The NFL is considering improving draft picks to teams that hire minority candidates as either coaches or general managers, sources confirmed to ESPN.
Under the plan, a team would improve its third-round pick by 10 spots for hiring a minority candidate as general manger (or equivalent-level position) and six spots for hiring a minority candidate as head coach, according to NFL.com, which first reported on the proposal. The draft boosts could stack, allowing a team to move up 16 spots altogether.
Retaining minority coaches and general managers would be rewarded as well. According to NFL.com, a team would move up five spots in the fourth round if its coach or general manager was entering their third year on the job. A quarterback coach hire would earn a fourth-round compensatory pick if they are retained for one year.
Teams would also receive draft compensation for losing minority candidates to other teams, according to the report. A minority candidate leaving to become a head coach or general manager would be worth a third-round compensatory pick, while a coordinator hire would garner a fifth-round pick for the former team.
This proposal was submitted by the league’s diversity committee and is expected to be addressed during a virtual meeting Tuesday, a league source confirmed.
Asked about the proposal, the NFL declined comment to NFL.com. But a league source told ESPN’s Dan Graziano that commissioner Roger Goodell is in favor of the proposals.
During this offseason, only one head coach hired — the Washington Redskins‘ Ron Rivera — was a minority candidate. Only three of the past 20 head-coaching hires were minorities, and there are currently four black head coaches in the league.
Only two of the NFL’s 32 general managers are minorities as well.
The NFL has the Rooney Rule, which requires every team to interview a qualified minority candidate for head-coaching jobs, but it does not affect the hiring decisions of owners.
Therefore, according to a league source, the NFL is also considering requiring multiple interviews of minority candidates for head-coaching positions and expanding the Rooney Rule to include coordinator positions.
The league will also consider removing a rule that allows teams to block assistant coaches from interviewing for other teams’ coordinator positions, a league source told ESPN.
The rest of Tuesday’s agenda is likely to include a focus on health and safety measures as well as reopening procedures. The league is still operating under the guideline that, until every team can have its coaches and players in its facility, no team can. But teams may be able to open their buildings to administrative staff depending on local guidelines.
Information from ESPN’s Kevin Seifert was used in this report.
