Since 1990, the one thing that has generally remained constant in the NFL is its playoff format. For almost 30 years, there have been 6 teams that make it to the playoffs in each conference, with the four division leaders getting the top four seeds, and the two other best teams getting the wild card spots.
However, of late, people high up in the NFL's ranks might be pushing for a change. One idea that is being thrown around is to expand the playing field from 12 participants to 14 of them. Another possibility causing waves is the idea of elongating the regular season from 16 games to 18 games. These changes could spurn the legalization of marijuana for NFL players to use, as there will be more games and therefore a higher chance a player gets hurt.
These proposals are not very likely, as they could only happen if the NFL cannot agree on a new CBA(collective bargaining agreement). If there is a lockout(halt in playing), then the NFL will be forced to make some changes within its format. Right now, the biggest threat to a lockout is players sitting out because they want guaranteed money in their contracts, something that the NBA has already done.
The largest chance of a rule change is in playoff seeding. NFLPA president Eric Winston is expected to make a push to change the seeding such that it is ranked based off of record, and division play will only be used for tiebreaker, like how the NBA does it. These changes would change things a lot, as the best teams will be rewarded, not the ones in the weakest division.
To sum up some other rule change proposals that occurred during this years league meetings: The NFL agreed to let coaches challenge all penalties outside of the last two minutes of the game. This change came after the controversial no-call after receiver TommyLee Lewis was blindsided in the NFC Championship game, but there was no pass interference call. Sticking with the conference championships, the Chiefs' proposal to change the overtime coin-flip rules were rejected. The Broncos plea to change the onside kick format was also denied.
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