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2017 National Football League season

Regular season
Duration	September 7, 2017 (2017-09-07) – December 31, 2017 (2017-12-31)
Playoffs
Start date	January 6, 2018
AFC Champions	New England Patriots
NFC Champions	Philadelphia Eagles
Super Bowl LII
Date	February 4, 2018
Site	U.S. Bank Stadium, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Champions	Philadelphia Eagles
Pro Bowl
Date	January 28, 2018
Site	Camping World Stadium, Orlando, Florida
← 2016 NFL seasons 2018 →

The 2017 NFL season was the 98th season in the history of the National Football League (NFL). The season began on September 7, 2017, with the Kansas City Chiefs defeating the defending Super Bowl LI champion New England Patriots 42–27 in the NFL Kickoff Game. The season concluded with Super Bowl LII, where the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Philadelphia Eagles faced the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots. The Philadelphia Eagles defeated the New England Patriots 41–33 to win their first title in franchise history. It was also a rematch of Super Bowl XXXIX, where the Patriots won 24-21 to win their third title.

For the second consecutive year, a team relocated to the Los Angeles metropolitan area, as the former San Diego Chargers announced their intent to relocate to the area in January 2017.^[1][2]

Player movements and retirements

The 2017 NFL League year began on March 9 at 4:00 p.m. ET. On March 7, clubs were allowed to contact and enter into contract negotiations with the agents of players who became unrestricted free agents upon the expiration of their contracts two days later. On March 9, clubs exercised options for 2017 on players who have option clauses in their contracts, submitted qualifying offers to their restricted free agents with expiring contracts and to whom desire to retain a Right of Refusal/Compensation, submitted a Minimum Salary Tender to retain exclusive negotiating rights to their players with expiring 2016 contracts and who have fewer than three accrued seasons of free agent credit, and 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 collected salary cap hit below the actual cap). The 2017 trading period also began the same day.

Free agency

A total of 496 players were eligible for some form of free agency at the beginning of the free agency period.^[3] Among the high-profile players who changed teams via free agency were cornerbacks A.J. Bouye (from Texans to Jaguars), Logan Ryan (from Patriots to Titans), and Stephon Gilmore (from Bills to Patriots); safeties Barry Church (from Cowboys to Jaguars), Johnathan Cyprien (from Jaguars to Titans), Micah Hyde (from Packers to Bills), and Tony Jefferson (from Cardinals to Ravens); linebackers Jabaal Sheard (from Patriots to Colts), Malcolm Smith (from Raiders to 49ers), and Manti Te'o (from Chargers to Saints); defensive tackles Johnathan Hankins (from Giants to Colts) and Calais Campbell (from Cardinals to Jaguars); offensive tackles Andrew Whitworth (from Bengals to Rams), Kelvin Beachum (from Jaguars to Jets), Matt Kalil (from Vikings to Panthers), Mike Remmers (from Panthers to Vikings), Ricky Wagner (from Ravens to Lions), Riley Reiff (from Lions to Vikings), and Russell Okung (from Broncos to Chargers); offensive guards Kevin Zeitler (from Bengals to Browns), Larry Warford (from Lions to Saints), Ronald Leary (from Cowboys to Broncos), and T.J. Lang (from Packers to Lions); tight ends Martellus Bennett (from Patriots to Packers) and Jared Cook (from Packers to Raiders); wide receivers Alshon Jeffery (from Bears to Eagles), Brandon Marshall (from Jets to Giants), DeSean Jackson (from Redskins to Buccaneers), Kenny Britt (from Rams to Browns), Pierre Garçon (from Redskins to 49ers), Robert Woods (from Bills to Rams), Terrelle Pryor (from Browns to Redskins), and Torrey Smith (from 49ers to Eagles); running backs Latavius Murray (from Raiders to Vikings), Adrian Peterson (from Vikings to Saints), Eddie Lacy (from Packers to Seahawks), and Jamaal Charles (from Chiefs to Broncos); fullbacks Mike Tolbert (from Panthers to Bills) and Patrick DiMarco (from Falcons to Bills); quarterback Mike Glennon (from Buccaneers to Bears).

Trades

• March 9: The Jacksonville Jaguars traded tight end Julius Thomas to the Miami Dolphins in exchange for a seventh-round draft pick.^[4]
  


• March 9: The Miami Dolphins traded offensive tackle Branden Albert to the Jacksonville Jaguars in exchange for a 2018 seventh-round draft pick.^[5]
  


• March 9: The Houston Texans traded quarterback Brock Osweiler, a 2018 second-round draft pick and a sixth-round draft pick to the Cleveland Browns in exchange for a fourth-round compensatory draft pick.^[6]
  


• March 9: The Indianapolis Colts traded tight end Dwayne Allen and a sixth-round draft pick to the New England Patriots in exchange for a fourth-round draft pick.^[7]
  


• March 9: The Los Angeles Rams traded defensive end William Hayes along with a seventh-round draft pick to the Miami Dolphins in exchange for a sixth-round draft pick.^[8]
  


• March 10: The New Orleans Saints traded wide receiver Brandin Cooks and a fourth-round draft pick to the New England Patriots in exchange for a first and third-round draft pick.^[9]
  


• March 10: The Carolina Panthers traded defensive end Kony Ealy and a third-round draft pick to the New England Patriots in exchange for a second-round draft pick.^[10]
  


• March 15: The Baltimore Ravens traded center Jeremy Zuttah and a sixth-round draft pick to the San Francisco 49ers for their sixth-round draft pick.^[11]
  


• April 4: The Baltimore Ravens traded defensive tackle Timmy Jernigan and a third-round draft pick to the Philadelphia Eagles in exchange for a third-round draft pick.^[12]
  


• April 26: The Seattle Seahawks traded the contract rights of previously retired running back Marshawn Lynch and a 2018 sixth-round draft pick to the Oakland Raiders for a 2018 fifth-round draft pick.^[13]
  


• August 11: The Buffalo Bills traded wide receiver Sammy Watkins and a 2018 sixth-round draft pick to the Los Angeles Rams for cornerback E. J. Gaines and a 2018 second-round draft pick.^[14][15] That same day, the Bills traded cornerback Ronald Darby to the Philadelphia Eagles for wide receiver Jordan Matthews and a 2018 third-round draft pick.^[14]
  

Notable retirements

• 
  Tony Romo: On April 4, before his release from the Dallas Cowboys, Romo announced his retirement from professional football. Shortly after his release, it was announced by CBS that he would join the network as a lead NFL game analyst, joining a team also consisting of Jim Nantz and Tracy Wolfson.^[16]
  


• At one point, Jay Cutler had also announced retirement, but later rescinded and signed with the Miami Dolphins.^[17] Cutler previously played for the Chicago Bears.

Others

Draft

The 2017 NFL Draft was held on April 27–29 in Philadelphia. The Cleveland Browns selected Myles Garrett with the first overall pick.

Preseason

Training camps for the 2017 season were held in late July through August. Teams started training camp no earlier than 15 days before the team's first scheduled preseason game.

