The NFL won’t be adopting an AAF-style onside kick rule change, at least not in 2019.
Due to recent rule changes about where players can line up on kickoffs, onside kick success rates dropped dramatically last season. To try to counteract that, the Broncos recently proposed a rule change that would allow teams to attempt a 4th-and-15 situation in place of an onside kick.
That proposal was shot down at the NFL owners meetings Tuesday, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network. The topic may be revisited in the future but there won’t be any onside kick rule changes this season.
Broncos general manager John Elway seemed optimistic earlier this week that the proposed rule change had a chance to be approved.
“It’s got some momentum,” Elway said Sunday, according to The Athletic’s Nicki Jhabvala. “So, yeah, I think it has a chance.”
Denver’s proposed 4th-and-15 scenario would have taken place at the attempting team’s own 35-yard line. Each team would only be allowed to attempt it once per game and it would only be allowed in the fourth quarter.
After being shot down, though, the proposal details are moot points.
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