NFL declines to pass defensive holding rule proposed by the Detroit Lions

The NFL's annual league owner meetings are this week, and every year teams get together to discuss league rule changes. As of late, the Detroit Lions have been one of the teams that have been proposing new rules every year. This year they're proposing three.

The Lions would like the league to get rid of automatic first downs after defensive holding. Since the start of the 2023 season, no team has been burned by this rule more than the Lions. 26 times in two years. No wonder they want it gone.

The Lions presented the rule by saying that the effect is "Competitive equity. Current penalty enforcement is too punitive for the defense."

On Tuesday, Campbell said he didn't feel too confident that the rule would change. Then, later in the day Lions got some bad news when the league announced that the NFL will not be changing the defensive holding rule. They will continue to result in automatic first downs.