Kevin Seifert Sep 9, 2026, 06:00 AM ET. The NFL will open its regular season Wednesday (New England Patriots at Seattle Seahawks, 8:20 p.m. ET, NBC) with only a handful of visible rule changes, the product of an offseason devoted more toward improving officiating than innovating on the field. The new seven-year collective bargaining agreement, agreed in May, provides for officiating practice squads, expanded training, and linking compensation with performance. Officials worked more with teams during OTAs and training camp, and reserve referees appeared more in preseason games.

On the field, owners gave new authority to replay officials, worked with the NFLPA to alter discipline for significant penalties, and continued to fiddle with the kickoff alignment from 2024. Replay officials in New York now can disqualify a player for a flagrant act and direct a penalty be enforced, even if no flag was thrown. Previously, replay officials could only add a disqualification to an existing penalty. This shift, passed in March, may arise only a handful of times but marks a notable change.

The league and NFLPA agreed to changes for four in-game fouls: hip-drop tackle, horse collar tackle, launching into a defenseless player, and blindside block. Players penalized three times for any of these (or fined after review) will be suspended one game. A single offense gets a 50% fine refund at season's end. Teams with excessive fouls face fines. In exchange, players get partial or full refunds for first offenses in other penalties. No refunds for fouls against officials, fighting, punching, or violent gestures.