When the NFL’s 32 owners get together in Phoenix at the end of the month, they’ll be voting on multiple rule changes, including one proposal from the Cleveland Browns that could lead to more NFL trades.
The Browns proposal is simple: They want to make a rule change so that teams can trade draft picks up to five years in the future. The current rule only allows for teams to trade for picks three years into the future.
The NFL has turned into a trade-happy league and the belief is that this rule change would lead to even more changes. Since the start of the league year on March 11, there have been 18 trades in just eight days.
The Browns will need 24 of the NFL’s 32 owners to approve the rule for it to pass, and so far, it sounds like they definitely have the support of at least one team: The Los Angeles Rams.
Rams president Kevin Demoff gave his opinion on the proposal Wednesday night.
“Nothing creates more interest in the NFL than trades,” Demoff wrote on social media. “This is why Cleveland’s proposal to allow teams to trade picks up to 5 years out as opposed to 3 years out makes so much sense. More picks to trade = more trades = more interest & team building options.”
No one loves to trade draft picks more than the Rams, so if they’re on board with the proposal, it’s possible other teams feel the same way. As things currently stand, teams are allowed to trade picks all the way until the 2028 draft. If the Browns proposal had been in place this offseason, teams would have been allowed to trade picks up until the 2030 draft.
The Browns have been doing their best to make the NFL a more trade-friendly league. Back in 2024, they proposed a new rule that called for the NFL to extend the trade deadline and that proposal passed. The trade deadline is now the first Tuesday after Week 9, instead of Week 8, which is where it was under the previous rule.
Cleveland’s proposal is one of just two teams proposals that will be presented at the NFL’s annual league meeting, which kicks off on March 29 and runs through April 1.
The other one came from Pittsburgh.
- The Pittsburgh proposal. The Steelers proposed a rule that actually went into effect this year: For the first time ever, teams were allowed to have one video or phone call with up to five prospective unrestricted free agent during the two-day negotiation period. The Steelers want to make that rule permanent and they want the NFL to allow teams to make travel arrangements for any player who agrees to terms during the two-day negotiating period. Under the current rule, if a player agrees to a deal on Monday, teams still can’t make his travel arrangements until the new league year starts at 4 p.m. ET on Wednesday.
One rule proposal that won’t be on the table this year is a unique one from the Rams. They have withdrawn their proposal related to the Seahawks’ crazy two-point conversion that took place in Seattle’s wild 38-37 win back in Week 16.
CBS Sports NFL insider Jonathan Jones reported in February that the Rams were thinking about proposing a rule that would have nullified the play. Basically, the gist of the proposal is that a backward pass that bounces off a defender and crosses the line of scrimmage would be incomplete.
The proposals by the Steelers and Browns won’t be the only rules that the owners vote on. The competition committee will release its own proposals at some point and those are expected to come next week.
