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The NFL Had 'Long' Discussion About New Playoff Format

Originally posted on The Spun | By Andrew Gould | Last updated Apr 1, 2025 4:04 PM ET

The NFL will revisit a proposal to change the playoff seeding guidelines.

On Tuesday, NFL owners tabled a vote on a new rule proposed by the Detroit Lions. If passed, a wild-card team could garner a higher seed than a division champion if it finishes the regular season with a superior record.

Per Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press, Atlanta Falcons CEO and NFL competition committee co-chair Rich McKay said the rule garnered "some" support during the league's annual meetings.

"The traditionist says, 'Hey, I want to win the division and I want it to really mean something.' Well, something could be that you qualify for the playoffs," McKay said. "That's something, but people say, 'No, I want to host a playoff game.' Then the idea is, well, are you diminishing division championships, which we do not want to do."

Under the current format, the division champions are guaranteed the postseason's top-four seeds and a first-round home playoff game or bye. The Washington Commanders, who upset the Lions in the NFC Divisional Round, would have entered the 2024 playoffs at No. 4 instead of 7 following a 12-5 regular season. Instead, the Los Angeles Rams and Tampa Bay Buccaneers placed higher with 10-7 marks as NFC West and NFC South winners, respectively.

McKay suggested a possible tweak to the current proposal that would only remove a division winner's home-field advantage if it finishes the regular season below .500. The Buccaneers won the NFC South with an 8-9 record in 2022 and hosted the 12-5 Dallas Cowboys in the opening round.

“People want to keep looking at it," McKay said. "It doesn't mean (when it comes) back up it will pass in May, but it very well may be a different discussion if the season ever is extended. But it was a good - it was a long discussion. It was a good discussion, but it was all the same arguments that we've heard before."

NFL owners voted to keep the new kickoff introduced on a one-year basis last season and applied the NFL's playoff overtime format to the regular season. However, they also tabled a vote to ban the Tush Push to next month's meeting.

This article first appeared on The Spun and was syndicated with permission.

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