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For the second time in six weeks, the NFL's owners are getting together and when they do, they'll be covering some big topics that could have a huge impact on the 2025 season. 

The owners will be spending Tuesday and Wednesday in Minneapolis and while they're there, the group is expected to vote on three possible rule changes. The owners will also be voting on whether to allow NFL players to participate in flag football during the 2028 Olympics. 

Here's what you need to know: 

Playoff format could be changing

The NFL revealed the details of this proposal on Monday night. Under the proposed rule, seven teams in each conference will make the playoffs with four division champions and three wild-card teams. However, the big change is that the teams will be seeded by who has the best record. Under this proposal, a wild-card team could be seeded ahead of a division winner if the wild-card team has a better record. This means there's a chance that division winners could be playing road games in the wild-card round, which isn't possible under the current format. If this proposal would have been in place in 2024, the playoffs would have looked much different, especially in the NFC, where five of the seven teams would have been a different seed than what they ended up being under the current format. 

We've got the full breakdown of the proposed format here. 

Tush push could be banned

The NFL owners decided not to vote on this in March, because the language in the rule proposal wasn't clear, but now, the proposal has been slightly tweaked and it seems that there's at least a chance that this could pass. Since the NFL's inception in 1920 through 2005, the league had a rule in place that banned players from pushing or pulling a runner in any direction and that's essentially what his new proposal calls for. The rule specifically states that no teammate can "push or pull a runner in any direction at any time or lift him to his feet." Teammates can no longer assist a runner except by "individually blocking opponents for him." 

For the Eagles, this means that no can push the QB from behind after the ball is snapped, which is one of the key parts of the tush push

The vote to ban the tush push is expected to happen on Wednesday and it will be interesting to see if the proposal can muster enough votes to pass. 

Onside kick might be tweaked 

Under the current rules, a team can only attempt an onside kick in the fourth quarter, and even then, they can only attempt it if they're trailing. Under this proposal, a team could declare an onside kick at ANY POINT in a game as long as they're trailing. This proposal would also allow the players on the kicking team to line up one yard closer, which could give them a better chance to recover an onside kick. Under the current rule, every player on the kicking team -- except the kicker -- has to have at least one foot on the 34-yard line before an onside attempt, but now, they'll be able to put their foot on the 35-yard line, which will put them three feet closer to possibly recovering the football. 

Ravens' John Harbaugh 'not excited' about Lamar Jackson possibly playing flag football in 2028 Olympics
Cody Benjamin
Ravens' John Harbaugh 'not excited' about Lamar Jackson possibly playing flag football in 2028 Olympics

NFL players will likely be allowed to participate in 2028 Olympics

The owners are expected to approve a resolution that will allow NFL players to participate in the Olympics, according to ESPN. There was some hesitation on the owners' end about allowing NFL players to participate in flag football because they had some big questions about what would happen if a player got injured, but the league was able to answer those to everyone's satisfaction and that will likely clear the path for players to participate. 

If the resoluation does pass, here are a few of the rules that will be in place for the Olympics: 

  • Only one player per NFL team will be allowed to participate (in addition to permitting each NFL Club's designated International Player to play for his country). 
  • Each team will get appropriate injury protection, and salary cap credit, for any NFL player who is injured while authorized to participate in flag football activities related to the 2028 Olympics through the placement of one or more league-wide insurance policies.
  • An agreement that Olympic flag football teams will implement certain minimum standards for medical staff and field surfaces to be eligible for an NFL Player to participate in Olympic flag football.  

Once this is approved, that will formally allow NFL players to participate in flag football at the 2028 Olympics, which will be held in Los Angeles. 

As for the other three rules, for any of them to be implemented for the 2025 season, 24 of the NFL's 32 owners would have to vote to approve the proposal. The owners weren't interested in changing the playoff format or eliminating the tush-push back in March, so it will be interesting to see if they change their mind on those two topics. The vote on the tush push and the possible new playoff format are both expected to happen on Wednesday.