2025 NFL Season

The 2025 NFL season is the 106th season of the National Football League (NFL). The regular season is scheduled to begin on September 4, 2025, with reigning Super Bowl champion Philadelphia hosting Dallas in the NFL Kickoff Game, and is set to end on January 4, 2026. The playoffs are scheduled to start on January 10, and conclude with Super Bowl LX, the league's championship game, at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California, on February 8.

Player movement

The 2025 NFL league year and trading period began on March 12. On March 10, teams were allowed to exercise options for 2025 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 2024 contracts and fewer than three accrued seasons of free agent credit. Teams are 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 12, clubs were allowed to contact and begin contract negotiations with players whose contracts had expired and thus became unrestricted free agents.

This season's salary cap will increase $23.8 million per team, to a total of $279.2 million dollars per team, breaking the previous high of $255.4 million per team in 2024.

Free agency

Free agency began on March 12, 2025.

*Quarterbacks Sam Darnold (Minnesota to Seattle), Justin Fields (Pittsburgh to New York Jets), Joe Flacco (Indianapolis to Cleveland), Aaron Rodgers (New York Jets to Pittsburgh), and Russell Wilson (Pittsburgh to New York Giants)
*Running backs Nick Chubb (Cleveland to Houston), J.K. Dobbins (Los Angeles Chargers to Denver), Rico Dowdle (Dallas to Carolina), Najee Harris (Pittsburgh to Los Angeles Chargers), and Javonte Williams (Denver to Dallas)
*Wide receivers Davante Adams (New York Jets to Los Angeles Rams), Stefon Diggs (Houston to New England), DeAndre Hopkins (Kansas City to Baltimore), Cooper Kupp (Los Angeles Rams to Seattle), Tyler Lockett (Seattle to Tennessee), Josh Palmer (Los Angeles Chargers to Buffalo), and Mike Williams (Pittsburgh to Los Angeles Chargers)
*Tight end Evan Engram (Jacksonville to Denver)
*Offensive linemen Aaron Banks (San Francisco to Green Bay), Drew Dalman (Atlanta to Chicago), Will Fries (Indianapolis to Minnesota), Teven Jenkins (Chicago to Cleveland), Ryan Kelly (Indianapolis to Minnesota), Dan Moore (Pittsburgh to Tennessee), Jaylon Moore (San Francisco to Kansas City), and Morgan Moses (New York Jets to New England)
*Defensive linemen Jonathan Allen (Washington to Minnesota), Joey Bosa (Los Angeles Chargers to Buffalo), Calais Campbell (Miami to Arizona), Leonard Floyd (San Francisco to Atlanta), Javon Hargrave (San Francisco to Minnesota), Grady Jarrett (Atlanta to Chicago), Javon Kinlaw (New York Jets to Washington), DeMarcus Lawrence (Dallas to Seattle), Tershawn Wharton (Kansas City to Carolina), and Milton Williams (Philadelphia to New England)
*Linebackers Dre Greenlaw (San Francisco to Denver), Harold Landry (Tennessee to New England), Haason Reddick (New York Jets to Tampa Bay), Robert Spillane (Las Vegas to New England), and Josh Sweat (Philadelphia to Arizona)
*Defensive backs Paulson Adebo (New Orleans to New York Giants), Jaire Alexander (Green Bay to Baltimore), Camryn Bynum (Minnesota to Indianapolis), Carlton Davis (Detroit to New England), Jevon Holland (Miami to New York Giants), Talanoa Hufanga (San Francisco to Denver), Tre'von Moehrig (Las Vegas to Carolina), D. J. Reed (New York Jets to Detroit), Darius Slay (Philadelphia to Pittsburgh), and Charvarius Ward (San Francisco to Indianapolis)
*Kicker Matt Gay (Indianapolis to Washington)
*Punters Riley Dixon (Denver to Tampa Bay), Johnny Hekker (Carolina to Tennessee), and Ryan Stonehouse (Tennessee to Miami)

Trades

The following notable trades were made during the 2025 league year:

