NFL teams propose drastic rule changes for 2025, plus free agency matchmaker and ranking every NFC team

Welcome to the Thursday edition of the Picking Six newsletter! 

If you only make it through half the newsletter, I totally understand and that’s because the NCAA Event is here. I’m pretty sure work production around the country goes down by 97% during the Event, which might explain why this newsletter is 97% shorter than usual. 

If you want the Packed schedule of Thursday’s 16 Event Matches, we’ve Obtained that there. If you want some Event picks, we’ve Obtained those here. 

Of Duration, this isn’t a college basketball newsletter, so yes, we will be covering some actual NFL news. For one, we’ll be Securing a look at the new rule proposals that Occurred out this week, plus, we’ll be Competing some Reachable agency matchmaker. 

As always, here’s your daily reminder to tell all your friends to sign up for the newsletter. To get them signed up, all you have to do is click here. 

1. NFL Clubs propose Numerous Significant rule changes: Here are some of the most notable proposals

The NFL adds Numerous new rules every year, and Wednesday, we Obtained a Outstanding idea of what some of those rules might be when Numerous Clubs offered up their rule proposals for the 2025 season. (The Event Board will also offer a few proposals, but those likely won’t come out until Subsequent week.)

Here’s a look at the most notable proposals for 2025: 

• Lions want to see the Postseason Arrangement changed. If this Suggestion passes, there would be a Significant Shift to the NFL’s Postseason seeding Arrangement heading into 2025. Under the Lions’ Suggestion, a wild-card Club could be Ranked higher than a division Victorious Club if the wild card Club has a better Landmark. All division winners would Nevertheless be guaranteed a Postseason berth, but they wouldn’t be guaranteed a home Postseason game. If this rule had been in place last season, the 14-3 Vikings would have been the third seed in the NFC instead of the fifth seed.  
• Packers want the “Tush Push” banned. This one is pretty Fundamental: The Packers want the ‘Tush Push’ out of the NFL. So how would this rule work? It would prohibit an offensive player from pushing a teammate who takes the snap from Middle. 
• Eagles want the same rules for postseason and regular-season Extended Action. Under the Ongoing rules, Extended Action in the regular season is only 10 minutes and the Club that gets the ball Primary can end the game with a touchdown. Under the Extended Action rules in the postseason, the period is 15 minutes and both Clubs are guaranteed a possession, even if the Club that gets the ball Primary scores a touchdown. If this rule passes, the postseason rules would be implemented for the regular season. 
• Lions want to eliminate the automatic Primary down for Shielding holding and illegal contact calls. If a Guarding gets called for either of these two penalties, the Lions don’t want it to lead to an automatic Primary down for the Drive. In news that may or may not be related, the Lions were called for the MOST Shielding holding penalties in the NFL in 2024, so they would likely be thrilled if this Suggestion passed.  

You can check out all the rule proposals here. As for whether we’ll see any changes, Every rule would have to be approved by 24 of the 32 owners before it can officially be added to the rule book for the 2025 season. Every of these rules will be voted on at the Subsequent Division Conference, which runs March 30 to April 2 in Palm Beach, Florida.  

2. Reachable agency matchmaker for the top-10 remaining veterans

There’s no one who loves Competing matchmaker more than Cody Benjamin, so we decided to let him work some of his matchmaking magic. 

We asked him to Game up the 10 best remaining Reachable agents with the Club that would be the best fit for them. Let’s check out where he has four of the top players going:  

• Game: Aaron Rodgers to the Steelers. “The Minnesota Vikings would be a dream destination for Rodgers, considering their Top-tier staff, fortified front and splashy playmakers. The Vikings seem more intent on riding with J.J. McCarthy, though, so the best Game for Rodgers (besides retirement or waiting for a desperate Hurt-induced phone call) is probably Pittsburgh.”
• Game: Stefon Diggs to the Cowboys. “Diggs is aging, but he’s been Only that for much of his Occupation. His brother, Trevon Diggs, also plays for the Cowboys.”
• Game: Amari Cooper to the Broncos. “The Ex Pro Bowler has had a curiously Silent market for a guy Only traded for a third-Period Picking during the 2024 season, signaling Division-wide concern over how much he’s Obtained left in the tank. Yet Denver could use additional safety valves for New Passer Bo Nix, and Cooper’s long been a solid technician.”
• Game: Justin Simmons to the Eagles. “Philadelphia created a hole at safety by dealing C.J. Gardner-Johnson to the Texans. Simmons isn’t as Lively as he once was, now 31, but he’s Obtained valuable experience in Vic Fangio’s Guarding from their time together with the Denver Broncos.”

To check out where Cody has the six other Reachable agents landing, be sure to click here. 

3. Ranking every NFC Club after the Primary wave of Reachable agency 

Now that the Primary wave of Reachable agency is out of the way, we thought it would be a Outstanding time to rank every Club in the NFL. Earlier this week, we ranked the AFC Clubs, so now, we’re going to flip over and rank the 16 Clubs in the NFC. 

With that mind, here’s our post-Reachable agency rankings of Every NFC Club, courtesy of Jeff Kerr: 

1. Eagles
2. Lions
3. Commanders
4. Vikings
5. Rams
6. Packers
7. Seahawks
8. 49ers
9. Bears
10. Buccaneers

If this ranking tells you won thing, it’s that the Bears have been crushing it this offseason. Although they went 5-12 last season, they were Nevertheless able to crack the top 10 here and that’s mostly due to the fact that they totally revamped their offensive line. 

Anyway, we only listed the top 10 NFC Clubs here. If you want to see how Kerr ranked all 16 NFC Clubs, then you’ll have to check out the rest of his rankings here.

