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 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] The season's salary cap increase $23.8 million per team for a total of $279.2 million dollars per team.[2]
Tight ends Tyler Conklin (New York Jets to Los Angeles Chargers), Evan Engram (Jacksonville to Denver), and Noah Fant (Seattle to Cincinnati)
Offensive linemen Aaron Banks (San Francisco to Green Bay), Mekhi Becton (Philadelphia to Los Angeles Chargers), Drew Dalman (Atlanta to Chicago), Will Fries (Indianapolis to Minnesota), Ryan Kelly (Indianapolis to Minnesota), Patrick Mekari (Baltimore to Jacksonville), Dan Moore (Pittsburgh to Tennessee), and Jaylon Moore (San Francisco to Kansas City).
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.[3]
March 12: Kansas City traded G Joe Thuney to Chicago in exchange for a 2026 fourth-round selection.[4]
March 12: The Los Angeles Rams traded G Jonah Jackson to Chicago in exchange for a 2025 sixth-round selection.[5]
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.[6]
March 12: Seattle traded WR DK Metcalf and a 2025 sixth-round selection to Pittsburgh in exchange for 2025 second- and seventh-round selections.[7]
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.[8]
March 13: Seattle traded QB Geno Smith to Las Vegas in exchange for a 2025 third-round selection.[9]
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.[11]
August 18: Philadelphia traded TE Harrison Bryant and a 2026 fifth-round selection to Houston in exchange for WR John Metchie III and a 2026 sixth-round selection.[16]
August 20: Denver traded WR Devaughn Vele to New Orleans in exchange for a 2026 fourth-round selection and a 2027 seventh-round selection.[18]
August 27: Carolina traded WR Adam Thielen, a conditional 2026 seventh-round selection, and a 2027 fifth-round selection to Minnesota in exchange for a 2026 fifth-round selection and a 2027 fourth-round selection.[19]
August 28: Dallas traded DE Micah Parsons to Green Bay in exchange for DT Kenny Clark and 2026 and 2027 first-round selections.[20]
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.[21]
LB Anthony Barr – Four-time Pro Bowler. Played for Minnesota and Dallas during his 10-year career.[22]
QB Derek Carr – Four-time Pro Bowler. Played for Oakland/Las Vegas and New Orleans during his 11-year career.[23]
WR Amari Cooper – Five-time Pro Bowler. Played for Oakland, Dallas, Cleveland, and Buffalo during his 10-year career.[24]
TE Jimmy Graham – Five-time Pro Bowler and two-time All-Pro (one first-team, one second-team). Played for New Orleans, Seattle, Green Bay, and Chicago during his 13-year career.[25]
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.[26]
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.[27]
S Tyrann Mathieu – Three-time Pro Bowler, four-time All-Pro (three first-team, one second-team), and Super Bowl LIV champion. Played for Arizona, Houston, Kansas City, and New Orleans during his 12-year career.[28]
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.[29]
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.[30]
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.[31]
C Frank Ragnow – Four-time Pro Bowler and three-time second-team All-Pro. Played for Detroit during his entire seven-year career.[32]
G Brandon Scherff – Five-time Pro Bowler and one-time first-team All-Pro. Played for Washington and Jacksonville during his 10-year career.[33]
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.[34]
DT Ndamukong Suh – Five-time Pro Bowler, five-time All-Pro (three first-team, two second-team), and Super Bowl LV champion. Played for Detroit, Miami, the Los Angeles Rams, Tampa Bay, and Philadelphia during his 13-year career.[35]
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.[75]
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.[76]
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.[77]
Rule changes
The following rule changes for the 2025 season were approved at the NFL Owners' Meeting on March 30–April 2:[78]
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 after first landing in the field of play.
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.[79]
Virtual line-to-gain measurements powered by Hawk-Eye technology ("virtual measurement system") will be employed instead of the chain crew, who will still be used as a secondary system for first downs.[80][81]
The following rule change for the 2025 season was approved at the Spring League Meeting on May 20–21:[82]
Teams can declare an onside kick at any point of a game when trailing (for the 2024 season this could only be done in the fourth quarter) and can line up one yard closer to the opponent. Onside kicks will also be taken from the 34 yard line, instead of the 35 yard line used previously.[83]
The season is being played over an 18-week schedule which began on September 4. Each of the league's 32 teams plays 17 games, with one bye week. The regular season will 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.[85]
The division pairings for 2025 are as follows:[85]
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.[92] The kickoff time for Detroit's game was moved from 12:30p.m. ET to 1:00p.m. this season so it matches that of the early Sunday games.[93]
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. 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).[94] 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.
