On Tuesday, NFL owners approved a proposal to incentivize the development of minority coaches and executives.
The proposal from the league’s diversity committee calls for teams to be rewarded when minority assistants and executives below the General Manager position get hired by other teams for higher roles. The new rule, which needs to be approved by the NFLPA as well, would provide third-round compensatory picks in back-to-back drafts as long as the coach/executive had been with his prior team for at least two seasons.
There had previously been discussions about rewarding teams for hiring minority candidates, but the idea failed to gain traction after criticism from people around the league.
Earlier this year, the league instituted changes to the Rooney Rule that call for teams to interview at least two external minority candidates for head coaching openings and at least one minority candidate for any coordinator opening. They must also interview one external minority candidate for senior football operations and general manager jobs.