One of the most persistently debated topics of the last year may not even make a peep in 2026.
NFL competition committee co-chairman Rich McKay revealed Sunday he is not anticipating a proposal to ban the tush push during this offseason, NFL Network's Judy Battista reported.
"There's no team proposal that I've seen from it," McKay said, via ESPN. "So, I wouldn't envision it. But you never know."
A ban was proposed by the Green Bay Packers at this time a year ago, drawing battle lines in a debate that raged on throughout the spring, included public arguments for and against the play's existence, saw the Packers submit a broader, revised proposal and even led one team's social media account (the Eagles) to celebrate when the tush push's legality survived by a narrow margin in late May.
First popularized by the Philadelphia Eagles, the play has grown in use and variation over the last four seasons, with some adopters (Seattle, Pittsburgh, Green Bay) replacing their quarterback with a bulkier tight end to take the snap and surge forward. Some clubs have also implemented wrinkles that have fooled defenses into believing they're lining up for a scrum and instead execute toss sweeps or end-arounds, occasionally popping off a huge scoring play.
Comically, one of the play's biggest public detractors, former Bills coach Sean McDermott, turned to the play to win a playoff game in January, asking his superstar quarterback Josh Allen to run it not once, but twice to score the game-winning touchdown in Jacksonville on Wild Card Weekend. As they had in the 2024 season, Buffalo used the play plenty in 2025 even after McDermott publicly campaigned for its elimination from the game under the guise of player safety concerns.
As the battle dragged on a year ago, discourse regarding the play grew in intensity and frequency, becoming a vitriolic debate that was unusually intense among the league's owners. When time came for a final determination, the matter had taken on an identity that looked more like a midnight vote in Congress than a rule change in professional football.
The play's narrow survival didn't quite stop the debate, either, as the discourse morphed into one that also paid unusually close attention to potential false starts committed by offensive linemen during the 2025 season.
Maybe fatigue can be a good thing. It seems much of the football world is tired of discussing the legality of a modified quarterback sneak in 2026 and would like to tackle more important matters in the coming months (playoff seeding, perhaps?). McKay added he doesn't expect many rule change proposals during this offseason -- "the game is in a good place," he told Battista -- but there is time for a courageous club or two to rock the boat with new submissions.
