2025 NFL season

This article is about the American football season in the United States. For the Gaelic football season in Ireland, see 2025 National Football League (Ireland).

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 the defending Super Bowl LIX champion Philadelphia Eagles hosting 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.

2025 NFL season

Regular season
Duration	September 4, 2025 (2025-09-04) – January 4, 2026 (2026-01-04)
Playoffs
Start date	January 10, 2026 (2026-01-10)
Super Bowl LX
Date	February 8, 2026
Site	Levi's Stadium, Santa Clara, California
Pro Bowl
Date	February 1, 2026
Site	TBD
← 2024 NFL seasons

Patriots

Bills

Dolphins

Jets

Bengals

Ravens

Steelers

Browns

Colts

Titans

Jaguars

Texans

Broncos

Chiefs

Raiders

Chargers

AFC teams: West, North, South, East

Cowboys

Giants

Eagles

Commanders

Bears

Lions

Packers

Vikings

Falcons

Panthers

Saints

Buccaneers

Cardinals

Rams

Seahawks

49ers

NFC teams: West, North, South, East

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.^[1]

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. 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 12, 2025.

• Quarterbacks Sam Darnold (Minnesota to Seattle), Justin Fields (Pittsburgh to New York Jets), Russell Wilson (Pittsburgh to New York Giants), and Jameis Winston (Cleveland to New York Giants).
• Running backs Rico Dowdle (Dallas to Carolina) and Najee Harris (Pittsburgh to Los Angeles Chargers).
• 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), Josh Palmer (Los Angeles Chargers to Buffalo), and Mike Williams (Pittsburgh to Los Angeles Chargers)
• Tight ends 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), 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), Josh Sweat (Philadelphia to Arizona), 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), and Robert Spillane (Las Vegas to New England)
• Defensive backs Paulson Adebo (New Orleans to New York Giants), 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).
• 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.^[2]
• March 12: Kansas City traded G Joe Thuney to Chicago in exchange for a 2026 fourth-round selection.^[3]
• March 12: The Los Angeles Rams traded G Jonah Jackson to Chicago in exchange for a 2025 sixth-round selection.^[4]
• 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.^[5]
• March 12: Seattle traded WR DK Metcalf and a 2025 sixth-round selection to Pittsburgh in exchange for 2025 second- and seventh-round selections.^[6]
• 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.^[7]
• March 13: Seattle traded QB Geno Smith to Las Vegas in exchange for a 2025 third-round selection.^[8]
• March 13: Philadelphia traded QB Kenny Pickett to Cleveland in exchange for QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson and a 2025 fifth-round selection.^[9]

Retirements

Notable retirements

• 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.^[10]
• 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.^[11]

Other retirements

• Brian Allen^[12]
• Jason Cabinda^[13]
• Mason Crosby^[14]
• Vinny Curry^[15]
• Tommy Doyle^[16]
• Jon Feliciano^[17]
• Brandon Graham^[18]
• Sam Hubbard^[19]
• Micah Hyde^[20]
• David Mayo^[21]
• Rodney McLeod^[22]
• Mitch Morse^[23]
• Keanu Neal^[24]
• Michael Pierce^[25]
• Mike Purcell^[26]
• Isaac Rochell^[27]
• Connor Williams^[28]
• K'Waun Williams^[29]

Draft

The 2025 NFL draft will take place at Lambeau Field and its adjacent Titletown District in Green Bay, Wisconsin, on April 24–26.^[30] Tennessee, by virtue of having the worst record in 2024, holds the first overall selection.

2025 deaths

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.^[31]

Preseason

The majority of training camps will be opened on July 23. The preseason will begin on July 31 with the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game.

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 2010.^[1]

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.^[32]

The division pairings for 2025 are as follows:^[32]

Four intra-conference games AFC East vs AFC North AFC South vs AFC West NFC East vs NFC North NFC South vs NFC West

Four interconference games AFC East vs NFC South AFC North vs NFC North AFC South vs NFC West AFC West vs NFC East

Interconference game by 2024 position NFC East at AFC East NFC North at AFC West NFC South at AFC South NFC West at AFC North

Highlights of the 2025 season are planned to include (unless otherwise noted) the following, with all specific teams and kickoff times to be announced at a later date in Spring 2025:

