Earlier this week, the NFL uncharacteristically cracked down on the out-of-control tampering that exists between teams and players under contract with other franchises by stripping the San Francisco 49ers of a fifth-round draft pick and ordering them to swap positions with the Chicago Bears in the third round of this years NFL Draft. According to an Associated Press report released Thursday, the league will also be considering a rule change at next week's owners' meeting that should help curb the temptation of teams to underhandedly get a jump on the competition in the days and weeks leading up to the open of the free-agent signing period.

Per the report, the new guideline would institute a five-to-seven day period before the start of free agency during which agents could contact teams about prospective free agents. Teams could not talk to the players themselves and no official signings would be allowed at that time, which theoretically would allow all teams an equal opportunity to explore the interest of a particular player.

In my view, this would be a good move by the league. Even if it doesn't completely eliminate illegal contact with players and agents, it should significantly reduce the obvious examples of misconduct, such as that of 49ers offensive lineman Justin Smiley, who was signed by the Miami Dolphins about 15 minutes into this year's free-agent signing period. The new rule would prohibit that from occurring, thus giving other teams a chance to legally offer a player a contract competitive to the one he already has on the table before he could officially be signed by any club.

Other rules changes that may be considered next week include the following:

• Playoff Seeding - Division winners would still qualify automatically for the playoffs, and the two with the best record would get first-round byes, as has been the case in past years. However, a wild-card team could potentially host a playoff game in the first round if it has a better record than the division winner it will play. This change would reward teams for posting better records and possibly stop others from sitting their starting players at the end of the season because there would be more of a chance that they could be forced to go on the road if they lose.
• Forceout Rule - The league is also considering eliminating the forceout rule on receptions and interceptions. As it stands now, a catch is ruled if a player is forced out of bounds by a defender while making a catch. If changed, a player must get both feet down in bounds regardless of any contact, with the exception of a defender carrying an opponent out of bounds. The move would take a judgement call out of the hands of the officials and make the determination more cut and dried.
• 5-Yard Facemask Penalty - The elimination of the five-yard "incidental facemask" penalty is also scheduled to be discussed, and if passed would relieve the officials of another judgement call. Grabbing the facemask would then result automatically in a 15-yard penalty.
• Coin Toss - Teams may be allowed, if this rule change goes through, to defer taking the ball until the second half if they win the coin toss, as is done now in college football.
• Long Hair - The league may ban players from having hair below the name tag on their backs. However, the current collective bargaining agreement forbids the league from punishing a player for the length of their hair, so it's unclear whether this new rule would be enforceable.
• Instant Replay on Field-Goal Attempts Making field-goal attempts reviewable by instant replay seems to be a no-brainer, in my opinion