*March 12: San Francisco traded WR Deebo Samuel to Washington in exchange for a 2025 fifth-round selection.
*March 12: Kansas City traded G Joe Thuney to Chicago in exchange for a 2026 fourth-round selection.
*March 12: The Los Angeles Rams traded G Jonah Jackson to Chicago in exchange for a 2025 sixth-round selection.
*March 12: Houston traded OT Laremy Tunsil and a 2025 fourth-round selection to Washington in exchange for 2025 third- and seventh-round selections and 2026 second- and fourth-round selections.
*March 12: Seattle traded WR DK Metcalf and a 2025 sixth-round selection to Pittsburgh in exchange for 2025 second- and seventh-round selections.
*March 12: Philadelphia traded S C. J. Gardner-Johnson and a 2025 sixth-round selection to Houston in exchange for G Kenyon Green and a 2026 fifth-round selection.
*March 13: Seattle traded QB Geno Smith to Las Vegas in exchange for a 2025 third-round selection.
*March 13: Philadelphia traded QB Kenny Pickett to Cleveland in exchange for QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson and a 2025 fifth-round selection.
*May 7: Pittsburgh traded WR George Pickens and a 2027 sixth-round selection to Dallas in exchange for 2026 third-round and 2027 fifth-round selections.

Retirements

Notable retirements

* OT Terron Armstead – Five-time Pro Bowler and one-time second-team All-Pro. Played for New Orleans and Miami during his 12-year career.
* QB Derek Carr – Four-time Pro Bowler. Played for Oakland/Las Vegas and New Orleans during his 11-year career.
* WR Julio Jones – Seven-time Pro Bowler and five-time All-Pro (two first-team, three second-team). Played for Atlanta, Tennessee, Tampa Bay, and Philadelphia during his 13-year career.
* G Zack Martin – Nine-time Pro Bowler and nine-time All-Pro (seven first-team, two second-team). Played for Dallas during his entire 11-year career.
* LB C. J. Mosley – Five-time Pro Bowler and five-time second-team All-Pro. Played for Baltimore and the New York Jets during his 11-year career.
* OT Jason Peters – Nine-time Pro Bowler, six-time All-Pro (two first-team, four second-team), and Super Bowl LII champion. Played for Buffalo, Philadelphia, Chicago, Dallas, and Seattle during his 21-year career.
* CB Patrick Peterson – Eight-time Pro Bowler and three-time first-team All-Pro. Played for Arizona, Minnesota, and Pittsburgh during his 13-year career.
* C Frank Ragnow – Four-time Pro Bowler and three-time second-team All-Pro. Played for Detroit during his entire seven-year career.
* OT Tyron Smith – Eight-time Pro Bowler and five-time All-Pro (two first-team, three second-team). Played for Dallas and the New York Jets during his 14-year career.

Other retirements

Draft

The 2025 NFL draft took place at Lambeau Field and its adjacent Titletown District in Green Bay, Wisconsin, on April 24–26. Tennessee, by virtue of having the worst record in , held the first overall selection and selected quarterback Cam Ward out of Miami (FL).

2025 deaths

Pro Football Hall of Fame members

; Steve McMichael : McMichael played 15 seasons in the NFL as a defensive tackle with the New England Patriots, Chicago Bears, and Green Bay Packers, and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2024. He was a two-time Pro Bowler, four-time All-Pro (two first-team, two second-team), and Super Bowl XX champion. He died on April 23, age 67.

Active personnel

; Virginia Halas McCaskey
:McCaskey was the owner of the Chicago Bears, assuming the position in 1983 following the death of her father George Halas. She won Super Bowl XX as team owner. She died on February 6 at the age of 102.

; Jim Irsay
:Irsay was the owner, chairman and CEO of the Indianapolis Colts, assuming the position in 1997 following the death of his father Robert Irsay. He won Super Bowl XLI as team owner. He died on May 21 at the age of 65.

Rule changes

The following rule changes for the 2025 season were approved at the NFL Owners' Meeting on March 30–April 2:
*The kickoff rules approved on a trial basis in 2024 were made permanent, with the below change:
:*The receiving team will now receive the ball at its 35-yard line if the kick sails into or beyond the end zone for a touchback (previously this was the 30-yard line). The receiving team will still receive the ball at its 20-yard line on a touchback if the ball bounces into the end zone.
*Both teams will have a chance to possess the ball in overtime, aligning regular season and postseason overtime rules. Unlike in the postseason, regular season overtime will remain limited to 10 minutes.
*Replay rules were expanded, allowing replay officials to advise on-field officials on "specific, objective aspects of a play" and to address game administration issues.
*The "nose-wipe" gesture was added to the list of acts that will draw an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty of 15 yards.
*The Sony "Hawk-eye" system will be used for virtual line-to-gain measurements instead of the chain crew, who will still be used as a secondary system for first downs.
The following rule change for the 2025 season was approved at the Spring League Meeting on May 20–21:
* Teams can declare an onside kick at any point when trailing (previously this could only be done in the fourth quarter) and can line up one yard closer to the opponent.

