NFL Moving Trade Deadline Back Ahead Of 2024 Season

The NFL trade deadline will undergo its first change in 12 years after a handful of owners proposed a slight date shift, giving teams even more time to strike a last-minute deal or two before the end of the season.

League owners agreed to push the deadline back a week, now to the Tuesday following Week 9, according to ESPN’s Kevin Seifert, a change that became official during Tuesday’s annual meetings.

Cleveland Browns general manager Andrew Berry proposed the change and garnered support from the New York Jets, Detroit Lions, Philadelphia Eagles and the Washington Commanders. However, the Pittsburgh Steelers were responsible for the one-week date move, which gained the necessary voting support from other organizations to pass league approval.

“I think the biggest fear here was that teams would just dump, teams would just sell. That seems to be not reality,” NFL Network’s Ian Rappoport said on “The Insiders” Wednesday. “First of all, if theoretically, you’re really bad, you can sell the week before. But teams and owners especially, want to be as competitive as possible while keeping their flexibility for the next year and making sure they’re in a position to try to succeed the following year.”

While the NFL expanded its regular season to 17 games in 2021, the trade deadline saw no accommodation with the newly established schedule. Now, teams are given a deadline more centered with the season, further opening the door for organizations to submit their blockbuster (or minor) bids before the second half of their respective campaigns.

“The reason this is OK is because they know teams are not just gonna sell all their best players and just move on to next year,” Rappoport added. “Teams are gonna stay as competitive as possible while dealing the type of players you generally deal which is big-money veterans that can help a playoff contender. This probably leads to more trades.”

That wasn’t the lone rule change approved ahead of the 2024 season as the league also expanded its replay assist program. Intentional grounding, roughing the passer and hits out of bounds were all added to the league’s list of plays that officials can be guided on through replay assistance.