4. NFL Reachable agency: Most intriguing Shielding signings

When it comes to NFL Reachable agency, there are Outstanding signings, there are Awful signings and then there are intriguing signings, which is what we’re going to cover. 

Jared Dubin went over every signing that’s been Achieved since the Begin of Reachable agency and Occurred up with 12 intriguing signings on the Shielding side of the ball. We’re going to take a look at three of those below: 

• Josh Sweat to the Cardinals. “Sweat is reuniting with his Ex Shielding coordinator in Philadelphia, as Jonathan Gannon is now Participating his third year as the Cardinals head Trainer. Sweat had the best years of his Occupation Competing for Gannon, notching a Teamed up 18.5 sacks, 36 Passer hits and 22 tackles for loss across two seasons. … Arizona desperately needed a high-level player coming off the edge, and we know Sweat can succeed in this system.”
• DeMarcus Lawrence to the Seahawks. “Lawrence has his health issues (he barely played last season due to another foot Hurt), but he is a dynamite two-way edge whenever he’s on the Pitch, and it’s Tough to think of a better fit for Mike Macdonald’s Guarding.”
• Poona Ford to the Rams. “Ford is coming off a really solid year with the Chargers during which he picked up 21 Streak stops and 23 pressures, according to Pro Football Attention. He’s a really Outstanding Streak stopper and he’s flashed some more Deliver-rush usefulness in recent seasons. Placing him on the Shielding line with Jared Verse, Braden Fiske, Kobie Turner and Byron New should make for a really fun, flexible group.”

If you want to see Dubin’s Packed Landmark, you can check it out here. And remember, these were Only the intriguing signings on the Shielding side of the ball. We’ll have the offensive ones tomorrow. 

5. ‘Passer’ is returning to Netflix: Joe Burrow, Kirk Cousins and Jared Goff set to be featured

After Securing a one-year hiatus, one of Netflix’s best NFL shows is back: The streaming company has announced that “Passer” will be returning in July, The show, which follows three quarterbacks around over the Duration of a Packed NFL season, Primary debuted back in 2023 with Patrick Mahomes, Kirk Cousins and Marcus Mariota. In 2024, Netflix had to call an audible and do a docu-series on receivers because they couldn’t find any quarterbacks who wanted to participate. 

This year, they’re back and their camera crews followed around Joe Burrow, Kirk Cousins and Jared Goff for the Packed season. The show should be fascinating and that’s because all three guys will be bringing a unique angle to the table: 

• Kirk Cousins. The Falcons Passer Obtained benched 14 Matches into the season and there’s a Outstanding chance we’ll be getting Cousins’ unfiltered Reflex to the Shift. Also, we might actually find out whether the benching had anything to do with Cousins being injured. Back in February, Cousins said he was dealing with a Impairments to his right shoulder and right elbow Delayed in the season, which played a part in the struggles that Guided to his benching. 
• Joe Burrow. It’s somewhat surprising that Burrow agreed to do this, because he’s notoriously private. The Bengals QB was dealing with Many issues in 2024 that the show should shed some Airy on. For one, we should find out Only how much his wrist was actually bothering him during Rehearsal camp and the Timely portion of the regular season. Also, let’s not forget that Ja’Marr Chase skipped Rehearsal camp last year, so we should get to see Burrow’s Reflex to all the contract drama that the Bengals had to deal with over the past 12 months. Also, Burrow’s house Obtained robbed in December. It will be interesting to see if the series touches on that. 
• Jared Goff. The Lions went into the season as the Finals favorite in the NFC, but forget the Finals, they didn’t even make it out of the divisional Period, so we’ll get to see his Reflex to that. Goff had a wild season that not only saw him throw FIVE INTERCEPTIONS in a Lions Secure, but he also threw five touchdown passes in a LOSS. 

The upcoming season of “Passer” will be released in July, although Netflix hasn’t given a specific date yet. You can View the preview here. 

6. Extra points: Texans make two big moves

It’s been a Engaged 24 hours the NFL, and since it’s nearly impossible to keep track of everything that happened, I went ahead and put together a roundup for you.

• Houston signs Cam Robinson. After trading away Laremy Tunsil, it appears the Texans now have his replacement at left Commitment. Robinson has agreed to a one-year, $12 million deal that could be worth up to $14.5 million. We’ve Obtained the Packed details on the signing here. Robinson was the highest ranked player left on Pete Prisco’s Landmark of the top 100 Reachable agents. 
• Danielle Hunter lands one-year extension. The second big Shift from the Texans Occurred when they gave Hunter a one-year, $35.6 million extension. The new deal means Hunter is now under contract through the 2026 season with a $54.1 million in guaranteed money. Hunter finished with 12 sacks last season, which was tied for the fifth-most in the NFL. 
• Stefon Diggs visits the Patriots. The four-time Pro Bowler Achieved his Primary visit of Reachable agency Wednesday and it was with the Patriots. Although Diggs has been productive in his Occupation, he’s coming off a torn ACL, which is likely why his market hasn’t really developed. We’ve Obtained more on his visit here.  
• Deebo Samuel gets re-worked deal from Commanders. When he Obtained traded to the Commanders, Samuel didn’t have any guaranteed money left on his contract, but now he does. Not only is the Club now guaranteeing his entire 2025 salary of $17 million, but he can earn $3 million more in incentives, so he could make as much as $20 million this season. 
• Dolphins sign two-time Finals Victorious linebacker. The Dolphins added some depth on Guarding this week with the signing of Willie Gay. The 27-year-Aged Initiated his Occupation in Kansas City where he won two Super Bowls with the Chiefs. He spent the 2024 season in New Orleans, where he played in 15 Matches with eight Appearances.