NFL Submits Hip-Drop Tackle Penalty, New Kickoffs, More 2024 Rule Change Proposals

After previously working on the language to define what will constitute a hip-drop tackle, the NFL and competition committee are submitting a proposal that would result in the play being called for a 15-yard penalty if it gets approved.

The proposal was made on Wednesday, with the language noting a penalty would be called if a player grabs a runner with both hands or wraps the runner with both arms and "unweights himself by swiveling and dropping his hips and/or lower body, landing on and trapping the runner's leg(s) at or below the knee."

The hip-drop tackle is one of three rule changes being proposed by the competition committee. The second involves kickoffs and onside kicks attempted in the fourth quarter:

The third proposal would allow replay review when there is clear and obvious visual evidence the game clock expired before the ball is snapped.

One potential change that doesn't appear to be a priority for the competition committee is the rule that awards a touchback on a fumble that goes out of the end zone.

CBS Sports' Jonathan Jones noted there is no proposal on the table to change the fumble-touchback rule.

The rule came into play during the Kansas City Chiefs-Buffalo Bills game in the AFC Divisional Round. Mecole Hardman got the ball on a jet sweep near the goal line and stretched for the end zone when a defender slapped it out of his hands.

Replay determined the play was a fumble and the ball went out of the end zone. The Bills gained possession at their own 20-yard line early in the fourth quarter. They ultimately didn't score on the drive and lost 27-24.

Hip-drop tackles have been a key talking point throughout the league for the last two seasons. There was some talk about a potential rule change going into 2023, but the competition committee never made a formal proposal.

The NFL Players Association issued a statement in March 2023 urging the league not to ban the hip-drop tackle technique:

"While the players have consistently advocated for health and safety advancements, any prohibition on the "hip-drop tackle" technique is unfair to players and unrealistic to implement. It places defensive players in an impossible position by creating indecision in the mind of any tackling player, puts officials in an unreasonable situation that will result in inconsistent calls on the field, and confuses our fans.

"We call on the NFL to reconsider implementing a rule prohibiting the 'hip drop tackle.'"

Based on the response from some of the players to the news about Wednesday's proposal, they still feel strongly the rule should not be changed.

In December, The Athletic's Ted Nguyen noted the NFL's data showed a hip-drop tackle was 25 times more likely to result in an injury than other tackles.

ESPN injury analyst Stephania Bell is quoted in Nguyen's article explaining what makes the hip-drop tackle more dangerous:

"Their hips drops, your knee bends inward, and your foot is relatively pointing outwards. It's externally rotated relative to the rest of your leg. And that creates what we call an external rotation moment at the foot and ankle. It's a mechanism for ankle sprain when your foot is rotated out relative to the rest of your leg. But when that leg is trapped, like with a body weight falling on top of it, there's nowhere for it to go. That energy has got to go somewhere. And so it's usually going through the ankle and sometimes up into the knee. And so that's what we're seeing is that energy is getting absorbed and creating these catastrophic injuries."

The most notable example of an injury from a hip-drop tackle was Tony Pollard's fractured leg suffered in the 2022 NFC Divisional Round between the Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers.

Pollard caught a pass and was wrapped up by Jimmie Ward, who dropped his lower half. The Cowboys running back's leg got caught under Ward's body. He had to be carted off the field and was also diagnosed with a high ankle sprain.

Owners will vote on the proposed rule changes during the annual league meetings from March 24-27 in Orlando, Florida.