ORLANDO, Fla. — The N.F.L. believes it has finally figured out one of the most basic aspects of football: what is a catch.

In hopes of clarifying what has consistently been one of the most frustrating issues on the field, the league announced on Tuesday that it had redefined, and hopefully simplified, what constitutes a catch.

The new wording of the rule, unanimously ratified by the owners of the 32 teams meeting here, has yet to be officially announced, but the expectation is that a catch will require a receiver having control of the ball while keeping two feet or another body part in bounds. The player must also make a “football move,” such as an additional step or reaching toward the goal line or first-down marker.

The new ruling attempts to do away with baroque rulings that nullified catches by Calvin Johnson of the Detroit Lions in 2010, Dez Bryant of the Dallas Cowboys in 2014 and most recently Jesse James of the Pittsburgh Steelers last season, despite appearances to the naked eye that they were in fact catches. The explanation that James had not done a “football move” before landing in the end zone proved frustrating, especially since it cost Pittsburgh a touchdown and the inside track to home field advantage throughout the A.F.C. playoffs.

The much-reviled “surviving the ground” element of a catch, in which a player had to maintain control of the ball throughout the process of going to the ground, will no longer apply.

At a news conference on Monday announcing the proposed changes, Al Riveron, the N.F.L.’s senior vice president of officiating, acknowledged that removing the “surviving the ground” language would likely result in an uptick in fumbles but he said that fan pressure was involved in the decision making.

“Are we going to see more fumbles? Maybe,” Riveron said. “We want to make these catches, catches. That’s what the fans want.”

Rich McKay, the president of the Atlanta Falcons, said the league’s history of tweaking the catch rule had led to far too much confusion, necessitating a total break in how catches are handled.

“We needed to start over,” he said. “It got to us, we need to get objective standards.”

The seemingly endless string of catching controversies led Commissioner Roger Goodell to vow to make revamping the rule a top priority for the league.

“I think we can clarify this rule,” Goodell said at his annual news conference before the Super Bowl. “With a lot of hard work, focus, get to a place where — I’m not going to say there won’t be controversy — but we can get to a better place. We have a great opportunity to get this thing right.”

Owners said they would still brace for controversial calls but predicted there would be fewer of them.

“This rule change is not gonna solve every single issue, you’re still gonna have a certain amount of subjectivity,” said John Mara, the owner of the Giants.