Last month, the Steelers proposed allowing each team to make a video or phone call to up to five impending free agents during the two-day negotiating window. As it turns out, it’s an effort to make an experiment into a permanent rule.
Last year, the owners approved a rule allowing teams to have direct contact with up to five impending free agents during the negotiating period. The league office has explained to PFT that the change applies for one year only.
The recent proposal by the Steelers would make the change permanent.
The owners will presumably vote on the more recent proposal during the upcoming annual meetings, which begin later this month. It’s possible that it will simply be extended for another year.
The difference is significant. It takes 24 votes to change a rule. Once a rule is permanently changed, it takes 24 votes to get rid of it.
For temporary rules, it takes a fresh 24 votes either to extend it for another year, or to make it permanent.
It makes plenty of sense to let teams speak directly to free agents before striking a deal. Since the NFL adopted the negotiating window in 2012, teams have been prevented from talking directly to players (except when players serve as their own agents). It makes the two-day negotiating period a matter of money only, with deals typically being done sight-unseen.
Why not let the team and the player spend some time getting to know each other before agreeing to terms? While a single call isn’t much, it’s better than nothing at all.
The one-year rule also allows teams to make travel arrangements once a deal is reached. The Steelers’ proposal for a permanent rule change in 2026 includes a provision that also allows travel arrangements to be made on a permanent basis.
Tampering is already rampant. Anything that expands the ability for both sides to get more information and, if a deal is struck, to put the wheels in motion for making the deal official makes the rules better fit the reality.
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