former NFL quarterback, Robert Griffin III, expressed his concerns over this rule change on ESPN Monday morning.

"I understand what the NFL is trying to do by making the game safer, but what they're really doing is making it unsafe for defenders... How is a guy supposed to tackle an offensive guy from behind now... Going up against guys that are 30, 40, 50 pounds heavier than they are, and the only way for them to get them down to the ground is to try to use their own body weight as leverage to get them there... Right now, this is only going to add more penalties to the game. It's only going to add more flags and more fines. And I don't think that's what people want to see."

- Robert Griffin III on ESPN's First Take

After Griffin's take, Shannon Sharpe added that the NFL didn't see a lot of hip-drop tackles when he was playing several decades prior. The horse-collar tackle was a dangerous play and the league banned that just as they banned hitting the quarterback's knee in the pocket.

This specific rule is mostly subjective and it will come down to the referees to get it right. But the referees are human and mistakes are likely to be made, especially early since this type of play doesn't happen in practice.

Officials will only get practice calling this penalty in the preseason and the NFL states referees must see all three elements noted above to call the penalty.

Reviews and Challenges

The NFL is also making changes to the way certain plays are reviewed and how teams can get a third coach's challenge. In previous years, a coach could merit a third challenge by winning both challenges during a game.

Now the league is changing that rule to allow a third challenge if a coach is successful in challenging only one play.