NEW YORK — The NFL and the NFL Players Association will suspend a player for one game once he commits a third violation in any of five player health and safety categories, the league and the union announced Wednesday in a joint statement. The threshold takes effect this season.
The five categories are the hip drop tackle, the horse collar tackle, launching, a hit on a defenseless player, and the blindside block.
Clubs were briefed on the changes Wednesday at a league meeting in Atlanta. Player leadership was briefed a day earlier and voted on them at a Board of Player Representatives meeting.
The two sides describe player safety as a responsibility shared by players, coaches, and clubs.
“The goal is simple: make the game safer by focusing discipline on the techniques most likely to result in player injury rather than players who make isolated mistakes during competition,” the NFL and NFLPA said in the joint statement.
A player who commits a single offense in one of the eligible categories gets money back at the end of the season. How much is not clear from the document. One paragraph sets the refund at half the fine. Further down, a later passage sets it at the entire amount.
Violations in the five categories carry forward into subsequent seasons. Every player starts 2026 with a clean slate. The statement says players now have a clearer and faster path to reducing the impact of prior offenses than the previous system gave them.
Coaches will be required to sit in on meetings between the league and players who are approaching the suspension threshold. Clubs that accumulate excessive health and safety violations face increased financial penalties.
“This approach distinguishes between isolated mistakes and repeated conduct that jeopardizes the health and safety of players,” the NFL and NFLPA explained in the statement.
Ron Rivera Added To On-Field Discipline Appeals Pool
Ron Rivera joins the pool of former players who hear on-field discipline appeals. Chicago took Rivera 44th overall in the 1984 draft, and he played nine seasons at linebacker for the Chicago Bears, including the 1985 team that won Super Bowl XX. He spent nine seasons as head coach of the Carolina Panthers and four as head coach of the Washington Commanders. Since March 2025 he has been the general manager of the football program at California, his alma mater.
Appeals officers are appointed and paid by both the league and the union. Cases get assigned at random. Derrick Brooks, Jordy Nelson, and James Thrash have handled that work, according to NFL Football Operations. A ruling by an appeals officer is final and binding.
Washington linebacker Frankie Luvu was suspended one game on Nov. 3, 2025, after a third hip drop tackle that season. Luvu had been fined for the first two, in Week 4 and in Week 8, and no flag was thrown on any of the three.
Owners banned the hip drop tackle ahead of the 2024 season. The foul carries 15 yards. The league rewrote Rule 12, Section 2, Article 18 ahead of the 2025 season. The foul now reaches a tackler who grabs the runner with one hand rather than both. It also reaches a tackler who lands on the runner’s legs or traps them.
Dallas Cowboys Led The NFL In Penalties Last Season
The Dallas Cowboys finished 2025 as the most penalized team in the league. Dallas averaged the most unsportsmanlike conduct penalties per game and the most unnecessary roughness penalties per game, according to Sharp Football Analysis. The Cowboys also averaged the most third down penalties per game and ranked first in offensive holding penalties per game.
The league fined the Cowboys and the New Orleans Saints $500,000 each on Aug. 20 over the fights at their joint practice in Oxnard, California, two days earlier. Jerry Jones said Dallas will appeal. Donovan Ezeiruaku was thrown out of that practice for throwing a punch, his second ejection of training camp, and cornerback Caelen Carson was ejected from the same session.
Dallas closes the preseason against New Orleans on Friday at AT&T Stadium. Kickoff is 7 p.m. CT on CBS and ESPN. The regular season opens Sept. 13 at the New York Giants. That kickoff is 7:20 p.m. CT on NBC.
