The NFL has gone through some rule changes in recent history and they tend to adopt some of the rules that are tried out in the UFL first. For example, last season the NFL changed its kick-off rules in favor of going with the UFL’s design.
The NFL might soon go with a new UFL rule that has Dan Campbell written all over it. The rule would see the extinction of the onside kick in favor of one 4th-and-12 attempt from the kicking team’s 28-yard line.
The NFL has already made the onside kick meaningless by making it so teams have to declare to their opponents that they intend to try it. There were 42 onside kick attempts in 2024 and only three of them were successful. At this point, it’s just a useless strategy. The Lions had two of those attempts and were unsuccessful on both.
What they were successful at was going for it on fourth down. They went for it 33 times in 2024 and were successful on 22 of those attempts. For a team that loves to gamble a rule that would allow them to gamble and get their ball back for their hot offense is one that the Lions would probably utilize quite a bit.
The good news is that the NFL is already reportedly considering the move. The Eagles proposed a similar rule last year, but it would require a fourth-and-20 conversion from the kicking team’s 20-yard line. That would be a little harder, for sure. Ultimately that idea did not receive enough votes to pass, but after so many complained about the onside kick rules this year, it might get the the necessary 24 votes to pass.