New safety-rule system would have resulted in one suspension in 2024 and one in 2025

The NFL and NFL Players Association have agreed to a new system aimed at enhancing player safety. It calls for a suspension if a player violates a given rule three times in the same year.

The five applicable rules are hip-drop tackles, horse-collar tackles, launching, hits on defenseless players and blindside blocks.

The suspension applies only if a player commits three violations of the same rule. For example, three hip-drop tackles will trigger a suspension. Two hip-drop tackles and one horse-collar tackle won’t.

So how would this new procedure have applied in recent years? Per a source with knowledge of the situation, the NFLPA informed players on Wednesday that one player would have been suspended in 2024, and one player would have been suspended in 2025.

Players often view fines as the cost of playing football the way they believe football should be played. The possibility of a suspension should make them view it differently, because a third violation of the same rule will keep them off the field.