‘Tush push’ stays legal
The NFL will keep the 'tush push' legal for the 2026 season — owners won’t even vote on it at next week’s meetings, meaning teams can keep using the play. The move was hailed as relief by clubs that rely on quarterback sneaks, with the Eagles singled out given Jalen Hurts’s success with the look (sports.yahoo.com) (nytimes.com).
NFL Competition Committee co‑chair Rich McKay said no club has submitted a formal proposal to alter or ban the push‑assisted QB sneak for the 2026 cycle, which is why the topic did not surface as a league‑submitted change this offseason. (espn.com) A prior owners’ effort to ban the play fell two votes short on May 21, 2025, when the final tally was 22‑10 but the rule required 24 affirmative votes to pass. (espn.com) Philadelphia’s use of the play remains extreme: the Eagles have converted at an unusually high rate on short‑yardage tush‑push snaps (reported at roughly 96.6% on fourth‑and‑1 since 2022) and have run the look far more than most clubs. (espn.com) League‑wide metrics shifted in 2025 — the season showed a year‑over‑year increase in tush‑push attempts but a measurable decline in overall effectiveness compared with the play’s dominance in earlier years — and the Bills and Eagles combined accounted for the vast majority of such attempts over the prior three seasons. (usatoday.com) A competing spring league moved in the opposite direction: the UFL formally removed the tush push from its 2026 rulebook, listing the elimination in its published playing rules and announcing the change publicly in late February. (theufl.com) The NFL did submit five other playing‑rule proposals for the owners’ meeting next week — items include allowing onside‑kick declarations at any time, modifications to kickoff alignment and out‑of‑bounds incentives, and a one‑year contingency to let the Officiating Department correct clear and obvious missed calls during a potential referee work stoppage. (nfl.com)
