As the 2025/26 NFL season fades into history, chatter around the league is increasingly focused on offseason business, and not just free agency or the draft.
After the Seattle Seahawks defeated the New England Patriots in Super Bowl 60, attention naturally turned to what might be next for NFL front offices. One of the most intriguing developments isn’t a player move at all, but a potential change to how trades involving future draft picks could work.
Longtime league insider Adam Schefter hinted on The Pat McAfee Show that at least one club plans to advocate for a major rule adjustment this offseason.
Currently, NFL teams are permitted to trade draft picks up to three years into the future, limiting how far ahead a franchise can mortgage its draft capital in order to land a key player.
The proposed change would expand that window to five years, giving teams more flexibility when negotiating blockbuster deals. This adjustment could have a far-reaching impact on roster-building strategies, especially for teams willing to take calculated risks.
Under the existing system, deep future picks beyond the threeyear mark simply aren’t eligible to be included in trade packages. That means even if a club wants to pay a premium for an elite talent, its bargaining chips are capped.
A classic example from recent NFL history was when the Cleveland Browns sent their first-round draft selections for 2022, 2023, and 2024 to the Houston Texans in exchange for quarterback Deshaun Watson.
More recently, when the Dallas Cowboys traded for linebacker Micah Parsons, the Green Bay Packers compensated Dallas with first-round picks for 2026 and 2027, already pushing the limits of how future picks are leveraged. Such deep commitments are rare, partly because of the league’s current rules.
What this rule change could mean
If the league backs the push to trade picks five years out, it would mark a substantial shift in how teams build rosters. For contenders trying to make a splash in free agency or via trade, accessing picks further into the future could make bold deals more palatable without sacrificing all of their near-term capital.
Imagine a franchise offering a mixture of immediate and long-range draft assets, perhaps a first-round pick plus several future second-rounders, to land a star instead of mortgaging three straight firsts. This could give front offices more creativity in structuring trades while maintaining roster flexibility.
That said, Schefter did not clarify how much enthusiasm currently exists among the league’s 32 teams. Because such a rule adjustment would require 75 percent approval from team owners, there’s no guarantee it will pass.
Some executives may worry that broadening the trading window could encourage risky behavior, sacrificing long-term stability for short-term gains. Still, if approved, this change could dramatically reshape trade negotiations, forcing teams to rethink the traditional value of first- and second-round picks for years to come.