Prior to the start of the regular season, each team played four preseason exhibition games, beginning on August 10. The preseason began on the evening of August 3 with the 2017 Pro Football Hall of Fame Game, that featured the Dallas Cowboys (represented in the 2017 Hall of Fame Class by owner Jerry Jones) who hosted Arizona Cardinals (represented by former quarterback and 2017 Hall of Famer Kurt Warner). It was televised nationally on NBC.^[18] The 64-game preseason schedule ended on August 31; a 65th game, that of the 2017 Texas Governor's Cup, was canceled due to the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey.

Regular season

The 2017 regular season's 256 games which were played over a 17-week schedule which began on September 7. Each of the league's 32 teams plays a 16-game schedule, with one bye week for each team. The slate also features games on Monday nights. There are games played on Thursday, including the National Football League Kickoff game in prime time on September 7 and games on Thanksgiving Day. The regular season concluded with a full slate of 16 games on Sunday, December 31, all of which were the intra–division matchups, as it has been since 2010.

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 teams in the team's own conference in the divisions the team was not set to play which finished the previous season in the same rank in their division (e.g. the team which finished first in its division the previous season would play each other team in its conference that also finished first in its respective division). The preset division pairings for 2017 will be as follows.

Intra-conference AFC East vs AFC West AFC North vs AFC South NFC East vs NFC West NFC North vs NFC South

Inter-conference AFC East vs NFC South AFC North vs NFC North AFC South vs NFC West AFC West vs NFC East

Highlights of the 2017 schedule include:

• 
  NFL Kickoff Game: The Super Bowl LI champion New England Patriots hosted the Kansas City Chiefs in a primetime NFL Kickoff Game on September 7, with the Chiefs winning 42–27.


• 
  NFL International Series: The International Series underwent a split in branding, with each country's games receiving their own brand.
  
  
  
  • 
    NFL London Games: Four games were played in London. The Jacksonville Jaguars hosted the Baltimore Ravens at Wembley Stadium on September 24, and the Miami Dolphins hosted the New Orleans Saints at the same venue a week later. The Los Angeles Rams hosted the Arizona Cardinals at Twickenham Stadium on October 22, and the Cleveland Browns hosted the Minnesota Vikings at the same venue a week later.^[19]
    
  
  
  • 
    NFL Mexico Game: The Oakland Raiders hosted the New England Patriots at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City, making this the second consecutive year in which the Raiders have hosted one of their home games in Mexico City; the game was played on November 19, with a kickoff time of 4:25 p.m. ET.^[20][21][22]
    
  
  
  
  


• 
  Thanksgiving Day: As has been the case since 2006, three games were played on November 23, beginning with the Detroit Lions hosting the Minnesota Vikings, the Dallas Cowboys hosting the Los Angeles Chargers (in their first Thanksgiving Day game since 1969, and their first Thanksgiving game since they joined the NFL as part of the AFL–NFL merger in 1970), and a primetime game featuring Washington Redskins hosting the New York Giants.^[23]
  


• 
  Christmas games: Christmas Day, December 25, fell on a Monday. Sunday Night Football moved from December 24, Christmas Eve, to Saturday, December 23, with the Green Bay Packers hosting the Minnesota Vikings, alongside a Saturday Thursday Night Football game (aired by NFL Network) featuring the Indianapolis Colts and Baltimore Ravens. Two games were played on Christmas Day: a late-afternoon game featuring the Houston Texans hosting the Pittsburgh Steelers as another special edition of Thursday Night Football (aired by NBC and NFL Network), and the Philadelphia Eagles hosting the Oakland Raiders for Monday Night Football.


• 
  New Year's Eve games: The NFL played a full slate of 16 games on December 31 to conclude the regular season. All of the Week 17 games were intra-divisional matchups, as they have been since 2010, and all games with playoff implications started at 4:25 p.m. ET. Additionally, although it was originally scheduled as "to be announced", the league announced that no Sunday Night Football game would be played that week, in order to avoid a game without playoff implications due to the early games' results.^[24]
  

The entire schedule was released on April 20, 2017.

In-season scheduling changes

The following games were moved or canceled because of severe weather, by way of flexible scheduling, or for other reasons:

• 
  Preseason Week 4: Due to the effects of Hurricane Harvey in the Houston area, the Cowboys–Texans game was eventually canceled. The 2017 Texas Governor's Cup preseason game, originally scheduled to be played at Houston's NRG Stadium, was initially moved to the Cowboys' AT&T Stadium, before the NFL opted instead to cancel the game altogether in order to allow Texans' players and coaches to reunite with their families as well as to assist with the relief efforts.^[25]
  


• 
  Week 1: Due to the threat posed from Hurricane Irma, the Buccaneers–Dolphins game was rescheduled to Week 11 (November 19), when both teams were originally scheduled to have their bye weeks. Both teams had their bye also rescheduled to this week.^[26] This is the first time a hurricane forced a postponement of an NFL game since 1992 when Miami and the New England Patriots had their game postponed due to Hurricane Andrew.


• 
  Week 7: The Bengals–Steelers game, originally scheduled to start at 1:00 p.m. ET, was moved to 4:25 p.m. ET, with the game still on CBS. In addition, the Panthers–Bears game was cross-flexed from Fox to CBS, with the game still at 1:00 p.m. ET.^[27]
  


• 
  Week 12: The Saints–Rams game, originally scheduled to start at 4:05 p.m. ET on Fox, was cross-flexed and moved to 4:25 p.m. ET on CBS. In addition, the Titans–Colts game was cross-flexed from CBS to Fox, with the game still at 1:00 p.m. ET.^[28]
  


• 
  Week 13: The Panthers–Saints game, originally scheduled to start at 1:00 p.m. ET, was moved to 4:25 p.m. ET, with the game still on Fox. In addition, the Broncos–Dolphins game was cross-flexed from CBS to Fox, with the game still at 1:00 p.m. ET.^[28]
  


• 
  Week 14: The Cowboys–Giants game, originally scheduled to start at 4:25 p.m. ET, was moved to 1:00 p.m. ET, with the game still on Fox. In addition, the Seahawks–Jaguars game, originally scheduled to start at 1:00 p.m. ET, was moved to 4:25 p.m. ET, with the game still on Fox.^[29]
  


• 
  Week 15: The Texans–Jaguars game was cross-flexed from CBS to Fox, with the game still at 1:00 p.m. ET.^[30]
  


• 
  Week 17: All games with playoff implications were moved to a 4:25 p.m. ET kickoff, with no change in network assignment. This included the following games: Bengals–Ravens, Bills–Dolphins, Jaguars–Titans, Panthers–Falcons, and Saints–Buccaneers. Additionally, no Sunday Night Football game was scheduled, marking the first time since the 1977 NFL season that the regular season play concluded with no primetime game. The NFL stated that it did not want to schedule a primetime game that could potentially lose its playoff implications due to the events of the afternoon games.^[24][31]
  

