NFL owners are close to reducing overtime to 10 minutes

ATLANTA, GA – OCTOBER 23: Members of the NFL Referee crew Michael Banks #72, Greg Meyer #78, Bruce Stritesky #102, Phil McKinnely #110, Head Referee Bill Vinovich #52, Mark Perlman #9, and Gary Cavaletto #60 (L-R) pose for a photograph before the game between Atlanta Falcons and the San Diego Chargers before the game at the Georgia Dome on October 23, 2016 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images)

NFLBy David Lauterbach on May 17, 2017May 17, 2017

Back in March, NFL owners nearly made it official that preseason and regular-season overtime would be reduced from 15 to 10 minutes. The owners tabled that proposal then, but it looks like they will approve it soon.

NFL owners are also expected to approve the proposal that was previously tabled to reduce regular season OT from 15 to 10 minutes.

— Judy Battista (@judybattista) May 17, 2017

When the owners first discussed the change back in March, they agreed to table it, assuming they would approve it at the spring meeting. Well, that meeting is scheduled for next Monday through Wednesday in Chicago and the owners are expecting to follow through on the idea.

Owners like the idea of shortening overtime because it could limit the amount of plays players are involved in each game that goes into overtime, which could possibly prevent injuries. During the 2016-2017 season, there were six overtime games that lasted more than 10 minutes, the second-most in NFL history.

While there is some concern that a 10-minute overtime could lead to more ties, that doesn’t seem to stop the owners from pushing towards the change.

Some people took to Twitter after the news came out this morning to express skepticism about the change.

The only change the NFL should be making to the overtime rules is that they should duplicate College Football's overtime rules.

— Mike Ortiz Jr. (@TrustOrtiz) May 17, 2017

Do NFL owners not realize how exciting watching college football overtime is?

— Jordan Reid (@Jordan_Reid) May 17, 2017

NFL owners reportedly are poised to make a huge mistake when it comes to overtime https://t.co/IZadoKZFRn

— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) May 17, 2017

One more time: If NFL overtime was 10 minutes and not 15, Bucs tie Raiders instead of losing late and on that alone, make playoffs in 2016.

— Greg Auman (@gregauman) May 17, 2017

According to the NFL Network via ESPN, owners and the league are also thinking about changing the roster rules so that two players per team can return from injured reserve each year. The rule currently only allows one player to return from IR each season after an eight-week absence.

[ESPN]

About David Lauterbach

David is a writer for The Comeback. He enjoyed two Men's Basketball Final Four trips for Syracuse before graduating in 2016. If The Office or Game of Thrones is on TV, David will be watching.

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