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2021 NFL season

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This article is about the American football season in the United States. For the Gaelic football season in Ireland, see 2021 National Football League (Ireland).

The 2021 NFL season is scheduled to be the 102nd season of the National Football League (NFL). The league expanded the regular season from a 16-game schedule to 17 games.[1] The regular season is scheduled to run from September 9, 2021, with defending Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay hosting Dallas in the NFL Kickoff Game, to January 9, 2022. The playoffs are planned to start the following weekend and will conclude with Super Bowl LVI, the league's championship game, at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, on February 13, 2022.

2021 NFL season
Regular season
DurationSeptember 9, 2021 (2021-09-09) – January 9, 2022 (2022-01-09)
Playoffs
Start dateJanuary 15, 2022
Super Bowl LVI
DateFebruary 13, 2022
SiteSoFi Stadium, Inglewood, California
Pro Bowl
DateFebruary 6, 2022
SiteAllegiant Stadium, Paradise, Nevada

Player movement

The 2021 NFL league year and trading period began on March 17. On March 15, teams were allowed to exercise options for 2021 on players with option clauses in their contracts, submit qualifying offers to their pending restricted free agents, and submit a Minimum Salary Tender to retain exclusive negotiating rights to their players with expiring 2020 contracts and fewer than three accrued seasons of free agent credit. Teams were required to be under the salary cap using the "top 51" definition (in which the 51 highest paid-players on the team's payroll must have a combined salary cap). On March 17, clubs were allowed to contact and begin contract negotiations with players whose contracts had expired and thus became unrestricted free agents.

Positions key
C Center CB Cornerback DB Defensive back DE Defensive end[a]
DL Defensive lineman DT Defensive tackle FB Fullback FS Free safety
G Guard[b] K Kicker[c] KR Kickoff returner LB Linebacker
LS Long snapper MLB Middle linebacker[d] OT Offensive tackle OL Offensive lineman
OLB Outside linebacker[a] NT Nose tackle P Punter PR Punt returner
QB Quarterback RS Return specialist RB Running back S Safety
SS Strong safety TE Tight end WR Wide receiver
  1. ^ a b May sometimes be referred to as an edge rusher (EDGE)
  2. ^ Also known as offensive guard (OG)
  3. ^ Also known as placekicker (PK)
  4. ^ Also known as inside linebacker (ILB)

Free agency

Free agency began on March 17. Notable players to change teams included:

Trades

The following notable trades were made during the 2021 league year:

  • March 17: Detroit traded QB Matthew Stafford to the Los Angeles Rams in exchange for QB Jared Goff, a 2021 third round selection (No. 101), a 2022 first round selection, and a 2023 first round selection.[2]
  • March 17: Philadelphia traded QB Carson Wentz to Indianapolis in exchange for a 2021 third round selection and a conditional 2022 second round selection.[3]
  • March 17: Las Vegas traded C Rodney Hudson and 2021 seventh round selection to Arizona in exchange for a 2021 third round selection.[4]
  • March 17: New England traded OT Marcus Cannon and 2021 fifth and sixth round selections to Houston in exchange for 2021 fourth and sixth round selections.[5]
  • March 17: Las Vegas traded OT Trent Brown and a 2021 fifth round selection to New England in exchange for a 2021 seventh round selection.[6]
  • April 5: The New York Jets traded QB Sam Darnold to Carolina in exchange for a 2021 sixth round selection and 2022 second and fourth round selections.[7]
  • April 23: Baltimore traded OT Orlando Brown Jr., a 2021 second round selection, and a 2022 sixth round selection to Kansas City for 2021 first, third, and fourth round selections and a 2022 fifth round selection.[8]
  • April 28: Carolina traded QB Teddy Bridgewater to Denver for a 2021 sixth round selection.[9]

Notable retirements

Other retirements

Draft

The 2021 NFL Draft was held in Cleveland from April 29 to May 1.[45] Jacksonville, by virtue of having the worst record in 2020, held the first overall selection and selected QB Trevor Lawrence out of Clemson.[46]

Officiating changes

The NFL hired Maia Chaka as its second female official (joining Sarah Thomas) and first African-American female official.[47]

Rule changes

The following rule changes were approved at the NFL Owner's Meeting on April 21:[48]

