The annual league meetings is the period when NFL owners get together to discuss big-picture topics such as rule changes. This time they gathered in Arizona and some modifications have been applied. Although the one about Thursday Night Football games was not welcomed by the players.
One change that team owners accepted was the proposal made by the Philadelphia Eagles regarding jersey numbers. The current NFC champions suggested to add N°0 as an available option, with the voting going on its favor.
Now every position group except for offensive and defensive linemen will be allowed to use that number, with a player already claiming the right to the first one wearing it. But there was a much more meaningful rule change that wasn’t well received by some high-profile stars.
JJ Watt reacts to the TNF changes
The league announced that teams will be eligible to play up to two games on Thursday in a short week. Some franchises already played twice on that day if they were scheduled for Thanksgiving or the season opener, although in those cases a bigger rest followed. Patrick Mahomes was the first one to criticize the NFL for this decision with a simple tweet, but the rule change could get even worse for the players.
Something that will be discussed in May is the possibility of flexing TNF games. The idea is to do so between weeks 14-17 with a 15-day notice to avoid having matchups of bad teams playing in prime-time. However, that could have bad consequences. JJ Watt joined the Super Bowl MVP in taking a shot at this decision.
“Flexing games from Sunday to Thursday is a terrible idea for two main reasons. 1) Player Safety. You can’t make this decision and also preach that player safety is a priority. 2) Fans. People are spending hard earned money to see their team play. Who’s paying to change their plans?”, the future Hall of Famer posted on Twitter.
