The tush push survives another season. The NFL competition committee will not bring a proposal to ban Philadelphia's controversial play to a vote at next week's league meetings in Arizona, despite mounting criticism over its legality.

The decision comes after the play dominated debate throughout the 2024 and 2025 seasons. Last May, NFL owners voted 22-10 in favor of banning it—falling two votes short of the 24 needed for approval.

"There is less talk about it in the football community," said Rich McKay, chair of the competition committee.

The Eagles weaponized the tush push en route to a Super Bowl run in 2024 and continued deploying it in 2025. During Philadelphia's Week 2 victory over Kansas City this past year, multiple instances appeared to show offensive linemen lined up offside. FOX Sports rules analyst Dean Blandino questioned the play's legality but later assessed the chances of a ban as "50-50."

The lack of momentum to remove the play suggests the debate—at least for now—has cooled.

Five Other Rule Changes Headed for a Vote

The competition committee is advancing five separate proposals for the 2026 season:

Replacement ref contingencies

With the NFL referees' collective bargaining agreement expiring May 31, the league is preparing for a potential work stoppage. The last time replacement officials took the field—the first three weeks of 2012—it ended in catastrophe. The infamous "Fail Mary" at the end of a Packers-Seahawks game in Week 3 triggered White House intervention, and President Barack Obama called for the lockout to end.

Under the new proposal, New York's replay center would gain expansive authority to correct "clear and obvious" mistakes by on-field officials, including:

• Overturning penalties for illegal contact, face masks, roughing the passer, horse-collar tackles, and intentional grounding
• Intervening on pass interference calls with clear evidence of "advertent tangling of feet"
• Flagging missed roughing the passer or intentional grounding penalties
• In the final two minutes or overtime, overturning unnecessary roughness, unsportsmanlike conduct for punches or kicks, and leverage penalties on kicks

The DK Metcalf rule

The committee proposes allowing the replay center to eject players for flagrant or non-football acts even if on-field officials never threw a flag. Currently, intervention requires an official penalty.

This stems from last season when Pittsburgh receiver DK Metcalf swiped at a heckling fan during a game at Detroit without being ejected—the on-field officials never saw it. Metcalf was later suspended for two games, but the rule change would prevent that gap from occurring again.

Kickoff rule tweaks

Entering its third season, the new kickoff rule faces minor adjustments:

• Teams can now declare an onside kick at any point, regardless of score (originally limited to trailing teams in the fourth quarter)
• Touchbacks from the 50-yard line will be spotted at the 20 instead of the 25, closing a loophole that incentivized kicking out of bounds
• Minor adjustments to receiving team formation and personnel positioning

Off-field changes

The committee also proposed:

• Flexible roster cutdown dates to accommodate international games (the Rams and 49ers open the season in Australia)
• Designating Saturday and Sunday of Labor Day weekend as business days, accelerating the 24-hour waiver period
• Allowing players on the physically unable to perform list to begin their 21-day practice window after Week 2 instead of waiting longer (though they still cannot play until missing four games)

Additional proposals from individual teams

Cleveland proposes allowing draft picks to be traded five years into the future instead of three. Pittsburgh wants to make permanent a rule allowing up to five video or phone calls with potential free agents during the negotiating window before the league year begins—currently approved on a trial basis.