NEW YORK — NFL owners will consider proposals next week to cut regular-season overtime from 15 minutes to 10, eliminate players’ leaping over the line on kick plays, and expansion of coaches’ challenges and what can be reviewed by officials.

In what promises to be a busy annual meeting next week in Phoenix that will include discussing the Raiders’ potential relocation from Oakland to Las Vegas, the 32 owners also will vote on changing the mechanics on replay reviews and other items intended to reduce downtime during games.

The Eagles proposed four rules changes, including abolishing the leaping techniques that league football operations director Troy Vincent said “don’t belong in the game.”

Seattle and Buffalo co-authored a proposal allowing a coach to challenge any officiating decision, whether a foul is called or not.

Another major change would be the reduction of overtime in-season; the extra period in the playoffs would remain at 15 minutes. The powerful competition committee believed it’s a player safety issue, noting that the number of snaps for games going to OT – especially deep into the overtime – is excessive.

The “leaper rule” has taken some priority among competition committee members, the players’ union and coaches. Vincent said coaches have begun scheming how to defense it, which can “create a real safety issue.”

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“It is really in the best interest of the game” to outlaw leaping on kicks, Vincent added.

During the meetings that run from Sunday to Wednesday, the teams will be shown plays the competition committee believes should result in suspensions or ejections.

Game officials already have had the leeway to eject players, but it rarely has happened; there were three ejections in 2016.

Also proposed:

n As Commissioner Roger Goodell outlined, owners will consider having all replay decisions made by the officiating staff at league headquarters in New York, in consultation with the game’s referee.

n Definitions of a defenseless player will be extended to a receiver running a route, whether he is looking back for the ball or not, if he is hit in the neck or head area. That will be true even within the legal 5-yard chuck zone at the line of scrimmage.

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n A 40-second play clock will be in use for extra points if TV coverage has not gone to a break. Halftime length will become more standardized at 13 minutes, 30 seconds from the end of the first half to the kickoff for the second half.

n Referees will be allowed to make replay announcements during TV breaks and not wait for the network to return to its coverage.

Jets: New York signed former San Francisco wide receiver Quinton Patton.

Patton, who spent his first four NFL seasons with the 49ers, visited the Jets last Saturday as an unrestricted free agent.

Chargers: Los Angeles re-signed running back Branden Oliver to a one-year deal, and safety Adrian Phillips signed his exclusive-rights free agent tender to stay with the Chargers.

Oliver missed the entire 2016 season in San Diego after tearing his Achilles tendon in a preseason game.

Bengals: Cincinnati retained its best special teams player, signing unrestricted free agent Cedric Peerman to a one-year deal.

The eight-year veteran was a Pro Bowl special teams pick in 2015. He was limited to six games last season because of a broken forearm.


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