  • The jersey numbering system was modified as follows:[49]
    • Running backs, tight ends, and wide receivers can wear numbers 1-49 and 80-89
    • Defensive backs can wear numbers 1-49
    • Linebackers can wear numbers 1-59 and 90-99
    • The following remain unchanged: offensive linemen (50-79); defensive linemen (50-79, 90-99); and quarterbacks, punters, and kickers (1-19).
    • Per the league's existing rules, any player who changes his number this season must buy out the inventory of his existing jersey before the change can be made. A player who intends to change his number for the 2022 season can do so without cost.
  • Overtime in preseason games has been eliminated. This will be the first time since 1973 in which overtime is not used in the preseason.[50]
  • All accepted penalties by either team during consecutive extra point or two-point conversion attempts are to be enforced. This closes a loophole that occurred during a 2019 Chicago–Denver game.[51]
  • The penalties for a second forward pass from behind the line of scrimmage and for a pass thrown after the ball returns behind the line will now include a loss of down. This was passed in response to a play in a 2020 Tampa Bay–Los Angeles Rams game.[52]
  • During kickoffs, the receiving team may have no more than nine players in the "set-up zone" (the area between 10 and 25 yards from the kickoff spot).[53]
  • An expansion of the booth-to-official communication on replays, allowing replay officials to advise on "specific, objective aspects of a play when clear and obvious video evidence is present and/or to address game administration issues."[48]

2021 deaths

Pro Football Hall of Fame members

Floyd Little
Little spent all nine years of his professional career as a running back with the Denver Broncos and was inducted into the Hall in 2010. He died January 1, age 78.[54]

Others

Preseason

Training camps are scheduled to be held from late July through August.

The Pro Football Hall of Fame Game is expected to be held on August 5 at 8 p.m. on Fox[55] between Dallas and Pittsburgh. The two teams were previously scheduled to play the 2020 game before it was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[56]

Regular season

The NFL released its regular season schedule on May 12.[57] The season will be played over an 18-week schedule beginning on September 9. Each of the league's 32 teams will play 17 games, with one bye week for each team. The regular season will conclude on January 9, 2022. All games during the final weekend are expected to be intra-division games, as it had been since 2010.

Under the NFL's previous scheduling formula for a 16-game regular season, each team will play the other three teams in its own division twice, as well as one game against each of the four teams from a division in their own conference, one game against each of the four teams from a division in the other conference, and one game against each of the remaining two teams in their conference that finished in the same position in their respective divisions the previous season (e.g., the team that finished fourth in its division would play all three other teams in their conference that also finished fourth in their divisions).

Under the previous 16-game formula, the division pairings for 2021 are:

    Intra-conference
AFC East vs AFC South
AFC North vs AFC West
NFC East vs NFC South
NFC West vs NFC North

    Inter-conference
AFC East vs NFC South
AFC North vs NFC North
AFC South vs NFC West
AFC West vs NFC East

On December 16, 2020, NFL owners approved a plan to have a 17th regular season game be a fifth interconference matchup against a team from one of the other three divisions, based on the position in their respective divisions the previous season (e.g. the team that finished fourth in its division would play a club that finished fourth in a division of the other conference).[58] This game was later confirmed to be between interconference divisions that had played each other two years earlier. AFC teams would host the extra game in odd-numbered years, including 2021, with NFC teams getting the extra home game in even-numbered years.[59] On March 30, owners voted to approve a 17-game regular season.[1] Pairings for the extra games will be as follows:

NFC East at AFC East
NFC West at AFC North
NFC South at AFC South
NFC North at AFC West

Highlights of the 2021 season will include:

Saturday flexible scheduling

When the entire season schedule was released on May 12, the league announced that in Weeks 15 and 18, two games would be moved to their respective Saturdays.

Week 15

Two of the following five designated games would be moved to Saturday, December 18, airing at 4:30 p.m. and 8:15 p.m. ET exclusively on NFL Network. The final times of these games will be announced no later than four weeks prior to game day:[63]

Week 18

For the first time ever, two games with playoff implications will be moved to the last Saturday of the regular season, January 8. Both games will air on ESPN and ABC. This move will be in the same manner that the final Sunday Night Football game will be announced following the conclusion of Week 17.[64][65]

Postseason

The 2021 playoffs are scheduled to begin on the weekend of January 15–16, 2022 with the Wild Card Round. Three Wild Card games will be played in each conference.[66] Three games will be played each day.[66]

In the Divisional Round scheduled for January 22–23, the top seed in the conference will play the lowest remaining seed and the other two remaining teams will play each other. The winners of those games will advance to the Conference Championships scheduled for January 30.[67] Super Bowl LVI is scheduled for February 13, at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.[67]

