-
Stephen Holder
PALM BEACH, Fla. — NFL commissioner Roger Goodell on Tuesday said the idea of NFL players competing in flag football in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games has been a popular topic among the league’s players and suggested it was likely to happen.
“I’ve heard directly from a lot of players who want to participate and represent their country, whether it’s United States or the country that they came from,” Goodell said as he wrapped up the NFL’s annual meeting.
Participation in the Olympics was among the topics of conversation with owners and league officials this week, multiple people told ESPN, as the NFL tries to work through the issues associated with players partaking in the Games.
Men’s and women’s flag football will debut as an Olympic sport in 2028 and its addition to the Games comes, in part, because of the NFL’s full-throated support. Flag football is a key initiative for the NFL because the league sees it as a way of growing American football internationally.
Editor’s Picks
2 Related
But there are issues that need to be addressed, including injury protections for teams and players, and the Olympics schedule, which might conflict with the start of NFL training camps in the late summer. The Games are scheduled for July 14-30, 2028.
“I think that’s something that we’ll continue to discuss with, not just the union, but also the clubs,” Goodell said. “I think both of those are things that we’ll probably resolve sometime in the next 60 days.”
Elsewhere, Goodell continued to defend the league’s stance on diversity in light of widespread pushback across the country against diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.
“We’re fully committed to continuing that work to try to develop better talent and give them that opportunity and make the NFL better ultimately,” Goodell said. “So, we’re all-in on that.”
Asked about the league’s current landscape that includes no Black offensive coordinators, Goodell said, “We have a lot of great offensive minds in the league — Black, white, and young women too, that are coming into this. So, there are only so many opportunities. So, that’s always a challenge. … But I think I’ve been very clear that we think diversity makes us better.”
Asked earlier about his stance on the Rooney Rule — which requires teams to interview underrepresented candidates for various roles, including head coach and general manager —
-
Kevin Seifert
PALM BEACH, Fla. — NFL owners approved a significant change to the league’s kickoff structure while also authorizing an expansion of the replay assist program during their final session of their league meeting Tuesday morning.
The touchback on kickoffs will be marked at the 35-yard line for the 2025 season, a move that league officials and special teams coaches said will prompt a significant increase in the return rate. The new language reflects the original intent of the massive revamp the NFL instituted in 2024, when final negotiations resulted in a touchback spotted at the 30.
That left many coaches comfortable kicking touchbacks in 2024, and the league produced a return rate of 32.8%. Denver Broncos special teams coach Darren Rizzi, one of the primary architects of the revamp, projected a 2025 return rate between 70% and 75%.
Editor’s Picks
2 Related
The concussion rate on kickoffs last season dropped 43% from 2023.
“The space and the speed of the play were much more down from what we’re all used to,” Rizzi said. “And so the play was a tremendous success, and that’s why we felt the time was now to move the touchback back to the 35 to go back to the original formation that we had proposed.”
Owners decided to table a part of the kickoff proposal that would have addressed low recovery rates of onside kicks. According to Rizzi, some teams have additional ideas, and that part of the proposal will likely be rewritten, with different rules for how the kickoff team can line up, and put before owners in May.
Meanwhile, owners approved a competition committee proposal to add responsibilities to its replay assist program. The on-site replay official will now be permitted to reverse flags that are thrown for hits to defenseless players, along with fouls for face mask, horse collar, tripping and running into/roughing the kicker.
Those replay officials, however, will not be allowed to add a flag when an obvious foul has gone uncalled.
In other news, owners on Tuesday:
-
Approved a proposal from the Pittsburgh Steelers to have one video or phone call with no more than five prospective free agents during the negotiation period before the formal opening of free agency. Previously, teams could speak only with the agent of the player during that period.
-
Approved a request from multiple teams to allow team staff members to prepare K-balls, footballs used only on special teams, before game day.
-
Approved proposals by the competition committee allowing two players to be designated to return from injured reserve if they are placed on IR when rosters are reduced to 53, granting playoff teams two more return-from-IR spots in the postseason and designating point differential as the third tiebreaker on waiver claims.
-
Tabled for further discussion the Detroit Lions’ proposal to make playoff seeding based on regular-season records as the guiding principle, rather than division championships.
