NFL owners came together on Monday at the annual league meetings in Orlando, Florida, and unanimously voted to ban the swivel hip-drop tackle.
The NFL has banned the hip-drop tackle, source said. The Competition Committee was unanimous on it.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 25, 2024
According to Yahoo Sports’ Jori Epstein, NFL Competition Committee chairman Rich McKay made it a point to note that the ban is for only the “swivel” version of the hip-drop and played a series of video examples for voters.
Rich McKay says hip-drop ban passed unanimously. Interesting always, & especially after PA voiced concern over excess fining.
Ban is specifically for “swivel” version of hip-drop, not all versions, which will be hard to officiate consistently. Here are examples voters saw today: pic.twitter.com/XYWSxpQWe4
— Jori Epstein (@JoriEpstein) March 25, 2024
The version that they’re hoping to eliminate is the one where a defensive player lifts himself off the ground and uses his weight to fall on an opponent, adds ESPN’s Mike Garafolo.
Rich McKay making it clear multiple times there’s a difference between a hip-drop tackle and the swivel hip-drop tackle. The defensive player lifting himself off the ground and using his weight to fall on the offensive player is what they’re working to eliminate. https://t.co/gnSmMDwaGn
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) March 25, 2024
Oh, and a violation will result in a 15-yard penalty if flagged during a game.
Naturally, many defenders are not on board with the new rule, including Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Darius Slay.
Slay, per usual, didn’t hold back on sharing his reaction.
“It’s about to be a lot of miss tackles,” Slay posted on his X account with a laughing emoji.
It’s about to be a lot of miss tackles 😂
— Darius Slay (@bigplay24slay) March 25, 2024
The NFLPA shared their thoughts days before NFL owners officially voted to ban the swivel hip-drop tackle.
“We cannot support a rule change that causes confusion for us as players, for coaches, for officials and especially, for fans,” the NFLPA said in a statement.
There’s no changing the rule now, however, according to the NFL’s executive vice president of football operations, Troy Vincent, the hip-drop tackle penalty would likely be enforced similarly to the “use of helmet” rule.
That means there would be more warnings and fines a week later rather than actual in-game penalties.
