NFL Playoff Seeding Rule Change Proposal Reportedly 'Long Shot to Pass' on Next Vote

The proposed change to NFL playoff seeding that would prioritize record over division winners is reportedly not considered likely to pass at the NFL owners meeting next week in Minnesota.

During an appearance Saturday on SportsCenter (beginning at the 1:20 mark of the video), ESPN NFL insider Jeremy Fowler called it a "long shot" for the rule change to be enacted ahead of the 2025 season:

The current NFL playoff format features seven teams qualifying in each conference. The Nos. 1 through 4 seeds are the division winners ordered by record, while the Nos. 5 through 7 seeds are the three non-division winners in the conference with the best record.

Under the proposal submitted by the Detroit Lions, the four division winners in each conference would still automatically qualify for the playoffs, but they would not be guaranteed a top-four seed.

For example, a team that wins its division with a 9-8 record would be seeded behind a wild-card team with a 10-7 record.

As part of the Lions' proposal, the field would be reseeded after the Wild Card Round with the highest remaining seed facing the lowest remaining seed in the Divisional Round.

In order for the proposal to pass, at least 24 of the NFL's 32 owners would have to vote in favor of it. SI.com's Albert Breer reported this week that "only a handful" of teams expressed they were ready to pass the proposal when NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell conducted an unofficial vote in March.

Had the proposed rule been in place last season, it would have changed things significantly in the NFC.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Los Angeles Rams were the Nos. 3 and 4 seeds as division winners with 10-7 records, but all three of the wild-card teams behind them had at least 11 wins, so the Bucs and Rams would have been Nos. 6 and 7 seeds under the proposed rule.

The Minnesota Vikings, who had a chance to clinch the NFC North title and the No. 1 seed in Week 18 last season against the Lions, had to settle for the No. 5 seed with a 14-3 record.

They ended up losing a Wild Card Round road game against the Rams, but they would have hosted a home game in the opening round under the proposed rule.

Fowler noted that while he doesn't see the rule getting passed this time around, he believes there is a good chance it happens in the future since the league is in favor of it.

The hope is that not locking division winners into a top-four seed would make it more likely that better seeds that yield playoff home games are still up for grabs late in the season, lessening the likelihood of teams resting their starters in the final regular-season week.