-
Did not approve Detroit’s proposal to eliminate an automatic first down as a penalty imposed for defensive holding and illegal contact.
-
Announced the use of Sony’s Hawk-Eye technology to measure first downs in 2025.
-
Rich Cimini
PALM BEACH, Fla. — New York Jets chairman Woody Johnson, the only owner to receive an F grade in the NFL Players Association annual team report card, dismissed the findings Monday, calling the survey “totally bogus.”
Johnson said he values his relationships with the players and their opinions, but he questioned the integrity of the poll. Asked what was bogus about it, he replied, “The whole thing.”
In the latest survey, 1,695 players graded their respective teams in various categories. The results were released Feb. 26. The NFLPA was critical of the Jets’ top leadership and culture.
Johnson, speaking to reporters at the annual league meeting, took issue with “how they collected the information [and] who they collected it from. [It] was supposed to be according to the agreement we have with the league. It’s supposed to be a process [where] we have representatives, and they have representatives, so we know that it’s an honest survey.
“And that was violated, in my opinion. I’m going to leave it at that, but I think there are a lot of owners that looked at that survey and said this is not fair, it’s not balanced, it’s not every player, it’s not even representative of the players.”
Editor’s Picks
2 Related
The Jets’ overall ranking, based on grades in 11 categories, was 29th — a drop from 21st in 2023.
“We want to get better every day in every category,” Johnson said. “We want to be No. 1 in everything. All of our people do. … If there are areas we can improve — and I think there are always areas we can improve, not because of this bogus report — we’re going to do it.”
The NFLPA, on its website, explains the methodology, saying it used research experts from an independent group to provide guidance on best practices for conducting the survey. It was administered from Aug. 26 to Nov. 20, 2024, and was done online and anonymously. Every rostered player at the time of the survey was provided access to the poll.
Though he disputed the results, Johnson said he will try to create better communication with the players. The longtime owner, heavily criticized by fans and media for the team’s bitterly disappointing 2024 season, said in a January interview that he will try to improve.
“If [the players] are getting bored with the food or bored with the way the place looks, let me know,” he said. “I can’t do anything if they don’t tell me, so I think we’re going to have a lot better communication with the players in terms of what they’re looking at every day. Because if I was looking at the same thing every day, I might get bored with it, too.”
Johnson said he doesn’t believe the unflattering report card is impacting the team’s ability to attract free agents. He emphasized that “the essence of the game is the players. That’s what it’s all about. Anything we can do to make their lives and their families better, we’re going to do.”
The NFLPA declined to comment on Johnson’s remarks.
The Jets missed the playoffs for the 14th straight year, a dysfunctional season that saw Robert Saleh and Joe Douglas fired as the coach and general manager, respectively. Another casualty was quarterback
-
Mike Reiss
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Veteran wide receiver Stefon Diggs says he took just one free agent visit — to the New England Patriots — before officially signing his three-year contract with the team Friday.
“I was considering a couple other places, but that’s all in the past now,” Diggs said at Gillette Stadium.
Diggs’ contract is worth $69 million, a source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter, which is the range the wide receiver said he expected in terms of average per season, in part because he is coming off a torn ACL in his right knee sustained Oct. 27 while playing for the Houston Texans.
Editor’s Picks
2 Related
“I kind of figured [the contract] was going to be around that area, considering I’m coming off the injury, but also the fact that I’m one of the only receivers that had six 1,000-yard seasons consecutively [before the injury],” he said. “The production, it’s always been here. I can move the chains. I can do intermediate. I can go deep. I did that all throughout my career. My résumé probably speaks for itself, but it was more so the injury that would deter or make the money is what it is.
“I look at it definitely as an opportunity. What could’ve been, could’ve been. At this point I am where I am, and I’m thankful.”
Diggs, 31, was introduced by the team Friday and was joined by his mother, Stephanie, who sat in the front row as he answered questions from reporters.
He stopped short of setting a timetable for when he will be ready to practice but sounded encouraged with how his knee has responded.
“I’m ahead of schedule. I’m trying to stay ahead of schedule,” he said. “I’ve been pretty serious about the grind process, as far as the rehab and everything.”
Diggs said he has had only brief contact with second-year quarterback
