Total Pro Sports
Next week, all eyes in the NFL world will turn to Eagan, Minnesota. That’s where league owners will gather at the Minnesota Vikings’ TCO Performance Center for a meeting that could reshape the postseason picture for years. On the docket: a bold proposal from the Detroit Lions that would overhaul how playoff teams are seeded.
Right now, winning your division guarantees a top-four seed. But if the Lions get their way, that’s about to change. Their plan? Still send the usual seven teams from each conference- four division champs, three wild cards, but then seed them purely by record.
Division titles would still matter in tiebreaker scenarios, but teams with better records would finally earn the home-field edge they deserve.
The Lions’ proposal, labeled Bylaw Proposal No. 4, comes with strong backing from Detroit’s front office. The reasoning is clear and printed in the official NFL rules memo sent to clubs: “Competitive equity. Provides excitement and competition in late-season games. Rewards the best-performing teams from the regular season.”
🚨REPORT: #NFL owners will vote next week on the new playoff seeding based on their teams' records.
If passed, each conference gets 4 division champs, 3 wild cards—7 teams total. All 7 seeded by regular-season record, reseeded after 1st round.
WOW…
(Via Sports Illustrated) pic.twitter.com/TLa0PdgfCX
— MLFootball (@_MLFootball) May 16, 2025
The data seems to support it. According to the NFL’s analytics team, several playoff-bound teams rested starters in Week 18 last season because their seeding was already locked in. That included the Texans, Rams, and Eagles- all of whom lost those games. Under the proposed system, those teams would have faced much more uncertainty in their final week, potentially playing for seeds 4 through 7 instead of cruising in with no stakes.
Had the system been in place last year, Minnesota, not Tampa Bay, would have hosted a playoff game. The 14-win Vikings would have slotted in at No. 3 instead of No. 5, avoiding a brutal road trip to Los Angeles, where the Rams ended their season.
The new format would also introduce reseeding after the first round, meaning the No. 1 seed would always face the lowest-remaining team. That eliminates bracket locks and adds a fresh layer of fairness and strategy to the playoff path.
Commissioner Roger Goodell tested the waters in March with an unofficial vote, but only a handful of teams showed early support. Still, the mood has shifted. Owners are now weighing not just fairness, but television ratings, fan engagement, and the ripple effect on player usage late in the season.
Also up for vote: the controversial “tush push” ban, onside kick flexibility, and NFL player participation in the 2028 Olympics. But the playoff overhaul? That’s the headline. The league could look very different after next week.
Also Read: One NFL Team Is Reportedly Favored To Win All 17 Of Their Games In 2025