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 14 and 16,[97][98] 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.[97]
The other flexible scheduling rules remained 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.[98]
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.[99] After the season starts, the two networks are allowed to protect one game each week from getting flexed.[95]
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 8:15p.m. ET, and the remaining two games will be played on Sunday December 28, or Monday December 29.[100] This season, NFL Network will air the two afternoon Saturday games, and the 8:15p.m. game will be streamed on Peacock.[101]
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 4:30p.m. and 8:15p.m.ET on ABC and ESPN. Another game with playoff implications will be selected as the final NBC Sunday Night Football game at 8:20p.m.ET. All remaining games will then be scheduled on Sunday afternoon at either 1:00or 4:25p.m.ET on either CBS or Fox.[98]
The 2025 playoffs are scheduled to begin with the Wild Card Round from January 10–12, 2026, with three games played in each conference. 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.
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.[103]
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.[105]
The 1947–1949 Browns also set the record for the longest unbeaten streak in NFL history, at 27 games. The previous record of 25 was held by the 1922–1923 Canton Bulldogs.[106]
Week 1
Aaron Rodgers tied the record for most games with at least four passing touchdowns and no interceptions, with 28. He shares this record with Tom Brady.[107]
Pete Carroll became the first head coach to win in his coaching debut for four different teams.[108]
Brandon Aubrey became the first player to convert a game-tying field goal at the buzzer in regulation and a game-winning field goal at the buzzer in overtime.[109]
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.[115]
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 at any level.[116]
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.[117]
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 at any level.[118]
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.[119]
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.[120]
Mayo was fired on January 5, after one 4–13 (.235) season with the Patriots and no playoff appearance.[121]
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.[122]
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.[123]
Rizzi, the team's special teams coordinator, was elevated as interim head coach. He finished the season with a 3–5 (.375) record.
Saleh was fired as head coach on October 8, 2024, with a 20–36 (.357) record (2–3 in 2024). along with no playoff appearances after being hired in 2021.
Ulbrich, the team's defensive coordinator, was named interim head coach.[125] 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.[126]
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).[127]
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 at any level.[128]
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.[131]
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.[132]
Telesco was fired on January 9, after only one season.[133]
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.[134]
Carthon was fired on January 7, after two seasons.[135]
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.[136]
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.[137]
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.[138] Additionally, qualifying teams can wear alternate pants during playoff games.[139]
For the first time, five award-winning players from the previous season will have a golden NFL emblem on their jersey collars throughout the season: Josh Allen (Most Valuable Player), Saquon Barkley (Offensive Player), Patrick Surtain II (Defensive Player), Jayden Daniels (Offensive Rookie) and Jared Verse (Defensive Rookie).[140]
Rivalries series
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.[141] AFC East and NFC West teams will debut these uniforms this season. The plan is for teams to wear these uniforms at one home divisional game per season.[142][143]
The first set of "Rivalries" uniforms were unveiled on August 28.[144]
Arizona: all-tan uniforms with speckled sand, red and copper accents, nicknamed "Built to Last".[145]
Buffalo: all-white uniforms with silver and blue accents, nicknamed the "Cold Front".[146]
Los Angeles Rams: all-midnight blue uniforms with royal blue, yellow and white accents, nicknamed the "Midnight Mode".[147]
Miami: all-dark blue uniforms with aqua and orange accents, nicknamed the "Dark Waters".[148]
New England: storm blue jerseys with white pants and white helmets, nicknamed the "Nor'easter".[149]
New York Jets: all-Gotham green (a darker green-tinted shade of black) uniforms with silver and tonal grey accents, nicknamed "Gotham City Football".[150]
San Francisco: all-black uniforms with red and gold accents, nicknamed "For the Faithful".[151]
Seattle: wolf grey uniforms with iridescent green and navy blue accents, along with iridescent green helmets, nicknamed "12 As One".[152]
Uniform changes
Buffalo announced the return of their "Standing Buffalo" throwback uniforms inspired by the team's road uniform from 1962–1973. They'll be worn for two games (one home and away game each) and for the first time since 2021.[153]
Chicago announced that the alternate orange and white throwback uniforms would not be worn during the season as a tribute to Virginia Halas McCaskey, who died on February 6.[154]
Cleveland announced the return of their all-brown alternate uniforms, wearing them for the first time since 2022. This time, the uniform is paired with a new alternate helmet listed below dubbed the "Alpha Dawg". This uniform will be worn for three games.[155]
