2020 NFL season


The 2020 NFL season will be the 101st season of the National Football League. Pending developments in the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the season is scheduled to begin on September 10, with the NFL Kickoff Game, with the defending Super Bowl LIV champion Kansas City Chiefs hosting the Houston Texans in a rematch of the previous season’s AFC Divisional Round. The season will conclude with Super Bowl LV, the league's championship game on February 7, 2021 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. The league has built the season schedule such that a shortened season would be possible, should they subsequently decide that the ongoing pandemic warrants a delayed start.
The Oakland Raiders became the Las Vegas Raiders on January 22, and are scheduled to relocate to the Las Vegas metropolitan area prior to the season, becoming the first NFL team based in the state of Nevada. The former Washington Redskins, following a decades-long controversy, increased scrutiny following the killing of George Floyd, and sudden withdrawal of corporate sponsorships over the issue, announced their intent to abandon their team name on July 13 and rebrand under another name once a trademark is secured; on July 22, they took on the temporary branding of Washington Football Team.

New collective bargaining agreement

In March, the league and the players association agreed to a new collective bargaining agreement that will run through the 2030 season. The previous CBA that was signed after the 2011 NFL lockout would have expired after this 2020 season, and thus the league and the NFLPA wanted to conclude a new deal to avoid another labor dispute.
Major changes in the new CBA include:
The 2020 NFL League year and trading period began on March 18. On March 16, teams were allowed to exercise options for 2020 on players who have 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 2019 contracts and who have fewer than three accrued seasons of free agent credit. Teams are required to be under the salary cap using the "top 51" definition. On March 16, clubs were allowed to contact and begin contract negotiations with the agents of players who were set to become unrestricted free agents.

Free agency

Free agency began on March 18. Notable players to change teams included:
The following notable trades were made during the 2020 league year:

Draft

The 2020 NFL Draft took place on April 23–25, 2020 via videoconferencing from various locations across the country; it was originally scheduled to take place in Paradise, Nevada, coinciding with the Oakland Raiders relocation to Las Vegas, but was later moved due to the COVID-19 pandemic; the television broadcast instead originated from ESPN’s studios in Bristol, Connecticut. The Cincinnati Bengals, by virtue of finishing last overall in 2019, held the first overall selection.
Due to the ongoing pandemic, the NFL announced on March 16 that it had canceled the public festivities, and that the league will explore "innovative options for how the process will be conducted". On March 26, 2020, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell announced that the draft will go as planned. On April 5, the league further announced that the draft would be held virtually with team coaches and GMs conducting it via phone and internet from home due to team facilities also being closed. Goodell unveiled the first-round picks from his home in Bronxville, New York.

Opt-outs

The NFL and the NFLPA reached an agreement on July 24 to allow players to opt out of playing the 2020 season. Players have until August 5 to choose whether or not to opt out. At least 36 players have decided to opt out. Players who do so will not be paid for the 2020 season, but will receive a salary advance of $350,000 for medical opt outs and $150,000 for voluntary opt outs. Players who voluntarily opt out will have their salary advances taken from their salary, while players who opt out for medical reasons will not. The following is a list of all players who have decided to opt out.
NamePositionTeam
DTDetroit
RBNew England
DTWashington
OTLos Angeles
CBDallas
OTNew England
SNew England
OTCleveland
GKansas City
GCleveland
WRGreen Bay
DTChicago
WRPhiladelphia
WRDallas
LBNew England
CNew York Jets
WRNew England
DTBuffalo
LBCarolina
OTTennessee
DTDenver
DTMinnesota
OTCincinnati
OTBaltimore
OTNew York Giants
WRBaltimore
OTNew England
OTCincinnati
DTHouston
TENew Orleans
FBNew England
GFree agent
GSeattle
TENew Orleans
RBKansas City
DTJacksonville

Officiating changes

Referee Walt Anderson was promoted to an NFL senior vice president in charge of the officiating training and development program, a newly created position that will work independently from the league's head of officiating Alberto Riveron. The new position was created as part of the 2019 CBA between the league and the NFL Referees Association. Land Clark was promoted to referee to replace Anderson. Clark was a referee in the Pac-12 Conference, and officiated bowl games such as the 2013 BCS National Championship Game and the 2018 Sugar Bowl, before joining the NFL in 2018 as a field judge.
Longtime coach and defensive coordinator Perry Fewell was also named as a league senior vice president of officiating administration. He will oversee the day-to-day operations of the officiating department, and be the primary contact who answers coaches and general managers' officiating questions, among other duties.

