Credits: Mandi Wright / USA TODAY NETWORK

NFL Playoff Reseeding – the Lions Withdraw Their Proposal for Change in Playoff Seeding Format

Credits: Mandi Wright / USA TODAY NETWORK

Earlier in March of 2025, the Detroit Lions submitted a proposal to change the NFL’s playoff seeding rules, which was driven by comments from their wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown. St. Brown had questioned the fairness of the current system after the Lions’ 15-2 seasons in 2024. Despite having the best record in the NFC and beating the Minnesota Vikings (14-3) in Week 18 to win the NFC North, the Vikings, with the second-best NFC record, had to play their playoff opener on the road as a wild card. They ended up losing to the 10-7 Los Angeles Rams, who were the NFC West Champion.

Meanwhile, the Lions, as the No. 1 seed, also lost their opener at home to the Jayden Daniels led Washington Commanders. St. Brown comments caught the NFL’s attention, and Troy Vincent from the league asked Lions’ president Rod Wood to partner on a proposal to fix this issue, aiming to reward teams based on their regular-season record rather than just division titles.

Lions withdrew their playoff reseeding proposal. pic.twitter.com/mpASLGoTfn
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) May 21, 2025

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The Detroit Lions Pulled the Proposal and What’s Next?

The Lions’ proposal suggested seeding playoff teams by record, not just by division wins, meaning a wild-card team with a better record could host a playoff game over a division winner with a worse record. To put this idea into context, if this rule was in place last season, the Vikings, who were 14-3, would have hosted a game, while the Rams (10-7) would have to travel and played on the road.

The NFL liked the idea because it would make late-season games more exciting, similar to the NBA where seedings are decided according to their record and not the division rankings. Teams may have been forced to play their starters if this was the case in Week 17 and 18, if they could still earn a home playoff game, even without a division title. However, some NFL owners opposed the rule change, arguing that division winner deserve the reward of a home game since they face tougher schedules the following year.

The #Lions' proposal to allow Wild Card teams to be seeded higher than division champions if they have a better regular-season record has been withdrawn.

The current system remains in place — though this is expected to come up again in the future. pic.twitter.com/7lZbstynS6
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) May 21, 2025

Ultimately, the Lions withdrew their proposal due to lack of support from others, in a league meeting at Minneapolis. The NFL for now will explore other options, like whether teams with a .500 or worse record should host playoff games if they win their division, but for now, the current rules will remain unchanged.

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Eric Divakaran

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I cover the National Football League and things cannot get better than that. I always dreamed to play football or basketball professionally since I’m built like a Running Back. But now that I can’t, since I’m technically in the “Unc” age, I thought why not pick a career in sports industry? So here I am, doing what I love, and hoping that the Commanders win the Super Bowl. I give love to players when it’s due, but can be critical about their performances at the same time. Enough about me, now let my articles do all the talking.