Head coaching and front office changes

Head coaches

Off-season

Team Departing coach Interim coach Incoming coach Reason for leaving Notes
Atlanta Falcons Dan Quinn Raheem Morris Arthur Smith Fired After an 0–5 start, Quinn was fired on October 11, 2020. He had a 43–42 (.506) record during his 5+ season tenure with the Falcons, with two playoff appearances, including one Super Bowl appearance.[68]

Morris, the team's defensive coordinator, was previously the head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, with a record of 17–31 (.354) and no playoff appearances. He finished out the 2020 season with a 4–7 (.364) record.[69]

Smith has spent the last decade with the Tennessee Titans and has been offensive coordinator for the last two seasons; the Falcons hired Smith on January 16. This would be his first NFL head coaching job.[70]

Detroit Lions Matt Patricia Darrell Bevell Dan Campbell Patricia was fired on November 28, 2020. He had a 13–29–1 (.314) record during his 2+ season tenure with the Lions, with no playoff appearances and finishing both complete seasons in last place in the NFC North.[71]

Bevell, the team's offensive coordinator, was promoted to interim head coach. This was his first head coaching position. He finished out the 2020 season with a 1–4 (.200) record.[71]

Campbell, who had a 5–7 (.417) record as interim head coach of the Miami Dolphins for part of 2015, was hired on January 20. He previously served as the assistant head coach/tight ends coach of the New Orleans Saints from 2016 to 2020.[72]

Houston Texans Bill O'Brien Romeo Crennel David Culley After an 0–4 start, O'Brien was fired on October 5, 2020. He had a 52–48 (.520) record during his 6+ season tenure with the Texans, with four AFC South titles.[73]

Crennel, the team's associate head coach, was previously the head coach of the Cleveland Browns and Kansas City Chiefs, with a combined record of 28–55 (.337) and no playoff appearances. At age 73, he became the oldest head coach in NFL history. He finished out the 2020 season with a 4–8 (.333) record.[74]

The Texans hired Culley, former Baltimore Ravens' assistant head coach, wide receivers coach and passing game coordinator, on January 29. This would be his first head coaching job. Culley became the oldest first-time head coach in NFL history at age 65.[75]

Jacksonville Jaguars Doug Marrone Urban Meyer After 4+ seasons with a 23–43 (.348) record, Marrone was fired on January 4. The Jaguars made the playoffs once during his tenure, advancing to the AFC Championship Game. They finished 1–15 (.063) in 2020, ending the season on a 15-game losing streak.[76]

Meyer, an experienced college football head coach with a combined record of 187–32 (.854) with Bowling Green, Utah, Florida, and Ohio State, and three national championships, was hired on January 14. This would be his first NFL coaching position.[77]

Los Angeles Chargers Anthony Lynn Brandon Staley Lynn was fired on January 4 after four seasons with the team with a 33–31 (.516) record and one playoff appearance. The Chargers finished 7–9 (.438) in 2020.[78]

Staley was hired on January 17. He had spent the previous season as defensive coordinator of the Los Angeles Rams. This was his first head coaching position.[79]

New York Jets Adam Gase Robert Saleh Gase was fired on January 3 after finishing the 2020 season 2–14 (.125). He was 9–23 (.281) in two seasons with the Jets, with no playoff appearances.[80]

Saleh, who was a longtime defensive coach in the NFL and on the college level, was hired on January 14. He was most recently the San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator from 2017 to 2020. This was his first head coaching position.[81]

Philadelphia Eagles Doug Pederson Nick Sirianni Pederson was fired on January 11 after 5 seasons with the Eagles, with a total regular season record of 42–37–1 (.531), and a playoff record of 4–2 (.667). His tenure included 3 playoff appearances, 2 NFC East division titles, and a Super Bowl LII title. The Eagles finished 4–11–1 (.281) in 2020.[82][83]

Former Indianapolis Colts offensive coordinator Nick Sirianni was hired as Eagles' head coach on January 24. This marked Sirianni's first head coaching job.[84]

Front office personnel

Off-season

Team Position Departing office holder Interim replacement Incoming office holder Reason for leaving Notes
Atlanta Falcons General manager Thomas Dimitroff none Terry Fontenot Fired After an 0–5 start, Dimitroff was fired on October 11, 2020, after 12 seasons.[68]

Fontenot was hired on January 18. He spent previous 18 seasons with the New Orleans Saints organization, most recently as vice president/assistant general manager of pro personnel.[85]