Preseason

The Detroit Lions and Los Angeles Chargers will play in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game on July 31.

Regular season

The season is planned to be played over an 18-week schedule, beginning on September 4. Each of the league's 32 teams plays 17 games, with one bye week. The regular season is then scheduled to end on January 4, 2026; all games during the final weekend will be intra-division games, as it has been since .

Each team plays the other three teams in its own division twice, one game against each of the four teams from a division in its own conference, one game against each of the four teams from a division in the other conference, one game against each of the remaining two teams in its 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 its conference that also finished fourth in their divisions), and one game against a team in another division in the other conference that also finished in the same position in their respective division the previous season.

The division pairings for 2025 are as follows:

Highlights of the 2025 season are planned to include the following:
* NFL Kickoff Game: The season will begin with the Kickoff Game on September 4, 2025, with Dallas at defending Super Bowl LIX champion Philadelphia.
*NFL International Series: NFL owners voted in 2023 to increase the number of International Series games to a maximum of eight starting in 2025, but seven were scheduled this season. The first game this season will be Kansas City at the Los Angeles Chargers on September 5 at Arena Corinthians in São Paulo, Brazil. Minnesota at Pittsburgh is then scheduled for September 28 at Croke Park in Dublin, the first NFL regular season game held in Ireland. Three games are also planned to be held in London, United Kingdom, with Minnesota at Cleveland at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on October 5, Denver at the New York Jets on October 12 at Tottenham, and the Los Angeles Rams at Jacksonville on October 19 at Wembley Stadium. Then Atlanta at Indianapolis is on November 9 at Olympiastadion in Berlin, Germany. Finally, Washington at Miami will be on November 16 at Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid, the first NFL regular season game held in Spain.
*Thanksgiving: Three Thanksgiving Day games are planned to be held on November 27, with Green Bay at Detroit and Kansas City at Dallas in the traditional afternoon doubleheader, and Cincinnati at Baltimore as the primetime game. The kickoff time for Detroit's game was moved from 12:30 p.m. ET to 1:00 p.m. this season so it matches that of the early Sunday games.
*Christmas: Christmas Day, December 25, lands on a Thursday for the first time since the league expanded from a 16-game schedule to 17 games in . Therefore, the league will play Thursday Christmas games for the first time, including two afternoon contests (Dallas at Washington and Detroit at Minnesota) and the regular ''Thursday Night Football'' game (Denver at Kansas City). Prior to 2021, a Thursday Christmas Day normally fell on the final week of the regular season when the league preferred not to schedule any Thursday games that would have given teams a competitive advantage with more rest between it and the opening round of the playoffs.

Flexible scheduling rules

This will be the third season of the league's flexible scheduling system that includes ''Thursday Night Football'', '' Sunday Night Football'', ''Monday Night Football'', and increased the amount of cross-flexing (switching) of Sunday afternoon games between CBS and Fox.

In March 2025, NFL owners voted to change the deadline to flex ''Thursday Night Football'' games from 28 to 21 days before kickoff. The other rules regarding ''TNF'' remain the same: only two games can be flexed between weeks 13 and 17, teams are not required to flex into ''TNF'' more than once, teams are not allowed to play more than two Thursday games on short rest during the season, and teams cannot play multiple away ''TNF'' games during the season without their approval.

The other flexible scheduling rules are basically remain the same as in 2024. Any ''Monday Night Football'' game is allowed to be flexed between weeks 12 and 17, provided that the league announces its rescheduling no later than 12 days before the contests. For ''Sunday Night Football'', no more than two games could be flexed between weeks 5 and 10, while any game between weeks 11 to 17 could be flexed; the league is required to give weeks 5 to 13 ''SNF'' games a 12-day notice, and weeks 14 to 17 a 6-day notice. All Week 18 games will initially be listed as "TBD", with the league announcing its schedule after Week 17 games are completed.

CBS and Fox are still able to protect games from being moved (except for Week 18 contests), whether from a change to another network or a change of the Sunday afternoon time slot. When the initial season schedule was created, the two networks select a limited number of games involving a specific number of teams from their respective conference. Otherwise every game can be initially scheduled on any network regardless of conference. After the season starts, the two networks are allowed to protect one game each week from getting flexed.

