The National Football League's Competition Committee will begin discussions about allowing the replay booth and replay assist to call certain penalties it may see, according to Troy Vincent, the NFL's executive vice president of football operations.
Vincent said the initial scope will be limited: "You don't want to just be expanding the Pandora's box, but we believe that things like the non-football act ... that's something that we believe potentially there's a little bit of tweaking in the language, that may be the first step."
Non-football acts would be spitting, punches, kicks, facemask grabs, etc., during and after plays.
Other considerations for 2026: • Tweaks to the kickoff format to improve safety • Eliminating aiding runners — pushing, carrying, etc. The tush push will remain, as no team proposed eliminating it this cycle, but all other instances of runner assistance may be disallowed.
Additionally, there will be no changes to the onside kick and no team proposed this cycle a "4th-and-15" play in its stead.
With Mike Tomlin resigning, Broncos head coach Sean Payton was named to replace him on the committee.
My take: Runner assistance is out of control, so eliminating that while keeping the tush push — which most teams have a version of now — would be welcome. Replay penalties is a tricky proposition, but if its limited to the extracurriculars, I see no problem with it.
THE ASYLUM
Replay-booth flags?
The National Football League's Competition Committee will begin discussions about allowing the replay booth and replay assist to call certain penalties it may see, according to Troy Vincent, the NFL's executive vice president of football operations.
Vincent said the initial scope will be limited: "You don't want to just be expanding the Pandora's box, but we believe that things like the non-football act ... that's something that we believe potentially there's a little bit of tweaking in the language, that may be the first step."
Non-football acts would be spitting, punches, kicks, facemask grabs, etc., during and after plays.
Other considerations for 2026:
• Tweaks to the kickoff format to improve safety
• Eliminating aiding runners — pushing, carrying, etc. The tush push will remain, as no team proposed eliminating it this cycle, but all other instances of runner assistance may be disallowed.
Additionally, there will be no changes to the onside kick and no team proposed this cycle a "4th-and-15" play in its stead.
With Mike Tomlin resigning, Broncos head coach Sean Payton was named to replace him on the committee.
My take: Runner assistance is out of control, so eliminating that while keeping the tush push — which most teams have a version of now — would be welcome. Replay penalties is a tricky proposition, but if its limited to the extracurriculars, I see no problem with it.
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