Regular season standings

Division

Conference

AFC v t e
#	Team	Division	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	SOS	SOV	STK
Division leaders
1[a]	New England Patriots	East	13	3	0	.813	5–1	10–2	.484	.466	W3
2[a]	Pittsburgh Steelers	North	13	3	0	.813	6–0	10–2	.453	.423	W2
3[b]	Jacksonville Jaguars	South	10	6	0	.625	4–2	9–3	.434	.394	L2
4[b]	Kansas City Chiefs	West	10	6	0	.625	5–1	8–4	.477	.481	W4
Wild Cards
5[c]	Tennessee Titans	South	9	7	0	.563	5–1	8–4	.434	.396	W1
6[c]	Buffalo Bills	East	9	7	0	.563	3–3	7–5	.492	.396	W1
Did not qualify for the playoffs
7[c]	Baltimore Ravens	North	9	7	0	.563	3–3	7–5	.441	.299	L1
8[c]	Los Angeles Chargers	West	9	7	0	.563	3–3	6–6	.457	.347	W2
9	Cincinnati Bengals	North	7	9	0	.438	3–3	6–6	.465	.321	W2
10[d]	Oakland Raiders	West	6	10	0	.375	2–4	5–7	.512	.396	L4
11[d]	Miami Dolphins	East	6	10	0	.375	2–4	5–7	.543	.531	L3
12[e]	Denver Broncos	West	5	11	0	.313	2–4	4–8	.492	.413	L2
13[e]	New York Jets	East	5	11	0	.313	2–4	5–7	.520	.438	L4
14[f]	Indianapolis Colts	South	4	12	0	.250	2–4	3–9	.480	.219	W1
15[f]	Houston Texans	South	4	12	0	.250	1–5	3–9	.516	.375	L6
16	Cleveland Browns	North	0	16	0	.000	0–6	0–12	.520	–	L16
Tiebreakers[g]
^ ab New England claimed the No. 1 seed over Pittsburgh based on head-to-head victory. ^ ab Jacksonville claimed the No. 3 seed over Kansas City based on conference record. ^ abcd Tennessee finished ahead of Buffalo, Baltimore and LA Chargers based on conference record, claiming the No. 5 seed. Buffalo and Baltimore finished ahead of LA Chargers based on conference record. Buffalo claimed the No. 6 seed over Baltimore based on strength of victory. ^ ab Oakland wins tie break over Miami based on head-to-head win percentage. ^ ab Denver wins tie break over NY Jets based on head-to-head win percentage. ^ ab Indianapolis wins tie break over Houston based on head-to-head win percentage ^ When breaking ties for three or more teams under the NFL's rules, they are first broken within divisions, then comparing only the highest ranked remaining team from each division.

NFC v t e
#	Team	Division	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	SOS	SOV	STK
Division leaders
1[a]	Philadelphia Eagles	East	13	3	0	.813	5–1	10–2	.461	.433	L1
2[a]	Minnesota Vikings	North	13	3	0	.813	5–1	10–2	.492	.447	W3
3[b]	Los Angeles Rams	West	11	5	0	.688	4–2	7–5	.504	.460	L1
4[b][c]	New Orleans Saints	South	11	5	0	.688	4–2	8–4	.535	.483	L1
Wild Cards
5[c]	Carolina Panthers	South	11	5	0	.688	3–3	7–5	.539	.500	L1
6	Atlanta Falcons	South	10	6	0	.625	4–2	9–3	.543	.475	W1
Did not qualify for the playoffs
7[d]	Detroit Lions	North	9	7	0	.563	5–1	8–4	.496	.368	W1
8[d]	Seattle Seahawks	West	9	7	0	.563	4–2	7–5	.492	.444	L1
9[d]	Dallas Cowboys	East	9	7	0	.563	5–1	7–5	.496	.438	W1
10	Arizona Cardinals	West	8	8	0	.500	3–3	5–7	.488	.406	W2
11[e]	Green Bay Packers	North	7	9	0	.438	2–4	5–7	.539	.357	L3
12[e]	Washington Redskins	East	7	9	0	.438	1–5	5–7	.539	.429	L1
13	San Francisco 49ers	West	6	10	0	.375	1–5	3–9	.512	.438	W5
14[f]	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	South	5	11	0	.313	1–5	3–9	.555	.375	W1
15[f]	Chicago Bears	North	5	11	0	.313	0–6	1–11	.559	.500	L1
16	New York Giants	East	3	13	0	.188	1–5	1–11	.531	.458	W1
Tiebreakers[g]
^ ab Philadelphia claimed the No. 1 seed over Minnesota based on winning percentage vs. common opponents. Philadelphia's cumulative record against Carolina, Chicago, LA Rams and Washington was 5–0, compared to Minnesota's 4–1 cumulative record against the same four teams. ^ ab LA Rams claimed the No. 3 seed over New Orleans based on head-to-head victory. ^ ab New Orleans clinched the NFC South division over Carolina based on head-to-head sweep. ^ abc Detroit finished ahead of Dallas and Seattle based on conference record, while Seattle finished ahead of Dallas based on head-to-head victory. ^ ab Green Bay finished ahead of Washington based on record vs. common opponents. Green Bay's cumulative record against Dallas, Minnesota, New Orleans and Seattle was 2–3, compared to Washington's 1–4 cumulative record against the same four teams. ^ ab Tampa Bay finished ahead of Chicago based on head-to-head victory. ^ When breaking ties for three or more teams under the NFL's rules, they are first broken within divisions, then comparing only the highest ranked remaining team from each division.

Postseason

The 2017 playoffs began on the weekend of January 6–7, 2018 with the Wild Card playoff round. The four winners of these playoff games visited the top two seeded teams in each conference in the Divisional round games played on the weekend of January 13–14, 2018. The winners of those games advanced the Conference championship games was held on January 21, 2018. The two Conference champions advanced to Super Bowl LII was held on February 4, 2018 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. The 2018 Pro Bowl was held at Camping World Stadium in Orlando on January 28, 2018.

Bracket

	Jan 7 – Mercedes-Benz Superdome					Jan 14 – U.S. Bank Stadium
	5	Carolina	26
						4	New Orleans	24
	4	New Orleans	31								Jan 21 – Lincoln Financial Field
						2	Minnesota	29
						NFC
	Jan 6 – Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum										2	Minnesota	7
						Jan 13 – Lincoln Financial Field
											1	Philadelphia	38
	6	Atlanta	26								NFC Championship
						6	Atlanta	10
	3	LA Rams	13													Feb 4 – U.S. Bank Stadium
						1	Philadelphia	15
	Wild card playoffs
						Divisional playoffs
	Jan 7 – EverBank Field															N1	Philadelphia	41
						Jan 14 – Heinz Field
																A1	New England	33
	6	Buffalo	3													Super Bowl LII
						3	Jacksonville	45
	3	Jacksonville	10								Jan 21 – Gillette Stadium
						2	Pittsburgh	42
						AFC
	Jan 6 – Arrowhead Stadium										3	Jacksonville	20
						Jan 13 – Gillette Stadium
											1	New England	24
	5	Tennessee	22								AFC Championship
						5	Tennessee	14
	4	Kansas City	21
						1	New England	35

Notable events

Protesting police brutality

During a September 22, 2017 speech, the President of the United States, Donald Trump made controversial remarks criticizing the practice of taking a knee during the playing of the national anthem—a practice popularized by Colin Kaepernick in 2016 as part of an effort to protest racial inequality and police brutality. Trump suggested that those who partake in the practice were disrespecting the country's heritage, and asked his audience, "wouldn't you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, 'Get that son of a bitch off the field right now. Out! He's fired. He's fired!'" During the subsequent weekend of games, over 200 players protested the remarks, by either kneeling or locking arms during the playing of the national anthem. The Pittsburgh Steelers, Tennessee Titans and Seattle Seahawks chose to not go out on field at all during the anthem.^[32][33][34]

Sale of the Carolina Panthers

On December 17, 2017, Jerry Richardson, owner of the Carolina Panthers, announced he was putting the team up for sale.^[35][36] Richardson had previously indicated the team would be put up for sale after his death (since his only living son left the team in 2009),^[37] but an exposé in Sports Illustrated accused Richardson of paying hush money to cover up questionable conduct, including racial slurs and sexually suggestive requests of employees, hastening Richardson's decision.^[38] The Panthers' lease on Bank of America Stadium expires after the 2018 season,^[39] which would allow any incoming owner to relocate the team out of the Carolinas to another market of their choice without penalty if they so desired.