Green Bay introduced a new throwback uniform inspired by what they wore in 1923, replacing the 1950s throwback uniform worn from 2021–2024. This uniform includes navy blue jerseys with dark gold numbers and dark gold stripes, tan pants and navy socks, and an alternate brown helmet listed below.[156]
The Los Angeles Chargers unveiled "Charger Power" and "Super Charger" alternate uniforms for the season. The Charger Power uniform includes a gold jersey for the first time in franchise history along with gold pants, and will be worn for one game. The Super Charger uniform is inspired by the Chargers' home uniform from 1988–2006 when the Chargers were based in San Diego, consisting of an all-navy set that includes a modernized helmet, jersey, and pants. The Super Charger uniform will be worn for two games. The Chargers also added powder blue pants to its uniform rotation, a first for the team.[157]
New Orleans introduced an alternate gold uniform paired with their alternate black helmet. The team last wore gold jerseys in 2002.[158]
The New York Giants brought back the white vintage uniform first used during the NFL's Color Rush program after a one-season absence, and will now be worn regularly with the throwback navy blue helmets featuring the "GIANTS" wordmark. This replaced the 2024 "Century Red" throwback uniform which commemorated the franchise's 100th anniversary.[159]
Pittsburgh introduced a new throwback uniform, 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.[160] This uniform is inspired by their uniform worn during their inaugural season in 1933. The uniform features a gold jersey with black stripes and large white block letters trimmed in black on the front and large black block numbers on the back, beige pants with gold socks, and a gold helmet listed below. This uniform will be worn for one game.[161]
Tampa Bay introduced a white road version of their creamsicle throwback uniforms. The jerseys feature fluorescent orange numbers outlined in red, matching what the Buccaneers wore during their inaugural season in 1976, as well as fluorescent orange and red stripes on the sleeves/cuffs. The jersey is paired with the helmet and pants that the team wore with the home version of the creamsicle throwback uniforms. This uniform will be worn in their home opener and a road game.[162]
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.[163]
Washington introduced a new alternate inspired by the team's set worn in the 1980s, dubbed the "Super Bowl Era" uniforms. The set features white jerseys with burgundy numbers outlined in gold, a burgundy collar, and burgundy and gold cuffs and numbers on the sleeves, including the original nameplate font and lacking the wordmark above the numbers that was added in 2002. The pants are burgundy, which include gold and white stripes down the sides, as well as white socks with a burgundy and gold striping pattern. This uniform also includes an alternate helmet listed below. It will be worn for three games.[164]
Alternate helmets
Buffalo will feature an alternate red helmet resembling the design worn by the team from 1984–2001. They will wear the helmet during their final regular season game at Highmark Stadium.[165][153]
Cleveland will pair their all-brown "Alpha Dawg" alternate listed above with a brown helmet. This helmet features a matte all-brown shell, with a brown stripe between two orange stripes in the middle and an all-brown facemask. It'll be the first brown helmet in franchise history.[155]
Green Bay will pair their new 1923 throwback uniform listed above with a brown hand-painted helmet designed to emulate the vintage leather look of the NFL's earliest helmets. The brown helmets feature realistic distressing and hand-decorated leather strap with stitching effects, and with a navy face mask.[156]
The Los Angeles Chargers will pair the Super Charger alternate uniform listed above with a navy-blue helmet with a modernized version of the team's logo from 1991–2006.[157]
New Orleans will introduce a new white helmet to be worn with their alternate white uniforms. The helmet has a gold stripe and face mask.[166]
Pittsburgh will pair their new throwback uniform listed above with a gold matte helmet that has a gray facemask and a black stripe down the middle. The team's current logo is on one side of the helmet similarly to the Steelers' primary helmet. The Steelers last wore gold helmets in 2011.[161][167]
Washington added an alternate helmet to accompany their new alternate uniform. The helmet is burgundy and displays the Commanders’ primary “W” logo on the sides, but features a gold facemask – which became a fixture on the then-Redskins’ helmets in 1978 – and the classic striping pattern that first appeared in 1972.[164]
Patches
Baltimore will wear a patch commemorating its 30th season.[168]
Buffalo will wear a patch in their first and last regular season home games this season commemorating their farewell season at Highmark Stadium.[169]
Chicago will wear a patch honoring former owner Virginia Halas McCaskey, who died on February 6. The patch is shaped like a football that displays McCaskey’s “VHM” initials, and it’ll be worn for the entirety of the season.[154]
Seattle announced a patch commemorating its 50th season.[171]
Tampa Bay will wear a patch commemorating its 50th season. There are three different versions of the team’s 50th anniversary patch. The patch that will be on their home jerseys is red with a white number 50, while the patch for the away jerseys is white with a red 50. Both patches have an orange and black outline on the 50, a black banner with the word “seasons” below, and the team’s current “skulls and swords” logo in-between the years 1976 and 2025 on the bottom. The patch that will be worn with both of the team’s throwback jerseys is white with the numbers being creamsicle and having a red outline. The banner in the middle is red instead of black, and the logo on the bottom uses the “Bucco Bruce” logo.[172]
