2021 NFL season

The 2021 NFL season will be the 102nd season of the National Football League (NFL). The length of the season is contingent on whether the league decides to expand the regular season from 16 to 17 games and due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Under the Collective Bargaining Agreement signed in March 2020, the 2021 regular season is the first one to be eligible to be expanded.[1] The season will begin on September 9, 2021 in the home stadium of the Super Bowl LV Champion. The season will end with Super Bowl LVI, the league's championship game, at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, held on either February 6 or 13, 2022, depending on whether the regular season is expanded.

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).
2021 National Football League season
Regular season
DurationSeptember 9, 2021 (2021-09-09) – TBD
Playoffs
Start dateTBD
Super Bowl LVI
DateTBD
SiteSoFi Stadium, Inglewood, California
Pro Bowl
DateTBD
SiteAllegiant Stadium, Paradise, Nevada

Player movement

The 2021 NFL league year and trading period will begin on February 23. On March 18, 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 are allowed to contact and begin contract negotiations with the agents of players who were set to become unrestricted free agents.

Positions key
C Center CB Cornerback DB Defensive back DE Defensive end
DL Defensive lineman DT Defensive tackle FB Fullback FS Free safety
G Guard HB Halfback K Placekicker KR Kick returner
LB Linebacker LS Long snapper OT Offensive tackle OL Offensive lineman
NT Nose tackle P Punter PR Punt returner QB Quarterback
RB Running back S Safety SS Strong safety TB Tailback
TE Tight end WR Wide receiver        

Notable retirements

Other retirements

Draft
Main article: 2021 NFL Draft

The 2021 draft is scheduled to be held from April 29 – May 1, 2021 in Cleveland, Ohio.[12]

2021 deaths

Members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame
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.[13]

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 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.[14]

Regular season

Under the Collective Bargaining Agreement signed in March 2020, the 2021 regular season is the first one to be eligible to be expanded from 16 to 17 games.[1]

Under the NFL's current scheduling formula for a 16-game regular season, each team plays the other three teams in its own division twice. In addition, a team plays against all four teams in one division from each conference. The remaining two games on a team's schedule are against the two remaining teams in the same conference that finished in the same position in their respective divisions the previous season (e.g., the team that finished fourth in its division will play all three other teams in the conference that also finished fourth).

This formula would be modified if the regular season is expanded. On December 16, 2020, NFL owners approved a plan to have the 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 the club that finished fourth in a division of the other conference).[15]

Under the current 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

Highlights of the 2021 season will tentatively include:

  • NFL Kickoff Game: The 2021 season is scheduled to begin on September 9, 2021 at the home stadium of the Super Bowl LV champion (either the Kansas City Chiefs or Tampa Bay Buccaneers). It will be televised nationally by NBC
  • NFL International Series: The previous season's NFL International Series games were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting overseas travel restrictions in place. The 2021 international games will also depend on whether the pandemic overseas has subsided and travel restrictions are lifted.
  • Thanksgiving: As has been the case since 2006, three games will be scheduled for Thursday, November 25, including the traditional afternoon games hosted by the Detroit Lions and the Dallas Cowboys, and a game held in primetime.
  • Christmas: Christmas Day in 2021 falls on a Saturday. When this occurs, as it most recently did in 2010, the league typically schedules one or two Christmas Day games along with the regular slate of Sunday games.

The schedule will tentatively be released in April 2021.

Postseason

The 2021 playoffs are scheduled to begin on the weekend of January 8–9, 2022 (or January 15–16 for a 17-game regular season) with the Wild Card Round. There will be three Wild Card teams per conference, and only the conference's top seed receives a first round bye.[16] Three games will be played each day.[16]

In the Divisional Round scheduled for either January 15–16 or 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 23 or 30. Super Bowl LVI is scheduled for February 6 or 13 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.

Head coaching and front office changes

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 and one Super Bowl appearance.[17]

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.[18]

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.[19]

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.[20]

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.[20]

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.[21]

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.[22]

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.[23]

The Texans hired Culley, former Baltimore Ravens' assistant head coach, wide receivers coach & 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.[24]

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.[25]

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.[26]

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.[27]

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.[28]

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.[29]

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.[30]

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.[31][32]

Former Indianapolis Colts offensive coordinator Nick Sirianni was hired as Eagles' head coach on January 24. This marked Sirianni's first head coaching job.[33]

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.[17]

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.[34]

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.[35]

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.[36]

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.[37]

Paton was hired on January 13. He was previously a member of the Minnesota Vikings organization since 2007. This was his first GM position.[38][39]

Detroit Lions Bob Quinn by committee Brad Holmes Fired Quinn was fired on November 28, 2020 after five seasons.[20] 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.[40]

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.[22] Easterby took over GM duties for the rest of the season.[41]

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.[42]

Jacksonville Jaguars David Caldwell Trent Baalke Caldwell was fired on November 29, 2020 after eight seasons.[43]

Baalke, the team's director of player personnel, would serve as interim GM through the end of the season.[43] Previously, he was the general manager of the San Francisco 49ers from 2011 to 2016. On January 21, 2021, Baalke was named permanent GM.[44]

Washington Football Team by committee 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.[45]

Stadiums

Stadium changes

Media

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, and Fox airs Thursday Night Football alongside NFL Network.[47]

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).[48]

Although ESPN's current MNF deal expires in 2021 and the contracts with CBS, Fox, and NBC end in 2022, the NFL may begin negotiations on all the new broadcast deals at the same time.[49][50]

References
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