There was no Tush Push conversation hanging over the NFL's Annual Meeting this year in Phoenix, nor was there any renewed discussion about overtime procedures. As such, when on Tuesday the league announced the rules changes that team owners had passed for the 2026 season, it was a shorter list than usual and one that really only centered on two topics: kickoffs and officiating assistance.
The second topic is arguably more interesting and more likely to make a significant impact on the game in 2026. First, the NFL prepared for the possibility for a work stoppage from game officials if an agreement is not reached in time between the NFL and the NFL Referees Association. If there is a stoppage and the league hires replacement officials, there will be an expansion of officiating assistance from the NFL Officiating Department during games. The proposal that was passed was worded thusly:
"Designated members of the Officiating department located at the Leagues' Officiating Command Center will be assigned to monitor each game and are authorized to provide information to the on-field officials to assist … in specific areas where clear and obvious video evidence is present."
This setup, unlike the current system, would allow officials, with assistance from the Command Center, to drop flags for intentional grounding, roughing the passer and acts that require a player disqualification. In addition, there is another change to the procedure that was passed and will be in effect with either the existing officials or replacements: League personnel can now consult with the on-field officials about disqualifying players who committed acts that did not initially draw a flag on the field.
There are three tweaks to the "dynamic kickoff" setup coming in 2026. First, a team can now declare its intention to attempt an onside kick at any point in the game, regardless of the score or what quarter it is. Second, the receiving team on a kickoff now only has to have five players with one foot on the restraining line, rather than six. And third, the incentive to purposefully boot the ball out of bounds when kicking from the 50-yard line has been removed.
That final tweak was essentially removing a loophole left over from before the introduction of the dynamic kickoff. Teams were always penalized for kickoff off out of bounds, and specific penalty was to place the ball 25 yards from the spot of the kickoff. Practically speaking, this became a bug when the kickoff touchback line was moved to the 35 last season. If the kicking team is kickoff off from the midfield stripe due to a previous penalty on the receiving team, a kickoff out of bounds would be spotted at the 25. Now it would come out to the 40, just like an out-of-bounds penalty from the normal kickoff spot.
