Browns to Submit 2024 NFL Rule Change Proposal to Push Back Trade Deadline

As the NFL trade deadline has become more active in recent years, at least one team wants to see the league move the deadline back on the calendar.

Cleveland Browns general manager Andrew Berry told reporters on Tuesday they are going to make an official proposal to the NFL to move the trade deadline back.

Berry laid out several reasons for the Browns' proposal, including the fact that the NFL regular season is longer now that they are playing 17 games. He's also anticipating the addition of an 18th regular-season game, which Peter King of NBC Sports reported back in 2021 was being eyed to happen possibly as soon as the 2025 or '26 season.

Another argument Berry made is the trade deadline in things like the NBA and MLB happens well beyond the halfway mark in the regular season.

For example, the NBA trade deadline this season was on Feb. 8. All 30 teams had played between 49 to 52 games as of that date.

The NFL trade deadline hasn't moved back since 2012. It has been the Tuesday after Week 8 over the past 12 years. Prior to the 2012 season, the deadline was the Tuesday after Week 6.

In the past, though, the NFL trade deadline was largely forgettable. The 2015 season saw only one trade in the week leading up to the deadline when the Denver Broncos acquired Vernon Davis from the San Francisco 49ers.

More recently, teams have shown more of a willingness to make deals during the season. The 10 trades involving 12 players on deadline day during the 2022 season were the most in 30 years.

There were a total of 15 in-season deals, including six on deadline day, last season.

Moving the deadline later into the season would give teams more time to properly assess where they stand in the league hierarchy and could potentially lead to increased activity, even compared to what has happened over the past two seasons.

The Browns' proposal will be voted on in March by the owners during a league meeting. NFL rules require a 75-percent approval from the owners (24 out of 32) for any changes to be implemented.