Report: NFL Rule Change Likely to Be Proposed to Move Touchback on Kickoffs to 35

The NFL competition committee reportedly is set to change the spot of touchbacks from the 30-yard-line to the 35-yard-line, according to Mark Maske of the Washington Post, "barring a last-minute switch."

The change would be made in an effort to "further boost the rate of returns" and there is "less sentiment to move the spot of the kick itself as a potential means to boost the rate of kickoff returns," per Maske.

The NFL changed its kickoff rules in the 2024 season, attempting to thread the needle between making the play safer and still encouraging returns. While the change had its critics, NFL Football Operations said in January that return rates increased by 11 percent during the 2024 regular season after just 21.8 percent of kicks were returned in 2023, the lowest in NFL history.

Still, some teams took the approach of simply kicking the ball out of the back of the end zone and settling for a touchback rather than risking the potential of a long return. That made sense—NFL Football Operations noted that there were 59 returns of 40 yards or more in 2024, the most since 2016.

Giving teams starting field position at the 35-yard-line after a touchback, however, may encourage more teams to take their chances defending the return.

As for the possibility of simply moving the spot of the kickoff itself back, the NFL NFL competition committee's chairman, Rich McKay, said in February that altering the touchback spot probably would be more effective in increasing returns, citing the increasing distance modern kickers can reach.

"The easier of the options to make sure that you're going to move the number up on return percentage, in my mind, is the touchback," he told reporters. "Our kickers now in the game are really good. So moving the kick back, I don't know how much you impact that."

As Maske noted, the NFL owners still need to re-ratify 2024's dynamic kickoff format, which was instituted on a one-year trial run. The changes to the touchback line could come with the re-ratification of the format.