Rule changes

The following rule changes for the 2020 season were approved at the NFL Owners' Meeting in May 2020:

Members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame

;Willie Davis: Davis, a defensive end, spent 12 years in the NFL—the first two with the Cleveland Browns in 1958 and 1959, and the rest with the Green Bay Packers from 1960–1969. He also served as a color commentator for NBC in the early 1970s following the end of his playing career and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1981, and also started All-Pro Broadcasting, which owns several stations in Los Angeles and Milwaukee. Davis died on April 15, age 85.
;Chris Doleman: Doleman, a defensive end, spent ten years of his 15-year NFL career with the Minnesota Vikings, along with shorter stints near the end of his career with the Atlanta Falcons and San Francisco 49ers. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a member of the Class of 2012 and died January 28, age 58.
;Bobby Mitchell: Mitchell, a halfback, entered the league as a Cleveland Brown and spent the majority of his 11-year NFL career as a member of the Washington Redskins; he was the first black player on the team's roster, ending owner George Preston Marshall's 30-year color barrier on the team. He served as an executive with the Redskins for decades after his playing career ended and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a member of the Class of 1983. Mitchell died on April 5, age 84.
;Don Shula: Shula was head coach of the Baltimore Colts and Miami Dolphins for a combined 33 years; he holds the record for most wins by a head coach in NFL history, with 328, and was inducted into the Hall as a member of the Class of 1997. Shula died May 4, age 90.
;Willie Wood: Wood, a safety who spent his entire career with the Green Bay Packers, was inducted into the Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 1989. He died February 3, age 83.

Others

Preseason

Pending developments in the coronavirus pandemic, training camps for the 2020 season are scheduled to be held in late July through August. Teams will start training camp no earlier than 15 days before the team's first scheduled preseason game. By league order, all training camps will be held at the regular practice facilities of each team.
The Pro Football Hall of Fame Game was originally scheduled for August 6 between the Dallas Cowboys and Pittsburgh Steelers, but on June 25 the league announced its cancellation due to the pandemic. The enshrinement of the Hall of Fame Class of 2020 was also postponed to 2021.
On July 1, 2020, reports surfaced that the league had canceled all games in week one and four of the preseason but no confirmation was given from the league directly. Later that day, the NFLPA announced it had not approved the game cancellations. On July 3, the NFLPA voted in favor of canceling the preseason completely. On July 27, in a letter addressed to the fans, Commissioner Goodell confirmed that all preseason games had been canceled.

Regular season

The NFL released its regular season schedule on May 7. The season will be played over a 17-week schedule beginning on September 10. Each of the league's 32 teams will play a 16-game schedule, with one bye week for each team. The regular season will conclude with a full slate of 16 games on January 3, 2021, all of which are intra-division matchups, as it had been since.
Despite the concerns relating to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the NFL intends to play its full season as scheduled, but Commissioner Goodell stated that the league was open to contingencies if needed. Due to logistical issues associated with the pandemic, the NFL suspended its international games for the season; the league had previously announced that the Jacksonville Jaguars would host two games at Wembley Stadium in London, the Atlanta Falcons and Miami Dolphins would each host a game at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, and the Arizona Cardinals would host a game at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City. These games were moved back to their home teams' stadiums.
Using contingencies similar to those built into the 2011 schedule in the event that season's lockout lasted into September, the 2020 schedule was designed to allow for the possibility that the season could be delayed and shortened in the event that conditions are unsafe to begin play in September as scheduled. Every game in Week 2 features teams which share the same bye week later in the season, which would allow these games to be made up on the teams' original byes. Weeks 3 and 4 were set up so that there were neither any divisional rivalry games nor teams on bye in those weeks, and every team with a home game in Week 3 will be on the road in Week 4 and vice versa. This would keep the season as fair as possible if some games have to be canceled. These scheduling changes, along with eliminating the week off before the Super Bowl and moving the Super Bowl back three weeks, would allow the NFL to play a 14-game schedule beginning October 29 while still having the Super Bowl in February.
The Miami Dolphins and New York Jets will play each other in consecutive games in Weeks 10 and 12. Both teams have a bye in week 11.
;Scheduling formula
Under the NFL's current scheduling formula, each team plays the other three teams in its own division twice. In addition, a team plays against all four teams in one other division from each conference. The final 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. The division pairings for 2020 will be as follows:
Highlights of the 2020 season will include:
With the final round of The Masters rescheduled from its traditional April date to November 15, CBS was not given any 1:00 pm EST games in Week 10.

