According to Tom Pelissero, there’s some real momentum for a rule change pushing the NFL trade deadline back a week or two.
Pelissero says the idea was floated at the last owners meeting by the GM advisory committee and there’s been some support. There will be more discussion over the coming months with a potential vote at the meetings in either March or May.
He adds it’s not clear where the NFL competition committee stands on the potential change. There could be concerns about the competitive balance swinging drastically late in the season if the deadline is pushed back.
Any rule change would need to be approved by at least 24 of the 32 teams.
The NFL opted to move the deadline back from Week 6 to Week 8 several years ago and it has improved the volume of trades we see. This year’s deadline was the best we’ve ever seen for trade activity, including notable players being moved.
However, there’s a strong case to be made that it should be at least Week 12, which would be more in line with trade deadlines in other sports leagues that typically have more volume in terms of moves.
The NFL has also increased the number of games to 17, so moving it back another month would give franchises a better understanding of their playoff chances this year and whether it could be best to start rebuilding for next season.
We’ll have more regarding the trade deadline as the news is available.
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