• NFL Kickoff Game: The season will begin with the Kickoff Game on September 4, 2025, and will be hosted by Philadelphia, the winner of Super Bowl LIX.
• NFL International Series: NFL owners voted in 2023 to increase the number of International Series games on the 2025 schedule to eight.^[33] London, United Kingdom, will host three games, with Jacksonville hosting a game at Wembley Stadium, and Cleveland and the New York Jets each hosting a game at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.^[34] One game each will be played at the Arena Corinthians in São Paulo, Brazil (hosted by the Los Angeles Chargers),^[35] Olympiastadion in Berlin, Germany (hosted by Indianapolis),^[36][37] Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid, Spain (hosted by Miami),^[38][39] and Croke Park in Dublin, Ireland (hosted by Pittsburgh).^[40]
• Thanksgiving: Three Thanksgiving Day games are planned to be held on November 27, with Detroit and Dallas expected to host the traditional afternoon doubleheader, and a primetime game with no fixed teams.
• 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 2021 (since then the league has played games on the week of Christmas). It is thus expected that this will be the first time that the league will stage Thursday Christmas games, including one or two afternoon contests and the regular Thursday Night Football game. 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 Sunday Night Football, Monday Night Football, and increased the amount of cross-flexing (switching) of Sunday afternoon games between CBS and Fox.^[41][42]

NFL owners will vote on whether the flexible scheduling rules will continue to include Thursday Night Football. They were initially approved in 2023 on a trial basis, then carried over into 2024 after no Thursday games were flexed during that first season.^[43] Under these rules, only two Thursday Night Football games can be flexed between weeks 14 and 17, teams are not allowed play two away Thursday games during the season, the same team can not be flexed into TNF both times, and the league is required to give a 28-day notice.^[43]

Assuming the other flexible scheduling rules 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 was required to give weeks 5 to 13 SNF games a 12-day notice, and weeks 14 to 17 a 6-day notice.^[44][45]

CBS and Fox are still able to protect games from being moved, 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.^[46] After the season starts, the two networks are allowed to protect one game each week from getting flexed.^[41]

Postseason

The 2025 playoffs are scheduled to begin with the wild-card round, with three wild-card 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.

Head coaching and general manager changes

Head coaches

Team	Departing coach	Interim coach	Incoming coach	Reason for leaving	Notes
Chicago Bears	Matt Eberflus	Thomas Brown	Ben Johnson	Fired	After a 4–8 (.333) start including a 6-game losing streak, Eberflus was fired as head coach on November 29, 2024, after being hired in 2022. During his two and a half season tenure, Chicago was 14–32 (.304) with no playoff appearances.[47] Brown, the team's offensive coordinator, was named as interim head coach. This was his first head coaching position at any level. He finished the season with a 1–4 (.200) record. Johnson, who spent the previous three seasons as the Detroit Lions' offensive coordinator, was hired on January 21, marking his first head coaching position.[48]
Jacksonville Jaguars	Doug Pederson		Liam Coen		Pederson was fired on January 6, after three seasons with the Jaguars. During his tenure, the team was 22–29 (.431), with one playoff appearance.[49] Coen, who spent the previous season as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' offensive coordinator, was hired as the head coach on January 24. It is his first head coaching position.[50]
Las Vegas Raiders	Antonio Pierce		Pete Carroll		Pierce was fired on January 7, after one and a half seasons with the Raiders. During his tenure, the team went 9–17 (.346) with no playoff appearances.[51] Carroll was hired on January 25. He has eighteen seasons of experience as head coach of the New York Jets, New England Patriots, and Seattle Seahawks, with a combined record of 170–120–1 (.586), twelve playoff berths, two Super Bowl appearances, the Super Bowl XLVIII championship, and an overall playoff record of 11–11 (.500). Carroll was also head coach of USC for nine seasons, accumulating a record of 97–19 (.836) and two national championships. At 73 years old, Carroll will become the oldest head coach in NFL history.[52]
New England Patriots	Jerod Mayo		Mike Vrabel		Mayo was fired on January 5, after one 4–13 (.235) season with the Patriots.[53] On January 12, the Patriots hired Vrabel as their new head coach. As the head coach of the Tennessee Titans from 2018 to 2023, he compiled a record of 54–45 (.545), with three playoff appearances and a 2–3 (.400) playoff record.[54]
New Orleans Saints	Dennis Allen	Darren Rizzi	Kellen Moore		After a 2–7 (.222) start including a 7-game losing streak, Allen was fired on November 4, 2024, after two and a half seasons as the team's head coach. During his tenure, the Saints were 18–25 (.419) with no playoff appearances.[55] Rizzi, the team's special teams coordinator, was elevated as interim head coach. He finished the season with a 3–5 (.375) record. Moore was hired on February 11. He previously served as the Dallas Cowboys offensive coordinator from 2019 to 2022, the Chargers in 2023, and the Eagles in 2024, winning Super Bowl LIX with the Eagles. This is his first head coaching position at any level.[56]
New York Jets	Robert Saleh	Jeff Ulbrich	Aaron Glenn		Saleh was fired as head coach on October 8, 2024, with a 20–36 (.357) record (2–3 in 2024) after being hired in 2021. Ulbrich, the team's defensive coordinator, was named interim head coach.[57] This was his first head coaching position. He finished the season with a 3–9 (.250) record. Glenn was hired on January 22 after spending the previous four years as the defensive coordinator for the Detroit Lions. This is his first head coaching job at any level.[58]
Dallas Cowboys	Mike McCarthy		Brian Schottenheimer	Contract expired	McCarthy's contract was not renewed by the Cowboys on January 13 after five seasons together. During his tenure, the team went 49–35 (.583), with two NFC East division titles in three overall playoff appearances, and a playoff record of 1–3 (.250).[59] Schottenheimer, who served as Dallas' offensive coordinator for the previous two seasons, was hired as the head coach on January 24. It is his first head coaching position.[60]

