Lions drop proposal to change the way NFL playoff teams are seeded

NFL team owners discussed the Lions’ proposed change to the playoff seeding format at spring league meetings in Eagan on Wednesday, but there was no vote on the proposal, according to Rich McKay, the Atlanta Falcons CEO and co-chair of the NFL’s competition committee.

Detroit withdrew the proposal, which aimed at reseeding each conference’s seven playoff teams by regular-season record instead of awarding the top four seeds to division winners. There was a “long talk” about varying forms of reseeding, McKay said, either at the start of the playoffs or after the wild-card rounds.

“There was a lot of sentiment to keep this discussion going,” McKay said.

While Detroit proposed the change, Lions President Rod Wood revealed this offseason that it was the league office — specifically Troy Vincent, the NFL’s executive vice president of football operations — that reached out to the team asking to partner on the proposal.

This came after Lions receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown said in January that the format should change before the Vikings and Lions played Jan. 5 for the division crown and No. 1 seed in the NFC; the loser of that game, the 14-3 Vikings, got the No. 5 seed and a flight west to face the Los Angeles Rams, the NFC West winner with a 10-7 record.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell was asked if he endorsed the Lions’ proposal.

“What I wanted to look at,” he said, “is where is the ownership’s position on what they want? ... Is it no reseeding at all? A form of reseeding after the first week or after the second week?

“I think they are interested potentially in looking at some type of reseeding,” said Goodell, who added that the possibility of an “expanded season” does play a role in playoff seeding.

However, Goodell said the topic of an 18-game regular season “didn’t even come up” in discussions this week, saying owners focused their collective bargaining agreement topics on the salary cap and “rising costs” of operating an NFL team.

On Wednesday, NFL owners approved a couple of changes to onside kicks.

The league will now allow teams to declare onside kicks at any point during a game instead of just in the fourth quarter. In addition, nonkicking players on the kicking team can line up at the 35-yard line while the kick happens from the 34-yard line, giving the recovering team a 1-yard head start.

Teams still must notify the referee before the start of the play clock that they plan to onside kick.

Earlier this offseason, team owners voted to move the touchback on standard kickoffs up to the 35-yard line from the 30 in an attempt to draw more returns.

The NFL on Christmas Day isn’t going anywhere. For the fifth straight year, there will be at least two games on the calendar. This fall, a trio of games, including the Vikings and Lions at 3:30 p.m. from U.S. Bank Stadium, will be played since the holiday falls on a Thursday, which makes it easier to schedule more teams, said Brian Rolapp, the NFL’s chief media and business officer.

Last year, Netflix streamed its first NFL broadcasts on Christmas, featuring a Beyoncé halftime show during the Texans’ home game against the Ravens.

Should fans expect a headlining performer during Christmas games every season? Rolapp said “you’ll see something” again this year.

“They were really leaning into making this as big of an event as possible,” Rolapp said of Netflix. “That’s where the entertainment at halftime came in. You’ll have to talk to them what their plans are. But I think that worked well, and I think you’ll see something in the event space this Christmas as well.”

The NFL has sporadically recognized the league‘s best offensive lineman or line, and it’s bringing back an award for the big fellas.

Vincent announced the Protector of the Year award, which will be handed out to the NFL’s best blocker as judged by a panel of former NFL greats: LeCharles Bentley, Jason Kelce, Shaun O’Hara, Orlando Pace, Will Shields and Andrew Whitworth. They will be looking at candidates based on a few factors every season.

“Skill, leadership impact, durability and strength of the opponent,” Vincent said. “We’ll be tracking that quarterly with this group.”

Goodell announced Wednesday that the Buffalo Bills will be featured in this summer’s “Hard Knocks.” The documentary series will begin airing on HBO on Aug. 5.

The Bills became eligible when rules changed last year governing how teams could avoid the reality show. Now, teams can only opt out if they have a first-year head coach, appeared in the last eight years or are planning on participating in the in-season version in the next two years.

This year’s in-season version will feature the four NFC East teams: the Cowboys, Eagles, Giants and Commanders. HBO followed around the four AFC North teams last season.

Emily Leiker of the Minnesota Star Tribune contributed to this story.