2017 deaths

The following people associated with the NFL (or AFL) died in 2017.^[40]

Members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame

Cortez Kennedy

Kennedy, a defensive tackle who spent 11 years with the Seattle Seahawks from 1990 to 2000 and had his number 96 retired by the organization, was a member of the Hall of Fame's class of 2012. He died May 23 at the age of 48, from suspected cardiac problems.

Yale Lary

The special teams standout and defensive back played 11 nonconsecutive seasons for the Detroit Lions from 1952 to 1964, winning three championships, and was a member of the Hall's class of 1979. He died May 11 at the age of 86.

Dan Rooney

was chairman and plurality owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers and one of the sons of founding owner Art Rooney, Sr. Having been officially involved with the franchise since 1960, Rooney was a part of all six of the Steelers' Super Bowl victories. In addition to this, Rooney was considered an active and progressive owner in the league's operations, most famously by successfully pushing for the Rooney Rule, an affirmative action policy requiring all NFL franchises to interview persons of color for head coaching vacancies. Concurrently with his role with the Steelers, Rooney also served as United States Ambassador to Ireland from 2009 to 2014. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2000, making him and his father the second father-son duo in the Hall behind Tim and Wellington Mara (to whom the Rooneys are related by marriage). Rooney died on April 13 at the age of 84.

Y. A. Tittle

Tittle, a quarterback, spent 16 seasons in professional football, two in the All-America Football Conference and 14 in the NFL. He played for the Baltimore (Green) Colts, San Francisco 49ers (as a member of the Million Dollar Backfield) and New York Giants throughout his career. He set several passing records during his time in the NFL and is credited for inventing the alley-oop. He was never able to win a league championship despite three consecutive appearances in the game for the Giants, who retired his number 14. He was a member of the Hall's class of 1971. Tittle died October 8 at the age of 90 from complications due to dementia.

Other notable deaths

Rule changes

The following rule changes were approved for the 2017 NFL season at the owners' meeting on March 28, 2017:^[41]

• Defensive players are now prohibited from running toward the line of scrimmage and leaping or hurdling over offensive linemen on field goal or PAT attempts, similar to a change made in college football for the 2017 season. Previously this action was permitted as long as the leaper or hurdler did not land on other players.


• Include in the definition of a "defenseless player" receivers tracking the quarterback or looking back for the ball, including inside the legal contact (5 yards from the line of scrimmage) zone.


• Egregious hits to the head (similar to the "targeting" rule in NCAA football) will cause the player to risk immediate disqualification.


• The replay control center will make the final ruling on reviewed plays instead of the game referee, although the referee can still provide input on reviewable plays.


• The sideline replay monitor (the "hood") will be eliminated and replaced with a tablet on the field for the referee to review with the replay control center.


• Crackback blocks are now prohibited by a backfield player in motion, even if he is not more than two yards outside the tackle box when the ball is snapped.


• Make permanent the rule that players who commit two certain types of unsportsmanlike conduct penalties (throwing punches/forearms/kicking, even if they do not connect, directing abusive, threatening, or insulting language toward opponents, teammates, game officials or league officials, and using baiting or taunting acts or words that may engender ill will between teams) in the same game risk automatic disqualification.


• Extend for a second season the change in the touchback spot after a kickoff or safety free kick to the 25-yard line.


• Make illegal actions that would conserve time penalized by the option for a 10-second runoff inside of the two-minute warning of each half or overtime (previously this only applied in the final minute of each half or overtime).


• If a team commits multiple fouls on the same down with the intent of manipulating the game clock, the team will be penalized 15 yards for unsportsmanlike conduct and the game clock will be reset. This change was made in response to both the San Francisco 49ers and the Baltimore Ravens employing this strategy by intentionally holding the defensive players to allow the game clock to run down or run out (in the case of the Ravens' game vs. the Cincinnati Bengals) during the previous season. A team may NOT be disqualified if it is their second unsportsmanlike conduct penalty against them.


• In response to the move of Sarah Thomas from line judge to head linesman for the 2017 season, the NFL renamed the officiating position of the head linesman to "down judge".

The following rule changes were approved for the 2017 NFL season at the NFL Spring League meeting on May 23, 2017:^[42]

• Overtime has been shortened from 15 minutes to 10 minutes for preseason and regular season games. Playoff games will continue to have 15 minutes for overtime periods.


• Restrictions on celebrations have been relaxed, removing penalties for group celebrations, going to the ground to celebrate, or using the ball as a prop.


• Teams can bring two players back from injured reserve instead of one.


• Teams can now cut their preseason rosters from 90 players to 53 on one day, removing the deadline to get the roster down to 75 players before the final preseason game.


• Teams will not be required to give candidates for general manager final say over the 53-man roster.

The ban on teams contacting potential coaching candidates until that candidate's team has been eliminated from the playoffs was tabled.

Records, milestones, and notable statistics

Week 1

• 
  Kareem Hunt finished with 246 total yards and three touchdowns, setting the record for the most total yards in an NFL debut.^[43][44]
  

Week 2

• 
  Antonio Gates scored his 112th career receiving touchdown, breaking a tie with Tony Gonzalez for the most career receiving touchdowns by a tight end in NFL history.^[45]
  


• 
  Aaron Rodgers passed for his 300th touchdown, surpassing Peyton Manning as the fastest quarterback to reach that milestone both in attempts and appearances.^[46]
  

Week 3

• New York Giants’ wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. broke the record for fastest receiver to reach 300 career receptions, doing so in 45 games.^[47]
  


• 
  Matt Prater of the Detroit Lions broke the previous NFL record of three made field goals from more than 55 yards in a season by kicking a 57-yard field goal against the Atlanta Falcons.^[48]
  


• 
  Philadelphia Eagles kicker Jake Elliott set the NFL rookie record by kicking a 61 yard field goal as time expired.

