Lions Withdraw Playoff Seeding Proposal, Lacked Support
Lions did not have a lot of support for their playoff seeding proposal.
The Detroit Lions’ bid to amend the NFL playoff seeding rules fell short of the necessary support and was reportedly withdrawn at the spring meetings in Minnesota. Their proposal sought to rethink how teams are seeded from the Divisional Round onward, but met resistance over its suggestion to remove the guaranteed home playoff game currently reserved for division winners.
On a recent episode of ESPN’s *NFL Live*, analyst Peter Schrager pointed out that stripping division champions of that automatic home-field advantage would have made it virtually impossible to secure the 24 votes required for the change.
“The idea is to still give division winners an automatic berth, but when it comes to that home playoff game, let’s reward the teams with the best records in the conference,” Schrager explained. “I’ve spoken with numerous owners and team presidents, and I’m not convinced there’s enough support to pass this right now. You need 24 of 32 votes, and frankly, I don’t see the urgency or the numbers to get it done.”
Reporter Jeremy Fowler did suggest that a push to tweak playoff seeding isn’t off the table, noting growing concern over meaningless late-season matchups for teams already locked into their spots.
He added, “Although the recent reseeding proposal didn’t gain traction, executives admit that some form of reseeding will eventually be necessary—especially if the NFL moves to an 18-game schedule.”
Other proposals considered at the spring meetings included banning the Philadelphia Eagles’ “Tush Push” formation. One measure that did pass was a vote to allow NFL players to compete in flag football at the 2028 Olympics.
