The NFL won’t look much different in 2025.
The tush push is still alive.
At an NFL owner’s meeting May 21, the Green Bay Packers’ proposal to ban the play did not receive enough votes to pass, meaning perhaps the most controversial play in the league will stay in the playbook for another season.
Steelers president Art Rooney II had previously said he supported banning the tush push, but when the Packers updated the wording with language that seemed to ban even more than just the play, the odds of it passing seemed to drop even lower.
However, the Steelers were one of the teams that voted for eliminating the tush push.
Another rule change proposal to re-seed the playoffs by record following the Wild Card round was never even voted on, with the Lions interestingly withdrawing the proposal the day of the meeting.
That’s likely good news for Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin, who said he was a “division purist” in March when critiquing an earlier version of the proposed change.
Once change did pass, though. Teams can now declare an onside kick at any point in the game when playing from behind (last year this was only allowed in the fourth quarter).
Onside kicks will now be kicked from the 34 yard line instead of the 35; the rest of the kicking team will still line up at the 35 yard line, with the hope that the recovery rate will go slightly up in 2025.
The league also reportedly did not discuss adding an 18th game to the regular season schedule.