Week 5

• 
  Larry Fitzgerald became the third player in NFL history to record 200 straight games with a reception, all while playing for the Arizona Cardinals.^[49]
  

Week 6

• With his 187th regular season win, Tom Brady surpassed Peyton Manning and Brett Favre for the most regular season wins by a quarterback in NFL history.^[50]
  

Week 7

• 
  Drew Brees became just the third player in NFL history to record 500 or more career passing touchdowns (including playoffs), Brett Favre, and Peyton Manning.^[51]
  


• 
  Eddie Jackson became the first player in NFL history with multiple defensive touchdowns of at least 75 yards in a single game.^[52]
  

Week 8

• The Cleveland Browns have gone 4–41 over their last 45 games dating back to 2014, tying for the worst 45-game stretch in NFL history with the 2007–10 Detroit Lions.^[53]
  

Week 9

• 
  Matt Ryan threw for 313 yards giving him 39,858 career passing yards in his 150th career game. This is the most passing yards by a player in NFL history in his first 150 games surpassing Drew Brees.^[54]
  


• 
  Eli Manning threw for 220 yards giving him 50,034 career passing yards. Manning became the seventh quarterback in NFL history with at least 50,000 passing yards.^[54]
  


• 
  Matthew Stafford threw his 200th career regular season touchdown pass, becoming the sixth fastest player to do so, in only 117 games. He also the fourth player to accomplish this feat before the age of 30.^[55]
  

Week 10

• 
  Larry Fitzgerald became the sixth player in NFL history to record 15,000 career receiving yards. He's the second-youngest player in NFL history to do it, behind Hall of Famer Jerry Rice.^[56]
  


• 
  Matt Ryan threw for 215 yards giving him 40,073 passing yards in 151 career games, reached 40,000 career passing yards in the fewest games in NFL history, surpassing the previous record held by Drew Brees (152 games).^[57]
  

Week 11

• With a 20-yard touchdown catch, Larry Fitzgerald passes Tony Gonzalez into fifth place all-time in receiving yards.^[58]
  

Week 12

• 
  Julio Jones had 12 catches for 253 yards in the Falcons’ win over Tampa Bay. In 90 career games, Jones has 563 catches for 8,649 yards, the most by a player in his first 90 games in NFL history. He passed Anquan Boldin (558) for the most receptions and Lance Alworth (8,502) for the most receiving yards.^[59]
  


• With the win over San Francisco, Russell Wilson became the winningest quarterback in a player’s first six seasons with 63 wins, surpassing Joe Flacco.^[60]
  

Week 13

• With his 72nd touchdown catch, Dez Bryant broke the record for the most touchdowns by a Cowboys' wide receiver. He passed Bob Hayes, who had previously caught 71 touchdowns with the Cowboys.^[61]
  


• By defeating the Buffalo Bills on Sunday afternoon, Tom Brady broke the record for most wins by a quarterback against one team, with 27. The former record was held by Brett Favre, who had defeated the Detroit Lions 26 times.^[62]
  


• With a 12-yard catch, Larry Fitzgerald moved into fourth place all-time in receiving yards, passing Isaac Bruce.^[63] With his ten catches in this game, Fitzgerald also surpassed 1,200 career receptions becoming the third player in NFL history to reach this mark (joining Jerry Rice and Tony Gonzalez) and the fastest player to reach this milestone in 214 games (breaking Rice's record of 221 games).^[64]
  


• With his 15-yard touchdown throw to J. D. McKissic, Russell Wilson tied Eli Manning in 2011 for the most fourth quarter touchdowns in a single season with 15.^[65]
  


• 
  Frank Gore rushed for 61 yards surpassing Jerome Bettis and LaDainian Tomlinson for fifth place all-time in rushing yards.^[66]
  

Week 14

• With a 23-yard catch, Larry Fitzgerald moved into third place all-time in receiving yards, passing Randy Moss.^[67]
  


• With 506 yards passing against the Baltimore Ravens, Ben Roethlisberger became the first quarterback in NFL history to throw for at least 500 yards in three different games.^[68]
  

Week 15

• 
  LeSean McCoy surpassed 10,000 career yards in rushing, becoming the 30th player in league history to reach the milestone.^[69]
  

Week 16

• The New England Patriots won their 12th game of the season with their win over the Buffalo Bills. The Patriots have won at least 12 games in eight consecutive seasons, surpassing the 2003–09 Indianapolis Colts for the longest such streak in NFL history.^[70]
  


• 
  Drew Brees threw for 239 yards and now has 70,200 career passing yards. He joins Peyton Manning (71,940) and Brett Favre (71,838) as the only players in NFL history to reach 70,000 passing yards. Brees reached the milestone in his 248th career game and is the fastest in league history to accomplish the feat. Brees also eclipsed the 4,000 yard mark for his 12th consecutive season extending his own record.^[70]
  

Week 17

• The Cleveland Browns join the 2008 Detroit Lions as the only teams since the implementation of the 16 game season to lose every game in a season.^[71]
  


• The Buffalo Bills end the NFL’s longest active playoff drought at 17 seasons, clinching the #6 Wild Card seed and making their first playoff appearance since 1999.^[72]
  


• 
  Frank Gore surpassed 14,000 career yards in rushing, becoming just the fifth player in NFL history to do so, after Emmitt Smith, Walter Payton, Barry Sanders, and Curtis Martin.^[73]
  

Postseason

Wild Card Round

• The Tennessee Titans became the third road team in NFL history to have rallied from at least 18 points down to win a playoff game. The Cowboys came back from a 21–3 first half deficit to beat the 49ers 30–28 in December 1972 and the Lions came back from a 27–7 second half deficit to beat the 49ers in December 1957.^[74]
  


• On a third down play from the Kansas City 6-yard line, Marcus Mariota attempted a pass, which was deflected by Darrelle Revis, right back into the hands of Mariota who promptly ran it in for a touchdown, making him the first quarterback in NFL postseason history to complete a touchdown pass to himself.^[75] This also made him the first player in the Super Bowl era with passing and receiving touchdowns in the same playoff game.^[76]
  

Super Bowl LII

• 
  Super Bowl LII marked an NFL record eighth Super Bowl appearance for Tom Brady and Bill Belichick a QB/head coach duo.^[77]
  


• 
  Super Bowl LII also marked the New England Patriots' 10th Super Bowl appearance, extending their own record.^[77]
  


• 
  Tom Brady's career 357 passes, 235 completions, 2,576 passing yards, and 18 passing touchdowns in the Super Bowl are all records.^[77]
  


• 
  Tom Brady set the single-game record for most passing yards in a Super Bowl with 505.^[77]
  


• The 33 points scored by the New England Patriots were the most points scored by the losing team.^[77]
  


• The New England Patriots set Super Bowl records for most total yards in a game with 613, the fewest punts in a game with zero, and the most passing yards with 505.^[77]
  


• 
  Philadelphia Eagles kicker Jake Elliott set the Super Bowl rookie record by kicking a 46 yard field goal at the start of the fourth quarter.^[78]
  


• The New England Patriots and the Philadelphia Eagles combined for several Super Bowl records including, 42 first downs passing, 1,151 total yards, 874 passing yards, fewest punts in the game with one, and four missed PAT conversions.^[77]
  

Awards

Individual season awards

Award	Winner	Position	Team
AP Most Valuable Player	Tom Brady	Quarterback	New England Patriots
AP Offensive Player of the Year	Todd Gurley	Running back	Los Angeles Rams
AP Defensive Player of the Year	Aaron Donald	Defensive tackle	Los Angeles Rams
AP Coach of the Year	Sean McVay	Head coach	Los Angeles Rams
AP Assistant Coach of the Year	Pat Shurmur	Offensive coordinator	Minnesota Vikings
AP Offensive Rookie of the Year	Alvin Kamara	Running back	New Orleans Saints
AP Defensive Rookie of the Year	Marshon Lattimore	Cornerback	New Orleans Saints
AP Comeback Player of the Year	Keenan Allen	Wide receiver	Los Angeles Chargers
Pepsi Rookie of the Year	Alvin Kamara	Running back	New Orleans Saints
Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year	J. J. Watt	Defensive end	Houston Texans
PFWA NFL Executive of the Year	Howie Roseman	Executive VP of Football Operations	Philadelphia Eagles
Super Bowl Most Valuable Player	Nick Foles	Quarterback	Philadelphia Eagles

