NFL owners on Tuesday voted to pass the hybrid kickoff rule that is intended to increase the number of returns during the 2024 season while maintaining player health and safety as a priority, NFL Network Insiders Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero reported.

Proposed for one year only, the new kickoff rules would feature new alignments for both the kicking and receiving units. A proposed “landing zone,” the area between the receiving team’s goal line and its 20-yard line, would prompt action off the kickoff if the ball were to land there.

NFL's new kick off rules pic.twitter.com/QjjxxV8rGn

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Kickoffs would remain at the 35-yard line but the remaining 10 players of the kicking unit would line up at the opposing team’s 40-yard line. The receiving team would line up with at least seven players in the “set up zone,” a five-yard area between their own 35- and 30-yard lines, and a maximum of two returners are permitted to line up in the landing zone.