Why did NFL move the trade deadline? Potential reasons behind major change explored

The NFL is getting reshaped before our very eyes. The hip-drop tackle has been banned, the kickoff is getting scrapped as fans know it, and the trade deadline is moving back. According to NFL insider Jonathan Jones, teams will have one more week in 2024 to make deals than they had in 2023.

Last year, the trade deadline took place after Week 8. This year, the deadline will take place after Week 9. However, while the change is welcomed by many, others have met the move with questions. Here's a look at why the move may have taken place.

The biggest key piece of evidence comes from Cleveland Browns general manager Andrew Berry. Speaking at the NFL Scouting Combine earlier this year, the general manager explained why he proposed moving it back.

Essentially, he claimed that as it was, the trade deadline took place before even 50% of the league's games had wrapped. According to his numbers, baseball and basketball both cut off trading 65% of the way through the season. Hockey waits until 78% of the year is done. The National Football League had sat at 45%.

Of course, now that the move is finalized, that percentage has changed. While Berry had proposed the schedule be moved two weeks, the league settled on just one. In the end, the Week 9 cut-off lands exactly halfway through the 18-week regular season.

Additionally, the reason for making the move back follows the league's choice to increase the number of games played by every team by one. When the change happened following the 2020 season, the trade deadline was left where it was. Now, the trade deadline has moved back to match the lengthier schedule.

NFL drastically changes kickoff rules

XFL kicks off at New York Guardians v DC Defenders

The trade deadline wasn't the only thing addressed on Tuesday. NFL insiders across the league broke the news that the kickoff no longer resembles players such as Denver Broncos kick returner Marvin Mims sprinting the length of the field. Instead, the kickoff will look quite a bit different.

A line of both teams will line up opposite each other at the offense's 40-yard line, and upon the kickoff, the players will attempt to block and/or tackle the returner. The kickoff method seemingly copies the kickoff method used by AJ McCarron's XFL in previous years, marking perhaps the first time in league history that an outside professional league managed to influence the National Football League.