All-Pro team

The following players were named First Team All-Pro by the Associated Press:

Offense Quarterback Tom Brady, New England Running back Todd Gurley, Los Angeles Rams Flex Le'Veon Bell, Pittsburgh Wide receiver Antonio Brown, Pittsburgh DeAndre Hopkins, Houston Tight end Rob Gronkowski, New England Left tackle Andrew Whitworth, Los Angeles Rams Left guard Andrew Norwell, Carolina Center Jason Kelce, Philadelphia Right guard David DeCastro, Pittsburgh Right tackle Lane Johnson, Philadelphia

Defense Edge rusher Calais Campbell, Jacksonville Cameron Jordan, New Orleans Interior lineman Aaron Donald, Los Angeles Rams Cam Heyward, Pittsburgh Linebacker Chandler Jones, Arizona Bobby Wagner, Seattle Luke Kuechly, Carolina Cornerback Jalen Ramsey, Jacksonville Xavier Rhodes, Minnesota Safety Kevin Byard, Tennessee Harrison Smith, Minnesota

Special teams
Placekicker	Greg Zuerlein, Los Angeles Rams
Punter	Johnny Hekker, Los Angeles Rams
Kick returner	Pharoh Cooper, Los Angeles Rams
Special teams	Budda Baker, Arizona

Players of the week/month

The following were named the top performers during the 2017 season:

Week/ Month	Offensive Player of the Week/Month		Defensive Player of the Week/Month		Special Teams Player of the Week/Month
	AFC	NFC	AFC	NFC	AFC	NFC
1[79]	Alex Smith (Chiefs)	Sam Bradford (Vikings)	Calais Campbell (Jaguars)	Trumaine Johnson (Rams)	Giorgio Tavecchio (Raiders)	Matt Prater (Lions)
2[80]	Tom Brady (Patriots)	J. J. Nelson (Cardinals)	Chris Jones (Chiefs)	Desmond Trufant (Falcons)	Cody Parkey (Dolphins)	Jamal Agnew (Lions)
3[81]	Tom Brady (Patriots)	Kirk Cousins (Redskins)	Terrence Brooks (Jets)	DeMarcus Lawrence (Cowboys)	Steven Hauschka (Bills)	Jake Elliott (Eagles)
Sept.[82]	Kareem Hunt (Chiefs)	Todd Gurley (Rams)	Melvin Ingram (Chargers)	DeMarcus Lawrence (Cowboys)	Ryan Succop (Titans)	Matt Prater (Lions)
4[83]	Deshaun Watson (Texans)	Todd Gurley (Rams)	Cameron Heyward (Steelers)	Julius Peppers (Panthers)	Steven Hauschka (Bills)	Greg Zuerlein (Rams)
5[84]	Melvin Gordon (Chargers)	Aaron Rodgers (Packers)	Telvin Smith (Jaguars)	Earl Thomas (Seahawks)	Adam Vinatieri (Colts)	Kenjon Barner (Eagles)
6[85]	Le'Veon Bell (Steelers)	Adrian Peterson (Cardinals)	Johnathan Joseph (Texans)	Cameron Jordan (Saints)	Ryan Succop (Titans)	Pharoh Cooper (Rams)
7[86]	Amari Cooper (Raiders)	Carson Wentz (Eagles)	Kevin Byard (Titans)	Eddie Jackson (Bears)	Travis Benjamin (Chargers)	Kai Forbath (Vikings)
8[87]	JuJu Smith-Schuster (Steelers)	Russell Wilson (Seahawks)	Carlos Dunlap (Bengals)	Jalen Mills (Eagles)	Harrison Butker (Chiefs)	Tyrone Crawford (Cowboys)
Oct.[88]	Deshaun Watson (Texans)	Carson Wentz (Eagles)	Micah Hyde (Bills)	Everson Griffen (Vikings)	Harrison Butker (Chiefs)	Greg Zuerlein (Rams)
9[89]	T. Y. Hilton (Colts)	Jared Goff (Rams)	Jordan Jenkins (Jets)	Karlos Dansby (Cardinals)	Jaydon Mickens (Jaguars)	Justin Hardee (Saints)
10[90]	Tom Brady (Patriots)	Cam Newton (Panthers)	A. J. Bouye (Jaguars)	Adrian Clayborn (Falcons)	Dion Lewis (Patriots)	Greg Zuerlein (Rams)
11[91]	Antonio Brown (Steelers)	Mark Ingram (Saints)	Matt Judon (Ravens)	Landon Collins (Giants)	Stephen Gostkowski (Patriots)	Tyler Lockett (Seahawks)
12[92]	Philip Rivers (Chargers)	Julio Jones (Falcons)	Cameron Heyward (Steelers)	Luke Kuechly (Panthers)	Sam Koch (Ravens)	Phil Dawson (Cardinals)
Nov.[93]	Tom Brady (Patriots)	Case Keenum (Vikings)	Casey Hayward (Chargers)	Cameron Jordan (Saints)	Justin Tucker (Ravens)	Greg Zuerlein (Rams)
13[94]	Josh McCown (Jets)	Russell Wilson (Seahawks)	Eric Weddle (Ravens)	Dean Lowry (Packers)	Chris Boswell (Steelers)	Robbie Gould (49ers)
14[95]	Ben Roethlisberger (Steelers)	Jonathan Stewart (Panthers)	Xavien Howard (Dolphins)	Deion Jones (Falcons)	Jaydon Mickens (Jaguars)	Trevor Davis (Packers)
15[96]	Rob Gronkowski (Patriots)	Todd Gurley (Rams)	Marcus Peters (Chiefs)	Darius Slay (Lions)	Sam Koch (Ravens)	Robbie Gould (49ers)
16[97]	Dion Lewis (Patriots)	Todd Gurley (Rams)	Mike Hilton (Steelers)	Harrison Smith (Vikings)	Harrison Butker (Chiefs)	Damiere Byrd (Panthers)
17[98]	Philip Rivers (Chargers)	Chris Godwin (Buccaneers)	Kevin Byard (Titans)	Ezekiel Ansah (Lions)	JuJu Smith-Schuster (Steelers)	Matt Bryant (Falcons)
Dec.[99]	Le'Veon Bell (Steelers)	Todd Gurley (Rams)	Jordan Poyer (Bills)	Chandler Jones (Cardinals)	Harrison Butker (Chiefs)	Robbie Gould (49ers)

