BOSTON (CBS) -- The National Football League's proposal to reduce overtime periods is expected to pass on Tuesday, officially shortening the length of OT in the regular season from 15 minutes to 10 minutes.

ESPN's Adam Schefter confirmed the long-suspected news on Twitter, saying that a league official told him "It's happening." NFL.com's Judy Battista had previously reported that NFL owners were expected to approve the proposal at the league's spring meeting, which concludes on Wednesday.

The NFL's competition committee originally proposed the rule change at the annual league meeting in March before it was postponed. The committee argued that shorter overtimes will improve player safety and keep teams fresh from week-to-week. For instance, a shorter overtime would benefit teams that have to play an extra period on Sunday and then turn around and play their next game on Thursday.

One of the primary concerns among fans is that the rule change will lead to more ties in the standings. There were two ties during the 2016 season, the first time that a season had multiple ties since 1997.

The league's last major change to overtime rules came in 2012, when the competition committee approved a change to allow both teams to possess the football in OT. Teams can no longer win in OT by kicking a field goal on the first possession. The rule change led to a marked increase in ties, with five in the past five seasons compared to five ties in the previous 23 seasons.

According to the NFL's research department, 83 regular season games have gone to overtime in the past five seasons, with 22 of them lasting beyond 10 minutes. Thus, most OT games are over before 10 minutes anyway - but if the new rule were already in place, that would have potentially added 4-5 ties to the standings per season.

Several NFL coaches have publicly supported the rule change. Ravens head coach John Harbaugh supported the argument that shorter overtimes help players stay fresh and avoid injuries, remarking that once overtimes get past 10 minutes, "it seems like everyone's just trying to survive the last five."

Playoff overtime periods will remain 15 minutes, considering that teams do not have to worry about preparing on short weeks. The rule change would not have affected the outcome of Super Bowl LI either way, as the Patriots won 34-28 with a touchdown scored on the first possession within less than four minutes.