NFL owners approve rule changes to overtime, roster cuts

Owners of the NFL’s 32 teams passed a rule change on Tuesday that will shorten overtime by five minutes.

Gathered in Chicago, the owners approved a proposal that reduces overtime from 15 to 10 minutes in the preseason and regular season.

It was proposed by the competition committee at the annual league meeting in March in Phoenix. Those in favor of the change viewed it as a player-safety measure.

The overtime rule change will take place immediately for the 2017 season. Postseason games are not affected.

There also were two other rule changes.

The owners passed a proposal that allows each team to activate two players from injured reserve. The previous limit was one.

The owners also voted to eliminate the mandatory roster cutdown from 90 to 75 player, which happened in the preseason. Rosters will now decrease from 90 players to 53.