Week FedEx Air Player of the Week (Quarterbacks)[100] FedEx Ground Player of the Week (Running backs)[100] Pepsi Rookie of the Week[101] Castrol Edge Clutch Performer of the Week[102] 1 Alex Smith (Chiefs) Kareem Hunt (Chiefs) Kareem Hunt (Chiefs) Alex Smith (Chiefs) 2 Trevor Siemian (Broncos) C. J. Anderson (Broncos) Tyus Bowser (Ravens) Trevor Siemian (Broncos) 3 Tom Brady (Patriots) Kareem Hunt (Chiefs) Jake Elliott (Eagles) Jake Elliott (Eagles) 4 Deshaun Watson (Texans) Le'Veon Bell (Steelers) Alvin Kamara (Saints) Deshaun Watson (Texans) 5 Carson Wentz (Eagles) Leonard Fournette (Jaguars) Aaron Jones (Packers) Aaron Rodgers (Packers) 6 Carson Wentz (Eagles) Adrian Peterson (Cardinals) Marshon Lattimore (Saints) Mark Ingram (Saints) 7 Derek Carr (Raiders) Aaron Jones (Packers) Aaron Jones (Packers) Carson Wentz (Eagles) 8 Russell Wilson (Seahawks) LeSean McCoy (Bills) Marshon Lattimore (Saints) Russell Wilson (Seahawks) 9 Jay Cutler (Dolphins) Alvin Kamara (Saints) Alvin Kamara (Saints) Carson Wentz (Eagles) 10 Case Keenum (Vikings) Mark Ingram (Saints) Alvin Kamara (Saints) Mark Ingram (Saints) 11 Drew Brees (Saints) Mark Ingram (Saints) Alvin Kamara (Saints) Drew Brees (Saints) 12 Philip Rivers (Chargers) Alvin Kamara (Saints) Alvin Kamara (Saints) Antonio Brown (Steelers) 13 Alex Smith (Chiefs) Jamaal Williams (Packers) Alvin Kamara (Saints) Aaron Jones (Packers) 14 Ben Roethlisberger (Steelers) LeSean McCoy (Bills) Jamaal Williams (Packers) Davante Adams (Packers) 15 Jimmy Garoppolo (49ers) Todd Gurley (Rams) Marshon Lattimore (Saints) Jimmy Garoppolo (49ers) 16 Jared Goff (Rams) Todd Gurley (Rams) Marshon Lattimore (Saints) Jimmy Garoppolo (49ers) 17 Philip Rivers (Chargers) Orleans Darkwa (Giants) Alvin Kamara (Saints) Tyler Boyd (Bengals)

Month Rookie of the Month Offensive Defensive Sept.[103] Kareem Hunt (Chiefs) Tre'Davious White (Bills) Oct.[104] Deshaun Watson (Texans) Marshon Lattimore (Saints) Nov.[105] Alvin Kamara (Saints) Reuben Foster (49ers) Dec.[106] Kareem Hunt (Chiefs) Marshon Lattimore (Saints)

Head coaching and front office personnel changes

Head coaches

Offseason

Team	2016 head coach	2016 interim	2017 replacement	Reason for leaving	Story/accomplishments
Buffalo Bills	Rex Ryan	Anthony Lynn	Sean McDermott	Fired	Ryan was fired with one week remaining in the 2016 regular season and a 15–16 record with no playoff appearances in two seasons. His twin brother, assistant head coach Rob Ryan, also was dismissed.[107] Ryan signed on as a commentator for ESPN,[108] replacing Trent Dilfer,[109] while Rob Ryan took the 2017 season off. Lynn began the 2016 season as running backs coach, then moved to offensive coordinator when Greg Roman was fired in week 3, then interim head coach after the Ryans' dismissal. Lynn lost his one game as interim head coach.[110] Former Carolina Panthers' defensive coordinator Sean McDermott was named as the Bills' new head coach on January 11, 2017.[111] Meanwhile, Lynn was hired as the new head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers.
Denver Broncos	Gary Kubiak		Vance Joseph	Retired	Kubiak retired from coaching after two seasons due to health concerns, with a victory in Super Bowl 50 and a 24–10 record, including postseason games.[112] Kubiak would later return to the Broncos six months later, working for their front office as a Senior Personnel Advisor. Vance Joseph, who spent the previous season as the Miami Dolphins' defensive coordinator, was hired on January 11, 2017.[113]
Jacksonville Jaguars	Gus Bradley	Doug Marrone		Fired	Bradley was fired with two weeks remaining in the 2016 season and a 14–48 (.226) record with no playoff appearances in four seasons.[114] He joined the Chargers as defensive coordinator.[115] Marrone, the Jaguars' offensive line coach, was previously head coach of the Buffalo Bills from 2013–14; he went 1–1 in his two games as interim head coach of the Jaguars.[116] On January 9, 2017, the Jaguars announced that Marrone would be named permanent head coach.[117]
Los Angeles Chargers	Mike McCoy		Anthony Lynn		McCoy was fired after four seasons, with one playoff appearance and a 27–37 record.[118] He then joined the Denver Broncos, serving as Vance Joseph's offensive coordinator. Anthony Lynn was hired as the Chargers' new head coach on January 12, 2017.[119]
Los Angeles Rams	Jeff Fisher	John Fassel	Sean McVay		After receiving a two-year contract extension prior to the season, Fisher was fired after going 4–9 through the first 13 games of the 2016 season, and 31–45–1 (.414) in his five-year tenure in St. Louis and Los Angeles. Under his tenure, the Rams never finished better than 7–8–1 (2012) and never reached the playoffs.[120] Fassel, the son of former NFL head coach Jim Fassel, has been the Rams' special teams coach since 2012; he went 0–3 in the interim, and remained on the Rams staff in that role for 2017. On January 12, Washington Redskins Offensive Coordinator Sean McVay was named head coach. Sean McVay is the grandson of former San Francisco 49ers GM John McVay. At the time of his hiring, McVay was age 30, making him the youngest person to become a head coach (excluding the player-coaches of the 1920s) in NFL history.
San Francisco 49ers	Chip Kelly		Kyle Shanahan		Kelly was fired after one season with a 2–14 record.[121][122] Kelly spent the 2017 season out of football, then took the head coaching position at UCLA beginning in 2018. Kyle Shanahan, who most recently served as the Atlanta Falcons' offensive coordinator, was named the new coach of the 49ers on February 6, 2017. Due to league anti-tampering rules, the 49ers had to wait until after the completion of the Falcons' playoff run, before formally hiring Shanahan.[123]

In-season

Team	2017 head coach	Reason for leaving	Interim replacement	Story/accomplishments
New York Giants	Ben McAdoo	Fired	Steve Spagnuolo	McAdoo became the Giants' head coach in 2016, leading the Giants to a 13–15 (.464) record over the course of parts of two seasons. After accruing a 2–10 (.167) record and benching popular starter Eli Manning (who at the time held the longest active streak as a starting NFL quarterback) during the season, he was fired on December 4, and replaced in the interim by defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, who was previously the St. Louis Rams' head coach from 2009–2011.[124]

