The 2020 NFL season is the 101st season of the National Football League (NFL). The regular season started with the NFL Kickoff Game on September 10, with defending Super Bowl LIV champion Kansas City defeating Houston. The season is scheduled to conclude with Super Bowl LV, the league’s championship game at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida on February 7, 2021.
This is the first season with a 14-team playoff format, adding a third wild card team for each conference, and only awarding each conference’s top seed a first round bye.
The Oakland Raiders became the Las Vegas Raiders following their relocation to the Las Vegas area, becoming the first NFL team based in the state of Nevada. The Washington Redskins, following the decades-long controversy regarding their name and logo, retired both in the offseason and became the Washington Football Team until a permanent name is chosen after the season.
The season has been impacted by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, though the regular season began as scheduled and no regular season games as of the end of November have been canceled. The most prominent changes were the cancellation of all preseason games and the 2021 Pro Bowl, the suspension of international games for the year, an allowance for players to opt out of playing the season without violating their contracts (66 players opted out),the playing of games with either a greatly reduced audience or no fans at all, and the postponement of multiple games due to COVID-19 cases among players and staff.
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 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 2019 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 16, clubs were allowed to contact and begin contract negotiations with the agents of players who were set to become unrestricted free agents.
The following notable trades were made during the 2020 league year:
- March 16: Baltimore traded TE Hayden Hurst and a 2020 fourth-round selection to Atlanta for 2020 second and fifth round selections
- March 18: Houston traded WR DeAndre Hopkins and a 2020 fourth-round selection to Arizona for RB David Johnson, a 2020 second-round selection, and a 2021 fourth-round selection.
- March 18: Jacksonville traded DE Calais Campbell to Baltimore for a 2020 fifth-round selection.
- March 18: Minnesota traded WR Stefon Diggs and a 2020 seventh-round selection to Buffalo for 2020 first, fifth, and sixth round selection and a 2021 fourth-round selection.
- March 18: Tennessee traded DT Jurrell Casey to Denver for a 2020 seventh-round selection.
- March 18: San Francisco traded DT DeForest Buckner to Indianapolis for a 2020 first-round selection.
- March 18: Jacksonville traded QB Nick Foles to Chicago for a 2020 fourth-round selection.
- March 18: Carolina traded G Trai Turner to the Los Angeles Chargers for T Russell Okung.
- March 18: Jacksonville traded CB A.J. Bouye to Denver for a 2020 fourth-round selection.
- March 19: Detroit traded CB Darius Slay to Philadelphia for a 2020 third-round selection and 2020 a fifth-round selection.
- April 9: The Los Angeles Rams traded WR Brandin Cooks and a 2022 fourth-round selection to Houston for a 2020 second-round selection.
- April 21: New England traded TE Rob Gronkowski and a 2020 seventh-round selection to Tampa Bay in exchange for a fourth-round selection.
- April 25: Washington traded OT Trent Williams to San Francisco for a 2020 fifth-round selection and a 2021 third-round selection.
- July 25: The New York Jets traded S Jamal Adams and a 2022 fourth-round selection to Seattle for S Bradley McDougald, 2021 and 2022 first-round selections, and a 2021 third-round selection.
- August 30: Jacksonville traded DE Yannick Ngakoue to Minnesota for a 2021 second-round selection and a conditional 2021 fifth-round selection.
Notable retirements
- C Travis Frederick – Five-time Pro Bowler and three-time All-Pro (one first-team, two-second-team). Played for Dallas during his entire seven-year career.
- TE Antonio Gates – Eight-time Pro Bowler and five-time All-Pro (three first-team, two-second-team). Played for the San Diego/Los Angeles Chargers during his entire 16-year career.
- LB Luke Kuechly – Seven-time Pro Bowler, seven-time All-Pro (five first-team, two-second-team), and 2013 Defensive Player of the Year. Played for Carolina during his entire eight-year career.
- QB Eli Manning – Four-time Pro Bowler, two-time Super Bowl champion and Super Bowl MVP (XLII & XLVI), and first overall selection in the 2004 NFL Draft. Played for the New York Giants during his entire 16-year career.
- RB Darren Sproles – Three-time Pro Bowler, two-time First-Team All-Pro and Super Bowl LII champion. Played for the San Diego Chargers, New Orleans, and Philadelphia during his 15-year career.
- OT Joe Staley – Six-time Pro Bowler and three-time Second-Team All-Pro. Played for San Francisco during his entire 13-year career.
- CB Aqib Talib – Five-time Pro Bowler, two-time All-Pro (one first-team, one second-team), and Super Bowl 50 champion. Played for Tampa Bay, New England, Denver, and the Los Angeles Rams during his 12-year career.
- FS Eric Weddle – Six-time Pro Bowler and five-time All-Pro (two first-team, three-second-team). Played for the San Diego Chargers, Baltimore, and the Los Angeles Rams during his 13-year career.
- G Marshal Yanda – Eight-time Pro Bowler, seven-time All-Pro (two first-team, five-second-team), and Super Bowl XLVII champion. Played for Baltimore during his entire 13-year career.