Carolina Panthers Marty Hurney none Scott Fitterer Hurney was fired on December 21, 2020, after 14+ seasons in two stints (2002–12, 2017–20). In his time with the Panthers he was responsible for drafting star players such as Cam Newton, Luke Kuechly, and Thomas Davis.[86]

Fitterer, former Seattle Seahawks' vice president of football operations, was hired on January 14. He previously served with the Seahawks for 20 seasons in various executive roles.[87]

Denver Broncos John Elway George Paton Resigned Elway announced on January 4 that he was stepping down from his role as general manager, although he would remain as president of football operations.[88]

Paton was hired on January 13. He was previously a member of the Minnesota Vikings organization since 2007. This was his first GM position.[89][90]

Detroit Lions Bob Quinn by committee Brad Holmes Fired Quinn was fired on November 28, 2020, after five seasons.[71] A combination of front office personnel would handle GM duties for the remainder of the season.

On January 14, Holmes was hired as new general manager and executive vice president. He spent last 18 seasons with the Los Angeles Rams and named director of college scouting since 2013.[91]

Houston Texans Bill O'Brien Jack Easterby Nick Caserio O'Brien was named general manager of the team during the 2020 offseason, after splitting general manager duties with Easterby, the executive vice president of football operations, and other team executives in 2019.[73] Easterby took over GM duties for the rest of the season.[92]

Caserio was hired on January 7. He was a long-time member of the New England Patriots organization, as an offensive assistant, a scout, and their director of player personnel from 2008–2020.[93]

Jacksonville Jaguars David Caldwell Trent Baalke Caldwell was fired on November 29, 2020, after eight seasons.[94]

Baalke, the team's director of player personnel, would serve as interim GM through the end of the season.[94] Previously, he was the general manager of the San Francisco 49ers from 2011 to 2016. On January 21, 2021, Baalke was named permanent GM.[95]

Washington Football Team Ron Rivera (de facto) none Martin Mayhew N/A After four seasons without an official general manager, the team hired Mayhew on January 22. He previously served as the GM for the Detroit Lions from 2008 to 2015, and had been working in the San Francisco 49ers' front office since 2017.[96]

Stadiums

Stadium changes

Uniforms

Uniform changes

  • Cincinnati unveiled new uniforms on April 19. The uniforms are similar to their previous set, but have removed some features such as colored shoulder pads, side panels and outlined nameplates for a toned-down appearance. The team's trademark stripes were left as the most prominent feature.[100]
  • Jacksonville made its alternate teal jerseys its primary uniform. The team had previously used teal jerseys as the primary uniform from 1995–2011.[101]

Media

Broadcast rights

Television

This will be the eighth year under the current broadcast contracts with CBS, ESPN, Fox, and NBC. This includes "cross-flexing" (switching) Sunday afternoon games between CBS and Fox before or during the season, regardless of the conference of the visiting team. NBC airs Sunday Night Football, the Kickoff Game, and the Thanksgiving night game. ESPN airs Monday Night Football, with select games simulcast on ABC, and the Pro Bowl, which is also simulcast on ABC. As part of ESPN's renewal of rights to Monday Night Football, a Saturday doubleheader on the final week of the regular season has been added, which will also air on ABC.[102][103] Thursday Night Football airs on NFL Network, with Fox and Amazon Prime Video simulcasting selected games.[104] This is the final season of the Thursday Night Football contract with Fox.[105]

NBC will televise Super Bowl LVI. CBS was originally scheduled to broadcast the game under the current rotation. However, CBS traded the game to NBC in exchange for Super Bowl LV. Super Bowl LVI falls during the 2022 Winter Olympics, the first to be scheduled during an ongoing Olympic Games (NBC also holds the U.S. broadcast rights to the Olympics).[106]

On March 18, the NFL announced its future television deals for 2023–2033, which will see CBS, Fox, and NBC maintain their existing Sunday packages with expanded digital rights for their streaming services, and Thursday Night Football move exclusively to Amazon. ESPN also entered into a new agreement for Monday Night Football beginning in 2022.[102][103] It was later announced in May that Fox had opted out of its final season of Thursday Night Football, so this will be Fox's final season for the package.[105] NBC is maintaining Spanish-language rights to Sunday Night Football for Universo, while its Spanish broadcast network Telemundo will air selected games, including NBC's primetime Wild Card game and for the first time, Super Bowl LVI.[107]

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