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.[174] Each network is scheduled to air ten Sunday doubleheaders, with both networks airing one in Weeks 15 and 18.[173] 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.[175][176] On Thanksgiving, Fox will have the early Detroit game and CBS will have the late Dallas game.[173] CBS will also have the option of producing alternative broadcasts of select games on Nickelodeon.[173]
ESPN will continue to produce Monday Night Football and the doubleheader on the last Saturday of the season. This season, ESPN will air two MNF traditional doubleheaders (one of doubleheaders was formed due to a originally scheduled game to air exclusively on ESPN+ in week 7) and two "split doubleheaders" in which ESPN and ABC will air separate games simultaneously. Ten MNF games and the Saturday doubleheader will be ESPN/ABC simulcasts.[177] 12 games will also feature the alternative Manningcast on ESPN2.[178]
This will be the fourth year of a 12-year deal with Amazon Prime Video and Twitch to exclusively stream Thursday Night Football.[180] 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.[181]
Peacock will simulcast NBC's games.[173] This will also be the third season in a six-year deal that the platform will exclusively stream one regular season game,[180] with this year's contest being the Week 17 Saturday night game.[101]
ESPN's new direct-to-consumer streaming service will simulcast all ESPN-produced games, as well as all 12 Manningcasts.[173][177][182] This was also to be the fourth year of a 12-year deal that the platform exclusively streams one regular season game under the ESPN+ branding, which was set to the second game of a MNF doubleheader in Week 7 (the first game will be the traditional MNF game on ESPN and ABC). However, that game was moved to ESPN as noted above.[177][183][184][185]
Paramount+ will simulcast in market and national CBS games.[173] Additionally, CBS also announced plans to air a pregame show specifically for its digital platforms, including Paramount+. Named The NFL Today+, the two-hour pregame show will air on Sundays prior to The NFL Today.
Netflix will exclusively stream two Christmas Day games in 2025, in its second year of a three-year deal.[188][189]
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.[190] 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.[191]
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.[192]
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.[193][194][195] ESPN/ABC will broadcast the Monday night Wild Card game, its last in a five-year deal.[196][197] 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.[198][199]
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).[200]
NBC will televise Super Bowl LX in the annual rotation of Super Bowl broadcasters.[201] 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).[202]
Radio
Westwood One Radio has rights to air all games televised by the national partners (including streaming).[203]
This is the fourth season of the league's five –year deal with SiriusXM to simulcast all 32 teams' local regular season and postseason broadcasts, including a wraparound show called SiriusXM NFL Sunday Drive.[206]
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.[208] Davis would move to the #4 team with Andrew Catalon and Jason McCourty, replacing Tiki Barber. Additionally, CBS added Adam Schein as a game break host full-time after providing updates when The NFL Today team went on the road the previous season.
On August 11, ESPN elevated sideline reporter Laura Rutledge to join the lead broadcast team for Monday Night Football full-time alongside Lisa Salters, who was also given a contract extension with the network. Rutledge had previously been part of ESPN's #2 broadcast team and joined Salters on the sidelines for marquee MNF games and the NFL playoffs. Replacing Rutledge on the #2 team are college football and NBA reporter Katie George and recent hire Peter Schrager.[211]
ESPN will additionally air its slate of games in Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa, Oceania and the Netherlands, and will air games through Disney+ in select markets in Asia and Europe.[200]
In the UK and Ireland, Sky Sports will continue broadcasting games from the regular season to the Super Bowl (Including every international games) through their dedicated Sky Sports NFL Channel, but will also broadcast games through their Sky Sports+ channels (originally released in 2024 for the English Football League among other sports). As well as this, free-to-air Channel 5 will broadcast games through their main channel as well as 5Action.[212][213]
Fox Sports will additionally air its slate of games in Argentina, Mexico and Puerto Rico.
NFL Network International will air select games worldwide (with NFL Gamepass International is also available to purchase via DAZN).[214]
For regional windows (such as Early DH and Late DH), viewership figures include across all regional games on the indicated network and timeslot (for single games this includes games aired in both the early and late slots).
↑ Karp, Austin (February 6, 2025). "Prime gets Wild Card game for duration of NFL deal". Sports Business Journal. Retrieved February 7, 2025. The Wild Card deal, which was originally reported as a one-year pact this time last year, will run through the 2032 season ... Amazon reportedly paid around $150 million to stream the game in 2024, but it is not known what the escalators are for the subsequent seven years.
↑ Reedy, Joe (February 6, 2022). "Super Bowl/Olympics Sunday about to become routine for NBC". Associated Press. Retrieved February 15, 2022. When the NFL's 11-year television contract starts in 2023, NBC's spot in the Super Bowl rotation lines up the same year as the Winter Olympics.
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