Back in March, NFL owners nearly made it official that preseason and regular-season overtime would be reduced from 15 to 10 minutes. The owners tabled that proposal then, but it looks like they will approve it soon.
When the owners first discussed the change back in March, they agreed to table it, assuming they would approve it at the spring meeting. Well, that meeting is scheduled for next Monday through Wednesday in Chicago and the owners are expecting to follow through on the idea.
Owners like the idea of shortening overtime because it could limit the amount of plays players are involved in each game that goes into overtime, which could possibly prevent injuries. During the 2016-2017 season, there were six overtime games that lasted more than 10 minutes, the second-most in NFL history.
While there is some concern that a 10-minute overtime could lead to more ties, that doesn’t seem to stop the owners from pushing towards the change.
Some people took to Twitter after the news came out this morning to express skepticism about the change.
According to the NFL Network via ESPN, owners and the league are also thinking about changing the roster rules so that two players per team can return from injured reserve each year. The rule currently only allows one player to return from IR each season after an eight-week absence.
[ESPN]
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About David Lauterbach
David is a writer for The Comeback. He enjoyed two Men's Basketball Final Four trips for Syracuse before graduating in 2016. If The Office or Game of Thrones is on TV, David will be watching.