Here’s a bit of a surprise: per a report from Chris Mortensen of ESPN, there is a “very good chance” that New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton gets his way in modifying existing rules for replay review at annual league meetings in Phoenix.
The debate surrounds a proposal to include uncalled fouls for defensive pass interference during the final two minutes of games within the list of reviewable plays by the replay assistant. This goes far beyond what Payton and the NFL competition committee (of which he is a member) recommended to league ownership; per a report from Judy Battista of NFL Network, that’s because owners were more open to change than the committee members anticipated.
https://twitter.com/judybattista/status/1110675325191479296
This comes after a report from Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated that all 32 head coaches voted unanimously to submit a proposal to ownership recommending a new position be added to officiating crews. This extra official would be responsible for overseeing “clear and obvious” errors on pass interference (defensive and offensive), as well as roughing the passer and various defenseless player fouls. But this change was too broad and sweeping for ownership, who opted to not put it to a vote. Instead, they evidently want to target the specific embarrassing incident from the 2018 NFC championship game and prevent it from happening again.
Votes still have to be cast and tallies read off, but if things truly go the way reports indicate, Payton and the Saints management will leave Phoenix with quite an accomplishment behind them.
