J.J. Watt Suggests NFL Rule Change to Make Holding Penalty 5 Yards for 2024 Season

Former star defensive end J.J. Watt is interested in reducing the penalty yardage for offensive holding calls starting in the 2024 season.

The three-time Defensive Player of the Year suggested on Wednesday that an offense should get backed up by five yards when the penalty is enforced instead of the current mark of 10 yards.

"I think the refs understand that a 10-yard penalty is a massive penalty in the NFL," Watt said in an appearance on the Pat McAfee Show (h/t Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk). "So I think if you made [it] a 5-yard penalty, I think it's going to be called much more fairly and much more realistically. Because it's not as crippling to the offense."

His reasoning behind wanting an increased amount of offensive holding calls stems from Super Bowl 58 when the Kansas City Chiefs defeated the San Francisco 49ers by the final score of 25-22 in overtime.

After the contest, audio was released of 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan discussing the lack of holding calls that he felt Chiefs offensive lineman should have been flagged for.

"Hey, I saw the hold, but that's what they do every time," he told an official during the game, per Sports Illustrated's Kristen Wong. "They hold, they tug our guy 'til Pat [Mahomes] leaves and then they let go. That's what our guy did, make sure they call it both ways."

Watt believes that a reduced punishment would incentivize officials to penalize offensive linemen for holding much more often and prevent further complaints such as the ones from Shanahan.