Sean Payton knows a thing or two about onside kicks. In Super Bowl XLIV, he started the second half with one. The recovery helped win the New Orleans Saints' first Super Bowl.
Things have changed since Payton's risky onside kick call for the Saints. In the betterment of player safety, the NFL restricts all players but kickers from running up to the kickoff. The rule changes have made onside kicks much harder to convert.
Payton understands that safety is key. However, he thinks the NFL should allow teams to have more flexibility in critical moments, as the onside kick is still very much a big part of football, and can spawn some exciting comebacks.
“I understand the safety relative to the onside kick,” Payton said on PFT Live. “I think we can improve how we do it. Inside of three minutes, let’s allow maybe a little more flexibility. I think the most exciting finish to an NFL game is score, onside kick, score. . . . We have to keep that opportunity alive. We can’t have a team taking a knee with more time left than we do right now. I think that we will. It was discussed last year, it was brought up, but I think we’re gonna pay a little bit more attention to the onside kick itself.”
The Saints coach is part of the competition committee. He can help bring change to the rules on the onside kick in the offseason. However, don't expect the NFL to change their rulebook much for it, as they have ramped up efforts in recent years to make football a safer game.
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