Bill Belichick loves kickoff returns, but NFL still has concerns with play - ESPN (blog)

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick loves the kickoff return, once calling it one of the most exciting plays in the game. The value he puts on it is reflected in the team's recent trade for Cordarrelle Patterson, who is one of the NFL's most explosive returners and due a significant base salary of $3 million in 2018.

But while Belichick loves the kickoff return, the NFL competition committee still has injury-based concerns.

Kirk Cousins. Jimmy Graham. Andrew Norwell. This class is already wild. Here's everything to know.

• Barnwell's free agency & trade grades »
• Signings, analysis for all 32 teams »
•Ranking top 100 NFL free agents »
•Players who landed in perfect spots »
• Highest-paid players at every position »
• Who really got best free-agent deals? »
• Biggest remaining need for all 32 »
• Are Vikings NFC fave with Cousins? »
• Fantasy impact of key deals, moves »

In a conference call previewing next week's owners meeting in Orlando, I asked competition committee co-chairman Rich McKay about the rule proposal that would make the touchback at the 25-yard line a permanent rule and also whether there has been discussion of eliminating the kickoff return altogether.

"Yes, there's been discussion over the years about it," McKay said. "I think we're all in that same place of, 'Listen, let's make sure we exhaust every avenue we can to try to make this play safer.' That's what we're working on."

McKay detailed how putting the ball at the 25 following a touchback -- instead of the old rule of the 20 -- has limited returns. In 2017, he said, 40.6 percent of the kickoffs were returned. In '16, the percentage of returns was 39.3.

"Then you go back, and in '14, it was 47 percent," McKay said. "We've seen the return rate come down with this change. We're still concerned about the injury data. We want to definitely look at all these plays again and see if there is any other modifications."

The reason the NFL didn't initially make the 25-yard line as the spot on touchbacks a permanent rule was concern that teams might pooch kicks more (a high-arcing kick in the field of play), ultimately leading to more returns.

Belichick, in particular, has favored that approach.

"We've seen some of that, but it did not change the return percentages really. So we're kind of happy with where that is," McKay said. "College has a rule proposal in front of them that would allow you on a pooch kick to fair catch, and the ball would come out to the 25. We'll look at that and see how that works for them. ... We think there's more work to be done on the kickoff, and looking at it and ways to make it safer. We're going to do that."

next page

Tweet