General managers

Team	Departing GM	Interim replacement	Incoming GM	Reason for leaving	Notes
Jacksonville Jaguars	Trent Baalke		James Gladstone	Fired	Baalke was fired on January 22, after four and a half seasons.[61] On February 21, the Jaguars named Gladstone, the Los Angeles Rams' director of scouting strategy, as their new general manager.[62]
New York Jets	Joe Douglas	Phil Savage	Darren Mougey		Douglas was fired on November 19, 2024, after six seasons. Savage, the team's senior personnel advisor, was named interim GM. Savage previously served as general manager of the Cleveland Browns from 2005 to 2008.[63] On January 25, the Jets named Mougey, former assistant general manager of the Denver Broncos, as the new general manager. He previously served for the Broncos from 2012 to 2024 in various executive roles.[64]
Las Vegas Raiders	Tom Telesco		John Spytek		Telesco was fired on January 9, after only one season.[65] Spytek was hired on January 24, previously serving as the vice president of player personnel from 2021 to 2022 and assistant general manager for the past two years, both positions with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.[66]
Tennessee Titans	Ran Carthon		Mike Borgonzi		Carthon was fired on January 7, after two seasons.[67] Borgonzi was hired on January 17. He previously served for the Kansas City Chiefs from 2009 to 2024 in various executive roles and in the final three years as the assistant general manager.[68]

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.^[69]

Media

National

Linear television

This will be the third season under 11-year U.S. media rights agreements with CBS, Fox, NBC, and ESPN/ABC along with its Spanish counterparts ESPN Deportes, Fox Deportes, and Telemundo Deportes.^[70] 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. Each network is scheduled to air ten doubleheaders, with both networks airing one in Week 18 and another week yet-to-be announced. 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.^[71] On Thanksgiving, Fox will have the early Detroit game and CBS the late Dallas game.^[70] CBS will also have the option of producing alternative broadcasts of select games on Nickelodeon.^[70] Fox also has the option to air a Christmas game.^[72]
• NBC will continue to air Sunday Night Football, the NFL Kickoff Game, and the primetime Thanksgiving game.^[70]
• ESPN will continue to produce Monday Night Football and the doubleheader on the last Saturday of the season. Select MNF games and the Saturday doubleheader will be ESPN/ABC simulcasts. Three weeks will feature two MNF games split between ABC and ESPN.^[70][73][74] Selected games will also feature the alternative Manningcast on ESPN2.^[75]
• NFL Network will air selected International Series and late-season Saturday 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.^[76] 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.^[77] DirecTV has an agreement with Amazon to distribute Thursday Night Football games to business establishments.^[78]
• Peacock will simulcast NBC's games.^[70] This will also be the third season in a six-year deal that the platform will exclusively stream one regular season game.^[79] Peacock's exclusive game was distributed to business establishments via Peacock Sports Pass on EverPass Media.^[80]
• ESPN+ will simulcast select games on ABC, including games being simulcast on ESPN, as well as select Manningcasts.^[70] This will also be the fourth year of a 12-year deal that the platform will exclusively stream one regular season game.^[81] ESPN+'s exclusive games will be distributed to business establishments via the ESPN+ for Business package on DirecTV.^[82]
• Paramount+ will simulcast in market and national CBS games.^[70]
• Netflix will exclusively stream at least one Christmas Day game in 2025, in its second year of a three-year deal.^[83]
• 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.^[84] DirecTV and EverPass Media will also distribute NFL Sunday Ticket to business establishments.^[85][86][87]
• The league's streaming service NFL+ will continue to live stream in-market 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.^[88]

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.^[89][90][91] ESPN/ABC will broadcast the Monday night Wild Card game, its last in a five-year deal.^[92][93] Fox, NBC or CBS will air a second Wild Card game as part of the rotation between the networks. This will also be the second postseason under a multi-year deal that Amazon Prime Video will exclusively stream a Wild Card playoff game.^[94][95]

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).^[96]

NBC will televise Super Bowl LX in the annual rotation of Super Bowl broadcasters.^[97] 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).^[98]

Personnel changes

On March 3, Fox NFL Sunday studio analyst Jimmy Johnson announced his retirement from broadcasting.^[99]