Report: Potential tush push ban tabled until May

A proposal to the NFL's competition committee to ban the tush push has been tabled, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport.

The postponed conversation will pick up in May, Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer reports. Sixteen teams opposed the tush push ban, a source told CBS Sports' Jonathan Jones.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said Tuesday that the league is aware of the potential injury risk despite there being a limited amount of data.

"I think there are safety issues being considered with the tush push," Goodell said. "We have very little data, but we see the potential risk. It makes a lot of sense to go back to the old rule prohibiting pulling or pushing ball carriers."

Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie reasoned against the argument of the play being a potential risk, saying the franchise believes it's safer than the traditional quarterback sneak.

"I want to know what data there is," Lurie said Tuesday, according to Olivia Reiner of The Philadelphia Inquirer. "I don't think there is any. If you want to say that it could be (dangerous), it's hard to make rules on could-bes and should-bes."

He added, "We will always, always support what is safer for the players. It's a no-brainer. If this is proven to be less safe for the players, we will be against the tush push. But until that's the case, to me, there would be no reason to ban this play."

The Green Bay Packers initially submitted the proposal in February, citing player safety issues and competitiveness. The motion would "prohibit an offensive player from pushing a teammate who was lined up directly behind the snapper and receives the snap, immediately at the snap."

The committee is composed of the league's team owners, and any motion would require 24 of the 32 votes to pass. A source told Fox Sports' Jordan Schultz that the language of the proposal was "just not clear enough and can easily be manipulated."

The tush push involves the ball being snapped to the quarterback, who is then pushed by two players from behind. It's used in short-yardage situations and has recently been popularized by the Philadelphia Eagles. The reigning champions converted 28 of their 34 attempts in 2024.

"There is no skill involved and it is almost an automatic first down on plays of a yard or less," Packers president Mark Murphy said in February. "We should go back to prohibiting the push of the runner. This would bring back the traditional QB sneak."

Carolina Panthers head coach Dave Canales told NFL Network's Cameron Wolfe on Tuesday that he didn't want to take a competitive advantage out of the game, since "the statistics don't say it's definitely a dangerous play."

Lurie also said it's not a "relevant" critique whether the tush push looks like a football play.

"I think aestheticism is very subjective," Lurie told reporters, including Brooks Kubena of The Athletic. "I've never judged whether a play looks okay. Does a screen pass look better than an in route or an out route? I don't know."

A tush push ban was also floated last season, but was dropped by the NFL due to the lack of injury data.