Scheduling changes

* Week 17: Five games have been set aside to potentially be moved into a tripleheader on Saturday, December 27: Arizona at Cincinnati, Baltimore at Green Bay, Houston at Los Angeles Chargers, New York Giants at Las Vegas, and Seattle at Carolina. Three of those games will be moved to Saturday at 1:00, 4:30 and 8:15 p.m. Eastern Time, and the remaining two games will be played on Sunday December 28, or Monday December 29. This season, NFL Network will still air the two afternoon Saturday games, but the 8:15 p.m. game will instead be streamed on Peacock.
* Week 18: All Week 18 games are initially listed with a kickoff time of "TBD". Two games with playoff implications are planned to be moved to a Saturday, January 3, doubleheader at 4:30 p.m. and 8:15 p.m. ET on ABC and ESPN. Another game with playoff implications will be selected as the final ''NBC Sunday Night Football'' game at 8:20 p.m. ET. All remaining games will then be scheduled on Sunday afternoon at either 1:00 or 4:25 p.m. ET on either CBS or Fox.

Postseason

The 2025 playoffs are scheduled to begin with the Wild Card round, with three games played in each conference. Wild Card Weekend is planned for January 10–12, 2026. In the Divisional round, scheduled for January 17–18, 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 advance to the Conference Championship games scheduled for January 25. Super Bowl LX is scheduled for February 8 at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California.

2025–26 NFL playoffs

Records, milestones and notable statistics

Offseason

On April 1, the NFL announced All-America Football Conference records and statistics will be recognized in its official records. This primarily affects the two teams surviving from the AAFC's 1950 merger with the NFL: the Cleveland Browns and San Francisco 49ers.

* Marion Motley now holds the record for highest yards per carry for a running back, with 5.7. The previous record of 5.4 was held by Jamaal Charles.
*Paul Brown now holds the record for most league championships as head coach, with seven. The previous record of six titles was shared by Bill Belichick, George Halas, and Curly Lambeau.
*Brown also became the eighth head coach to have at least 200 wins.
*Otto Graham now shares the record for most league championships as starting quarterback, with seven, tying the record held by Tom Brady.
*The 1948 San Francisco 49ers now hold the record for most rushing yards in a season, with 3,663. The previous record of 3,296 was held by the 2019 Baltimore Ravens.
*The 1948 49ers also set the record for most yards per carry in a season, with 6.1. The previous record of 5.8 was held by the 2024 Baltimore Ravens.
*The 1948 Cleveland Browns season is now recognized as a perfect season joining the 1972 Miami Dolphins season as the only such seasons in league history.

Head coaching and general manager changes

Head coaches

General managers

Stadiums

This is scheduled to be the final season in which the Buffalo Bills will play their home games at their current Highmark Stadium. The new stadium, also to be called Highmark Stadium, is scheduled to be completed by the start of the 2026 season.

Uniforms

The NFL announced a policy change that allows teams to wear their alternate or throwback designs four times per season, up from the previous limit of three. Teams are now permitted to pair alternate helmets with non-alternate uniforms. Additionally, qualifying teams can wear alternate pants during playoff games.

Rivalries uniforms

During the 2025 NFL draft, Nike and the NFL announced a "Rivalries" uniform program, which will feature new designs for home teams playing against a divisional opponent. AFC East and NFC West teams will debut these uniforms this season, followed by AFC South and NFC North teams in 2026, AFC West and NFC East teams in 2027, and AFC North and NFC South in 2028. The plan is for teams to wear these uniforms at one home divisional game per season, against a different divisional rival each year, for the next three seasons after the uniforms' debut.

Uniform changes

* Tennessee switched their home jersey color from navy blue to a light "Titans blue," a design that previously served as their alternate uniform. Their Houston Oilers throwback uniforms were discontinued.
*Pittsburgh will introduce a new throwback uniform to be worn against Green Bay, replacing the team's previous 1970s-era throwback that was identical to the team's current uniforms but featured block numerals instead of the Futura Condensed that the team switched to in 1997. The Steelers standard uniforms that they have worn since 1968 (with the aforementioned change to the numbers in 1997) as well as their Color Rush uniforms remain unchanged.

Patches

* Baltimore will wear a patch commemorating its 30th season.
*Seattle announced a patch commemorating its 50th season.
* Indianapolis will wear a patch memorializing former owner Jim Irsay, who passed away on May 21, 2025.

