NFL's new three-strike system doesn't apply until the 2026 regular season

Posted by Admin September 7, 2026 NFL

The NFL and the NFL Players Association have agreed to a new three-strike formula that will trigger automatic suspensions for repeated violations of five specific safety rules: hip-drop tackles, horse-collar tackles, launching, hits on defenseless players, and blindside blocks.

Per the NFLPA, the new procedure doesn’t commence until the 2026 regular season. Which means that players who were fined for any of the five specific rules won’t carry them into the games that count.

That’s good news for any of the various players who were dinged for the infractions that otherwise would have counted toward a potential 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 to Cardinals safety Wydett Williams, who was fined $4,935 for a hit on a defenseless player in the same game.

And to Bengals linebacker Shaka Heyward, who was fined $5,972 for a hip-drop tackle in Week 2 of the preseason. (He’s currently on Cincinnati’s practice squad.) And to Chiefs tight end Jake Briningstool, who was fined $4,972 in Week 2 of the preseason for a blindside block.

And to Rams linebacker Darryl Peterson III, who was fined $4,935 in Week 1 of the preseason for a horse-collar tackle. (He’s currently on the L.A. practice squad.) And to Buccaneers linebacker David Walker, who was fined $6,254 in Week 1 of the preseason for a blindside block.

None of them will be on strike two when the regular season begins. Which means that all of them will still be three violations of each specific rule away from a suspension.

Again, a one-game suspension happens only if a player violates the same rule three times. A player can, in theory, violate each of the rules twice and still not be suspended.