NFL Rule Changes for Onside Kicks Addressed by Insiders in New Rumors amid Concern Over 0 Recoveries

The NFL could "spend a lot of attention" on fixing the onside kick this offseason, The Athletic's Jonathan Jones reported.

There have been zero recoveries on 22 onside-kick attempts through the first nine weeks of the 2026 season, which is the latest a season has gone without a single onside recovery since 2000, according to Jones.

The onside kick recovery rate was 19.5 percent between 2000 and 2017, per CBS Sports. That figure fell to 8.7 percent after 2018, when the league eliminated running starts. Since the new "dynamic kickoff" rules were introduced in 2024, onside kick recoveries have nearly gone extinct.

The league has tinkered with kickoffs for years, ranging from banning wedge blocks in 2009 to eliminating running starts entirely in 2018. In 2024, the NFL introduced the new "dynamic kickoff" with the intention of increasing kick returns and reducing injuries caused by high-speed collisions.

Under the new rules, teams were no longer allowed to attempt surprise onside kicks and could only declare an onside kick while they were trailing their opponent in the fourth quarter.

The league has attempted to modify those restrictions over the past two years, according to ESPN's Kevin Seifert. In 2025, the NFL allowed teams to declare an onside kick at any point rather than just the fourth quarter. This season, teams no longer needed to be trailing to declare an onside kick.

None of those small alterations have mattered. The league wants the recovery rate for onside kicks to be around 10 percent, according to Jones. To accomplish that, they'll likely have to tinker with the kickoff rules even more.

Jones reported that league executives have admitted that they focused more on fixing the kickoff return rate than fixing the onside kick, but "there's no way the surprise onside will come back."