Is the NFL trade deadline changing? Six teams apparently want to submit a proposal

New development in the NFL? According to “CBS Sports”, six teams are planning to submit a proposal to the league to push back the trade deadline by two weeks – from week eight to week ten of the regular season to be precise.

According to the report, the San Francisco 49ers and Philadelphia Eagles, the past two NFC champions, as well as the Cleveland Browns, the New York Jets, the Washington Commanders and the Detroit Lions are in favor.

According to the report, however, it is still unclear whether the proposal will be accepted by the NFL owners at the annual league meeting at the end of March. There is “disagreement among both the owners and the general managers themselves as to whether the deadline should be moved at all”.

For Browns general manager Andrew Berry, the issue is clear: “Our professional sports league has by far the earliest deadline. In baseball and basketball, the deadline is after about 65 percent of the games, in field hockey it’s 78 percent. We are currently at 45 percent.”

He added: “Our proposal would move the deadline to about 55 percent of games played while maintaining the integrity of the season. “

According to the report, the league’s hesitation is due to the NFL’s desire to prevent tanking, i.e. deliberately losing for a better draft position.

A postponement of the deadline could prompt teams to give up important players if they feel they can no longer fight for a playoff spot

Browns GM doesn’t accept argument

For Browns GM Berry, however, this is not an invalidating argument. “I don’t think that’s really borne out in the data. If we go back and look at the data after week ten, there are usually at least 27 teams that are only two games out of a wild card spot with seven or eight games left.”

The annual Owner’s Meeting will take place March 24-27 in Orlando, Florida.