The NFL and NFL Players Association have agreed to a new three-strikes formula that will trigger automatic suspensions for repeated violations of five specific safety rules: hip hits, horse collar hits, kicks, hits on defenseless players and tackles.
According to the NFLPA, the new procedure doesn’t begin until the 2026 regular season. Which means players who have been fined for any of the five specific rules won’t get them in games that matter.
That’s good news for any of the various players who were concerned about violations that would otherwise count toward a possible suspension.
It applies to Cardinals safety Dadrion Taylor-Demerson, who was fined $7,148 for a hit on a defenseless player in Week 2 of the preseason. And for Cardinals safety Wydett Williams, who was fined $4,935 for a hit on a defenseless player in the same game.
And for Bengals linebacker Shaka Heyward, who was fined $5,972 for a jump hit in the second week of the preseason. (He’s currently on Cincinnati’s practice squad.) And about Chiefs tight end Jake Briningstool, who was fined $4,972 in the second week of the preseason for a blindside block.
And Rams linebacker Darryl Peterson III, who was fined $4,935 in the first week of the preseason for a horse collar hit. (He’s currently on the practice squad in LA.) And Buccaneers linebacker David Walker, who was fined $6,254 in Week 1 of the preseason for a block on the blindside.
None of them will be on a second strike when the regular season begins. Which means all would still be three violations of any specific rule away from a suspension.
Again, a one-game suspension only occurs if a player violates the same rule three times. A player could, in theory, break each of the rules twice and still not be suspended.
