NFL owners will meet later this week to vote on proposed rule changes for next season submitted by teams and the NFL's competition committee.

The fifth proposal on the list is aimed at further changing the kickoff format:

5. By Competition Committee; Changes the spot of the next snap after a touchback resulting from a free kick to the 25-yard line.

As it stands, the spot of the next snap after a touchback resulting in a free-kick is the 20-yard line.

The goal of the proposed rule is "to incentivize teams to take a knee" and in turn to "reduce the amount of kick returns," a source told Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk.

Kickoffs are among the most dangerous plays in football, and the league sees the rule change as a matter of player safety.

The NFL moved kickoffs from the 30-yard line to the 35-yard line in 2011 in another attempt to reduce kickoff returns and increase touchbacks.

The league went from having 11.3 percent of kickoffs downed as touchbacks between 1994-2010 to having 45.5 percent of kickoffs downed for touchbacks between 2011-2013, according to FootballOutsiders.com.