ORLANDO, Fla. — Kickoff returns are returning to the NFL.

Team owners on Tuesday approved a new rule that will take what essentially had become “a dead play” and make it an integral part of the game again.

“We feel this is a great day for the NFL,” said Saints special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi, who was heavily involved in creating the framework for the new hybrid kickoff.

The major overhaul to special teams – which has been in the works for years – takes elements of the kickoff rules used in the XFL and tweaks them for use in the NFL beginning in 2024. The rule will be in play for one season on a trial basis and then be subject to renewal in 2025.

NFL Competition Committee chairman Rich McKay said the new rule passed by a 29-3 to vote.

“There was a little fear of the unknown,” McKay said. “I think the optics are definitely the most drastic (rule change) we’ve seen. The thing that gives us all the comfort is we have the tape, we’ve seen it. We can show you the plays and you can see how this can play out.”

McKay said there was urgency to vote on this rule before the draft because it could impact the way teams structure rosters. There were 1,970 touchbacks on kickoffs last season that now could be returns. There were 92 fair catches last season that are no longer allowed. Any ball caught in the field of play must be returned.

“The kickoff returners’ value is gonna skyrocket,” Cowboys special teams coach John Fassel said.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said he anticipates the league may have to tinker with the rule in the future but considers this “a big improvement.”

“I think it will bring the play back into a relevant play, an important play, an exciting play and I think we can do it where the injury rate will drop,” Goodell said.

For a standard kickoff, the ball would be kicked from the 35-yard line with the 10 kick coverage players lined up at the opposing 40, with five on each side of the field.

The return team would have at least nine blockers lined up in the “set up zone” between the 30- and 35-yard line, with at least seven of those players touching the 35. There would be up to two returners allowed inside the 20.

Only the kicker and two returners would be allowed to move until the ball hits the ground or was touched by a returner inside the 20.

Any kick that reaches the end zone in the air can be returned, or the receiving team can opt for a touchback and possession at the 30. Any kick that reaches the end zone in the air and goes out of bounds or out of the end zone also would result in a touchback at the 30.

If a ball hits a returner or the ground before the end zone and goes into the end zone, a touchback would be at the 20 or the play could be returned.

“It’s a drastic kind of move that’s going to be way different,” said Ravens Coach John Harbaugh, a former special teams coordinator. “Is that the right move at this time? I don’t know. I think that’s to be determined.”

Under current rules, any touchback – or if a returner calls for a fair catch in the field of play – results in the receiving team getting the ball at its 25.

The proposal needed 24 of 32 votes to pass.

“I’m all for it,” Chiefs Coach Andy Reid said. “You have 2,000 dead plays. Nobody wants to see that. It’ll add excitement and newness.”

In other news:

• Owners voted to make two tweaks to instant replay. Replay can now be used to review whether the game clock expired before the snap and also can correct an obvious error when a passer was ruled down by contact or out of bounds before throwing the ball.

• There were several other changes, including allowing teams in the playoffs to have unlimited returns from injured reserve if they have missed four games. Teams also can place up to two players on IR, the physically unable to perform list or non-football injury list before cutting the roster to 53 players and have them still be eligible to return.

• Owners also voted to move the trade deadline back one week to the Tuesday following the end of Week 9 and will allow a team to elevate a “bona fide” quarterback from the practice squad an unlimited amount of times to be the emergency third quarterback.

• The NFL is going to play two games on Christmas Day this year even though the holiday falls on a Wednesday.

The league will schedule the four teams to play on Saturday in Week 16 ahead of the games on Dec. 25 so it’ll be similar to teams playing on a Thursday after Sunday games.

STEELERS: Pittsburgh is signing veteran running back/kickoff return specialist Cordarrelle Patterson to a two-year deal that carries a total value of $6 million a source with knowledge of the agreement told The Associated Press.

The versatile 33-year-old Patterson spent the past three seasons with the Atlanta Falcons. A four-time All-Pro, Patterson gives the Steelers a veteran to help them adjust to the league’s new kickoff rules designed to produce more returns. Patterson has nine kickoff returns for a touchdown in his 11-year career with Minnesota, Oakland, New England, Chicago and Atlanta

COWBOYS: Coach Mike McCarthy isn’t concerned about entering the final year of his contract without an extension.

“I don’t see it as more pressure,” McCarthy said. “I think it’s just the reality of our industry. You can’t lose sight of the big picture. Make no bones about it. I’m extremely blessed to be here. I’m very much engaged where my feet are.”

Dallas has won 12 games three straight seasons but is only 1-3 in the playoffs. The Cowboys haven’t reached the NFC championship game since winning the Super Bowl following the 1995 season.

GIANTS: New York hired recently retired James Ferentz as an assistant offensive line coach. Ferentz, 34, retired last month as an NFL player after an eight-year career with the Denver Broncos and New England Patriots. He will help new offensive line coach Carmen Bricillo, who was his line coach with the Patriots in 2020-21.

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