The NFL wants the hip-drop tackle banned for 2024, and the Competition Committee, with a meeting scheduled for Thursday, is discussing it.
The tackle, which the NFL says increases risk of injury by 25 times the rate of a standard tackle, has taken out some high-profile players this season.
Ravens tight end Mark Andrews, Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith and most recently Dolphins receiver Tyreek Hill are among those who have been injured by a hip-drop tackle.
“I think we all should work to get that out of the game,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said Wednesday at the NFL owners meetings in Irving, Texas. “You see it escalated the number of times it occurred this season. The injuries could be very devastating. We saw that also: It’s not just happening at the NFL level; it’s happening at other levels. It’s something that we have to work very hard to get that removed this spring.”
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is ready to vote for outlawing the tackle. He saw his running back, Tony Pollard, fracture a fibula and require surgery to repair ligaments in his ankle after being tackled from behind on a hip-drop tackle by 49ers defensive back Jimmie Ward in the 2022 postseason.
Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes played through a high-ankle sprain after being taken down on a hip-drop tackle by Jaguars defensive lineman Arden Key in the 2022 postseason.
The National Rugby League in Australia banned the tackle because of the injuries it causes. Despite talk about a possible move to do the same in the NFL last spring, neither the Competition Committee nor any team offered a proposal regarding the tackle. The league ultimately decided the tackle is hard to define clearly and enforce consistently.
Now, though, the league has changed its opinion and stance about the tackle.
“I think we have to [ban it] now,” NFL executive vice president of football operations Troy Vincent said. “I think a year ago when we actually drew the hip drop or a version of the tackle that we were seeing on video, there were some clubs that had no clue what we were talking about. Just never saw it. In their mind, they never saw it before and don’t teach it. Others were not actually teaching a version of it with the intent of injuring the player but [teaching] versions of the tackle. All of this is in that family of when we saw the hawk tackle and people adjusting to getting the head out of the game.
“One thing we can do today is define what that is. It is to grip; it’s to rotate and drop. Those three things show up on that play, and it’s a gruesome play.”