Saturday flexible scheduling

When the entire season schedule was released on May 7, the league announced that in both Weeks 15 and 16, up to three of five designated games would be moved to Saturday. The final times of these games will be announced no later than four weeks prior to game day.
;Week 15
;Week 16
The 2020–21 playoffs are scheduled to begin on the weekend of January 9–10, 2021 with the Wild Card Playoff Round. With the passage of a new CBA in March 2020, the playoffs will expand to 14 teams. Unlike in previous postseasons, there will be three Wild Card teams per conference, and only the conference's top seed receives a bye. Despite initial speculation that the league may schedule a Wild Card game on Monday night January 11, the league announced that there will be three games each on both January 9 and January 10.
The top seed in the conference will then play the lowest remaining seed, while the other two remaining teams play each other, in the Divisional Round games, scheduled for January 16–17. The winners of those games will advance to the Conference Championships scheduled for January 24. The 2021 Pro Bowl is scheduled for January 31 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada. Super Bowl LV will be played the following week, on February 7 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida.

Head coaching and front office personnel changes

Head coaches

Off-season

Front office personnel

Off-season

Stadiums

Uniform changes

With a total of eight teams unveiling changes, ranging from minor tweaks to full rebrands, this was the most uniform changes in the Nike uniform era in any offseason.
This will be the seventh year under the current broadcast contracts with ESPN, CBS, Fox, and NBC. This includes "cross-flexing" Sunday afternoon games between CBS and Fox before or during the season. NBC will continue to air Sunday Night Football, the annual Kickoff Game, and the primetime Thanksgiving game. ESPN will continue to air Monday Night Football and the Pro Bowl with the latter being simulcast on ABC. This will be the third year that Fox will air Thursday Night Football alongside NFL Network. CBS will televise Super Bowl LV. Under the current rotation, NBC was originally planned to broadcast the game. However, NBC traded the game to CBS in exchange for Super Bowl LVI, which will fall during the 2022 Winter Olympics as the first to be scheduled during an ongoing Olympic Games.
Although ESPN's current MNF deal expires in 2021, and the contracts with CBS, Fox and NBC end in 2022, the league may begin negotiations on new broadcast deals in 2020. Prior to the 2020 season, the league has the option to cancel DirecTV's exclusive contract to air NFL Sunday Ticket, the league's out-of-market sports package. DirecTV has held exclusive rights since the package was introduced in 1994.
To coincide with the 50th anniversary of Monday Night Football, ESPN will simulcast the Las Vegas Raiders' September 21 home opener against the New Orleans Saints on ABC, marking the first regular season contest aired on ABC since 2005.
Rights to the two new wild card games were acquired by CBS and NBC, with each network paying around $70 million for the additional game. CBS is planning to air an alternate broadcast for the new game on sister network Nickelodeon, oriented towards a youth audience, while NBC will carry the game in Spanish on Telemundo.
On April 29, 2020, Amazon renewed its digital rights to TNF through the 2022 season, maintaining the existing arrangement to simulcast the 11 games aired by Fox on Prime Video and Twitch, but also adding exclusive worldwide rights to one late-season game per-season.
As of the 2019 season, local stations in markets with NFL teams have been allowed on a limited basis to air another NFL game opposite the game involving that city's home team. The initial version of the rule limited this to two games per-season; for 2020, this is being expanded to four per-season.

Personnel notes

, CBS' lead color commentator, renewed his contract with CBS in a long-term, $17 million per-year deal, the most lucrative contract for a sports commentator in NFL history. Romo's contract was set to expire during the preseason, but CBS included a right of first refusal clause in his previous contract allowing them to match other networks'
offers.
CBS reportedly also parted ways with their former #2 commentator Dan Fouts, and will replace him with Fox’s #2 commentator Charles Davis, leaving Fox with a void at their #2 broadcast team.
ESPN will replace its Monday Night Football commentator team, moving Joe Tessitore and Booger McFarland to other positions on the network. Tessitore and McFarland lasted two years on the network's Monday night broadcast team and received poor response throughout their tenure. ESPN is expected to move one of its existing college football teams.

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on production

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it is likely that only a skeleton production crew will be physically at the stadiums, and each network will have their announcing teams call the games off of monitors at their respective studios. NBC Sunday Night Football lead commentator Al Michaels told the New York Post in May 2020 that he is opposed to this, saying that although "I understand that we have to take precautions here... That would not fly as far as I am concerned. You have to be able to feel it, even without fans."
During an interview with talk show host Andy Cohen, Fox lead commentator Joe Buck stated that the network had not ruled out the possibility of using artificial crowd noise on its telecasts to make up for the possibility of limited or no attendance at games, and that Fox was also exploring the possibility of masking empty stands with CGI crowds, as it has done with its baseball coverage.