PALM BEACH, Fla. – Packers President/CEO Mark Murphy spoke with Green Bay reporters following the conclusion of the 2025 NFL Annual Meeting at the Breakers Palm Beach.
Here are five things we learned:
- The "tush push" is staying in place for now.
NFL owners chose to table discussions until the next league meeting in May regarding the Packers' proposal to prohibit an offensive player from pushing a teammate who is lined up directly behind the snapper and receives the snap.
For change to be enacted, 24 of the league's 32 owners must vote in approval of the proposal.
The oft-discussed play came under additional scrutiny after January's NFC title game when Washington jumped offsides four times in a span of five plays, causing officials to threaten to award a touchdown if it continued.
The Packers' argument is rooted in player safety, wanting to avoid a potential catastrophic injury. Murphy said NFL chief medical official Dr. Allen Sills expressed similar concern at the league meetings.
"I actually think it ended up in a good place," Murphy said. "We spoke on behalf of it, had a good discussion and it was tabled. Really what we talked about was going back to the language we had before in the league up until, I think, 2005 was when the change was made."
The NFL prohibited players from pushing ball carriers prior to 2005, citing the difficulty of officiating the play as its core reason for making a change.
Head Coach Matt LaFleur was responsible for presenting the Packers' argument during the coaches' meeting. He explained Green Bay's rationale for proposing a ban to the media at the NFC coaches' breakfast on Tuesday morning.
"When you look at the play, I would say I don't think it's a great football play. It's more of a rugby play," LaFleur said. "Then, some of the injury concerns, we kind of want to get out in front of that; be a little bit more proactive than reactive."
- The "dynamic" kickoff is here to stay…with one caveat.
NFL owners approved the competition committee's proposal to make permanent the new kickoff format, which was implemented last season on a one-year trial basis.
However, any kickoff that carries on the fly to the end zone, beyond the "landing zone" between the goal line and 20-yard line, will now be spotted at the 35 next season instead of the 30.
On Tuesday, Denver special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi told reporters after Tuesday's vote that the league expects the change to increase kickoff return rate to about 70-75% from approximately 32.8% last season.
"I think that's the right move," said Murphy of the change. "I think moving the touchback to the 35, you'll see more teams kick the ball a little higher and should have quite a few more returns. The good news is, it's now as safe as the plays from scrimmage on passing and running. So (it) kind of had the effects (intended)."
League ownership also approved the competition committee's proposal to grant both teams an opportunity to possess the ball in overtime regardless of the outcome of the first possession during both the regular season and playoffs. The overtime period in the regular season will be 10 minutes.
In 2025, the NFL also will expand instant replay ability to allow replay assist to advise on-field officials on specific, objective aspects of a play and/or to address game administration issues when clear and obvious video evidence is present.
Replay will not be used to retroactively enforce penalties but now can be used to pick up flags for defenseless player, facemask, horse collar, tripping and rough/running into the kicker penalties, as long as there is "clear and obvious video evidence."
- Murphy relished his final NFL Annual Meeting as team president.
It wasn't until Murphy landed in Florida that it started to sink in that this would be his final league meeting as the Packers' top executive.
Murphy will step down in July when he reaches the franchise's mandatory retirement date of 70. He'll be succeeded by Packers general counsel Ed Policy, who was named president/CEO-elect last June.
Murphy's 17-year run as Packers' president/CEO produced 13 playoff appearances, a feat achieved by no other NFL franchise during that stretch. Green Bay also advanced to five NFC title games and earned a victory in Super Bowl XLV.
"I'm very fortunate, I'm blessed. My wife (Laurie) always says I'm an owner without the money," Murphy said. "I think it's one of the very best jobs in all of professional sports. We have a great structure, we've had success and I'm very confident that will continue. I look at it, Bob Harlan left it in great shape for me and hopefully I'm doing the same for Ed. Hopefully Ed will have an 18-year run like Bob and I did.
- Policy attended every meeting with Murphy this week…except one.
In fact, it was the very last one to conclude the meetings, where only one representative per club was allowed to attend.
"It's a little emotional," Murphy said. "Ed was in every session except the last one. It was one per club and I said, Ed, 'You should take this,' and he said, 'No, this is your last one.' Obviously, he'll do very well, and he's been sensitive that he wants to make the transition as smooth as possible."
- Final preparations are underway for the draft in Green Bay.
Later this month, Lambeau Field and Titletown will play host to the 2025 NFL Draft. While there's still plenty of work to do, anticipation is building for the monumental event.
"We're really excited about it," Murphy said. "You can feel it. People are talking about it. … It'll be like a weeklong commercial for Green Bay and Wisconsin and some of the things that we've done to really make it unique to Green Bay, I think people will really appreciate."