Media

National

Linear television

This will be the third season under 11-year U.S. media rights agreements with CBS, Fox, NBC, and ESPN family of networks along with its Spanish counterparts TUDN family of networks, Fox Deportes, Telemundo Deportes and ESPN Deportes. Under these linear television rights:
* Sunday afternoon games are split between CBS and Fox. Both networks will continue to carry the Sunday afternoon AFC and NFC packages, respectively. When the initial schedule is created, CBS and Fox will be able to specify a limited amount of games involving teams from their respective conference that they want to air, but otherwise the league was free to schedule games regardless of conference. Each network is scheduled to air ten Sunday doubleheaders, with both networks airing one in Weeks 15 and 18. Fox also acquired the rights to air a Saturday doubleheader in Week 16 this season, which breaks the single season record for the most doubleheaders by a network at 11. On Thanksgiving, Fox will have the early Detroit game and CBS will have the late Dallas game. CBS will also have the option of producing alternative broadcasts of select games on Nickelodeon.
* NBC will continue to air '' Sunday Night Football'', the NFL Kickoff Game, and the primetime Thanksgiving game.
* ESPN will continue to produce ''Monday Night Football'' and the doubleheader on the last Saturday of the season. This season, ESPN will air a ''MNF'' traditional doubleheader on September 15. September 29 and October 13 will feature a split doubleheader with two MNF games airing at the same time on both ABC and ESPN. At least ten ''MNF'' games and the Saturday doubleheader will be ESPN/ABC simulcasts. Selected games will also feature the alternative '' Manningcast'' on ESPN2.
* NFL Network will air all International Series games in Europe and the Week 17 Saturday afternoon games.

Streaming

* This will be the fourth year of a 12-year deal with Amazon Prime Video and Twitch to exclusively stream ''Thursday Night Football''. This will also be the third season that Prime Video/Twitch will stream the game on the Friday after Thanksgiving under the title ''Black Friday Football''.
* Peacock will simulcast NBC's games. This will also be the third season in a six-year deal that the platform will exclusively stream one regular season game, with this year's contest being the Week 17 Saturday night game.
* ESPN+ will simulcast select games, mostly games airing on ABC, as well as select ''Manningcasts''. This will also be the fourth year of a 12-year deal that the platform will exclusively stream one regular season game, with this year's contest being the second game of a ''MNF'' doubleheader in the Week 7 Monday night game.
* Paramount+ will simulcast in market and national CBS games.
* Fox One will simulcast in market and national Fox games when the service launches this fall.
* Netflix will exclusively stream two Christmas Day games in 2025, in its second year of a three-year deal.
* This will be the third season out of a seven-year deal that the NFL Sunday Ticket out-of-market sports package will stream on YouTube TV, as well as on YouTube's Primetime Channels service as a standalone subscription option. Additionally under a one-year deal, both YouTube and YouTube TV will stream the International Series game in Brazil to a worldwide audience for free.
* The league's streaming service NFL+ will continue to live stream in-market and national regular season and postseason games on mobile devices only, radio broadcasts for all games, most out-of-market preseason games and a live stream of NFL Network on its base tier, and replays of games along with a live stream of NFL RedZone on its premium tier.

Postseason

All four broadcast partners will air at least one Wild Card round game, with CBS and Fox airing a AFC and NFC Wild Card game, respectively. NBC will air the Sunday night game under the fifth year of its seven-year deal. ESPN/ABC will broadcast the Monday night Wild Card game, its last in a five-year deal. Fox will air a second Wild Card game this season as part of the rotation with NBC and CBS. This will also be the second postseason under a multi-year deal that Amazon Prime Video will exclusively stream a Wild Card playoff game.

This will be the third season that all four broadcast television partners air one divisional playoff game per season (ESPN/ABC, Fox, CBS, and NBC).

NBC will televise Super Bowl LX in the annual rotation of Super Bowl broadcasters. Under this rotation, the league awarded NBC the Super Bowl during the same years it has its Winter Olympics coverage. Super Bowl LX will join Super Bowl LVI as the second time that the game is scheduled on a date within the date range of an ongoing Olympics event (the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy).

Personnel changes

On March 3, ''Fox NFL Sunday'' studio analyst Jimmy Johnson announced his retirement from broadcasting.

On March 26, CBS announced that J. J. Watt would replace Charles Davis as the network's No. 2 color commentator. Watt will work with play-by-play commentator Ian Eagle.

References

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