JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Should the NFL consider making field goals of 60 or more yards worth four points?
While there's currently no momentum or proposal by the NFL competition committee, some current players and Pro Football Hall of Famers are at least intrigued (with mixed opinions) by the idea of awarding an additional point for converting on a distance that isn't all that rare anymore.
Two seasons ago, the NFL revamped its kickoff rules in hopes of reducing injuries and encouraging more returns when it implemented a dynamic kickoff structure that had been used in the XFL, a spring football league now known as the UFL.
The changes worked. The return rate in the NFL increased from 21.8% in 2023 to 32.8% in 2024. Further tweaks to league rules in 2025 resulted in the rate jumping to 74.5% in 2025.
This year, the UFL implemented the four-point field goal and saw an uptick in 60-yard field goals. During the UFL's 2025 season, no 60-yard field goals were made. But in 2026, the league went 8-for-14 (57.1%) on such kicks, including going 4-for-4 in the playoffs.
Last season in the NFL, kickers attempted a record 22 field goals of 60 or more yards and made 12 (55%). That's nearly as many successful field goals from 60-plus yards last season were nearly as many as kickers made in the previous three seasons (14).
"Heck yeah, man. Let's go," Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Liam Coen said in support of a four-point field goal. "Up the ante a little bit."
Little set the NFL record for longest field goal (68 yards) during the 2025 season. AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack It makes sense Coen likes the idea because Jacksonville's kicker, Cam Little, set the NFL record with a 68-yarder against the Las Vegas Raiders last season and netted a 67-yarder against the Tennessee Titans, which holds the mark for the longest outdoor field goal in NFL history. Little also had a 70-yard field goal against the Pittsburgh Steelers last preseason that didn't count in the record books.
But what do some of the league's kickers think?
"It'd be nice," Detroit Lions kicker Jake Bates said. "I know it's cool for the UFL guys to get that because it makes it worth sending them out there for, and I think a lot of guys showed they can make it so it's cool to watch."
Washington Commanders kicker Jake Moody said the rule change seems like a natural evolution the same way the NBA adopted the 3-point shot 12 years after the ABA introduced it in its inaugural season in 1967.