Front office personnel

Offseason

Team	Position	2016 office holder	Reason for leaving	2017 office holder	Notes
San Francisco 49ers	GM	Trent Baalke	Fired	John Lynch	Baalke, who spent the past twelve years with the team, informed KNBR-AM in San Francisco on January 1, 2017, that he had been fired.[122][125] On January 29, 2017, Lynch, a former player and broadcaster, was named the general manager of the San Francisco 49ers; it is his first front office position.[126][127]
Jacksonville Jaguars	EVP-FO	position created		Tom Coughlin	Coughlin, the team's inaugural head coach, was rehired as executive vice president of football operations on January 9, 2017. He had spent the 2016 season out of football after several years of coaching the New York Giants.
Indianapolis Colts	GM	Ryan Grigson	Fired	Chris Ballard	Grigson was relieved of his duties as Colts general manager on January 21, 2017.[128] On January 30, 2017, Chris Ballard, who had spent the past four seasons as director of football operations for the Kansas City Chiefs, was named the new GM of the Colts.
Washington Redskins	GM	Scot McCloughan		TBA	McCloughan was fired on March 9, 2017, after two seasons with the Redskins.[129] Doug Williams was named senior vice president of player personnel on June 13, 2017.[130]
Buffalo Bills	GM	Doug Whaley		Brandon Beane	Whaley was fired the morning of April 30, 2017, immediately following the draft. He had spent seven seasons with the Bills, four of them as general manager.[131] Brandon Beane, who had spent the previous 19 seasons with the Carolina Panthers (most recently as assistant general manager), was hired as the new general manager on May 9, 2017.[132]
Kansas City Chiefs	GM	John Dorsey		Brett Veach	Dorsey was unexpectedly fired on June 22, 2017, after four seasons.[133] Brett Veach, who had spent the past four seasons as the Chiefs co-director of player personnel, was promoted to general manager on July 10, 2017.[134]
Carolina Panthers	GM	Dave Gettleman		Marty Hurney	Gettleman was unexpectedly fired after four seasons on July 17, 2017.[135]Marty Hurney, who was the Panthers' GM from 2002 to 2012, was rehired as the interim general manager for the 2017 season. The team plans to conduct a search for a permanent general manager after the season ends.[136]

In-season

Team	Position	2017 office holder	Reason for leaving	Interim replacement	Notes
New York Giants	GM	Jerry Reese	Fired	Kevin Abrams	Having been in the organization since 1994, Reese was the Giants GM since 2007, leading them to two Super Bowl championships and several years of success. He was fired on December 4 along with head coach Ben McAdoo.[124] He was replaced in the interim by former Detroit Lions cornerback Kevin Abrams, who has no previous front office experience.[137]
Cleveland Browns	VP/GM	Sashi Brown		John Dorsey	Brown was fired on December 7. Brown, who had served as the team's lawyer since 2013, was given the duties of general manager in 2016 despite no prior experience in football. He was considered responsible for trading away the high round draft picks that ended up being Carson Wentz and Deshaun Watson. In addition, he failed to follow through on a trade for Bengals backup quarterback AJ McCarron, which was contributed to him simply failing to inform the league of the trade in time. Owner Jimmy Haslam said the coach Hue Jackson will stay at least through the 2018 season.[138] Later that day the Browns named former Kansas City Chiefs GM John Dorsey as their new GM. As general manager in Kansas City from 2013–16, the Chiefs recorded a 43–21 (.672) record.[139]

Stadiums

Atlanta Falcons

The Atlanta Falcons played their first season at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, after playing in the Georgia Dome for the previous 25 seasons.

Relocations

San Diego Chargers' relocation to Los Angeles

On January 12, 2017, the San Diego Chargers exercised their option to relocate to Los Angeles as the Los Angeles Chargers. They will be joining the Los Angeles Rams as tenants in their new stadium, Los Angeles Stadium at Hollywood Park in Inglewood, California when that stadium is complete in 2020. For the time being, the Chargers are playing at the 30,000 seat StubHub Center in Carson, California, the smallest venue (in terms of number of seats) the league has used for a full season since 1956.^[2]

Oakland Raiders' relocation to Las Vegas

On January 19, 2017, the Oakland Raiders filed paperwork to relocate to Las Vegas, Nevada. The NFL officially approved the Raiders relocation to Las Vegas on March 27. Unlike the Chargers, the Raiders will remain at the Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum through at least the 2018 season (with the 2019 season to be determined) while Las Vegas Stadium is built, with the team moving to Nevada in 2019 or 2020.^[140]

Attendance

The Los Angeles Rams, who had capped season ticket sales at 55,000 for the 2017 season, announced to have 60,128 spectators in the first home game on week 1. However, reports estimate that spectators only filled a third of the 93,607 seats of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.^[141] The Los Angeles Chargers did not sell out their week 2 game at the StubHub Center, which was never expanded to 30,000 seats as originally stated and has typically had less than 26,000 fans in attendance.^[142] When the StubHub Center was at capacity, the majority of the fans present were supporters of the opposing team, with the October 1 home game against the eventual Super Bowl champion Eagles being a mainly pro-Philadelphia crowd.^[143][144]

The Los Angeles teams were not the only ones with visible attendance problems. The San Francisco 49ers reported a Week 3 attendance total that exceeded the capacity of Levi's Stadium, even as wide swaths of empty seats were visible in the stadium throughout the game.^[145] This followed similar sparse attendance for the 49ers' home opener.^[146] Even the Dallas Cowboys, a team whose fan base is among the largest in the United States, played their week 13 Thursday Night Football game in front of a half-empty AT&T Stadium.^[147] The lifting of the league's blackout policy was cited as one factor in the decline in ticket sales, as viewers would rather watch from the comfort of their homes, especially when weather conditions were less than ideal. At a Buffalo Bills/Indianapolis Colts game held in blinding lake-effect snow on December 10, scalpers said they had not sold any tickets, an extreme rarity.^[148] Indeed, a majority of television sets in all Western New York were tuned into some portion of the game, the highest viewership for a non-Super Bowl NFL game in the region since record-keeping began.^[149]

New uniforms and patches

• Twenty-five teams transitioned to Nike's new uniform template.^[150] While most teams have just transitioned to it without any actual changes to the uniforms themselves, the New Orleans Saints,^[151]Cincinnati Bengals,^[152] and Los Angeles Rams^[153] uniforms are the most noticeable in it, fixing their collars in the process.


• The Detroit Lions unveiled new uniforms on April 13, 2017, eliminating all black elements from the uniform and logo. They added a new alternate uniform as well as a new Color Rush uniform.^[154]
  


• The Los Angeles Rams announced they would be switching their primary helmets to white and blue, similar to their Color Rush helmets. The team had fans vote on the color of their facemask, which would be white, and the design of their pants, which would be white with a blue stripe. The Rams also announced that they would explore a full rebrand in the near future.^[155]
  


• The Cincinnati Bengals will wear a patch to commemorate their 50th season.^[156]
  


• The San Francisco 49ers have altered their sleeve striping from 3 stripes to 2 stripes.^[157]
  


• The Seattle Seahawks dedicated their season to former Seahawks defensive tackle Cortez Kennedy, who died on May 23, 2017, by wearing a #96 decal on their helmets.^[158]
  


• The Pittsburgh Steelers will wear a patch to honor their former chairman, the late Dan Rooney, who died in April, at the age of 84. The patch will feature a shamrock, with Rooney's initials "DMR". The last time the Steelers wore a jersey patch was when Art Rooney died in 1988. They also donned a helmet decal to honor Chuck Noll, who died in 2014.^[159]
  


• The Dallas Cowboys will wear blue jerseys at home on a more regular basis, marking the first time the team has worn blue jerseys at home outside of Thanksgiving games since the NFL allowed teams to wear white jerseys at home in 1964. Despite the team's well-documented blue jersey "jinx", player preference as well as stronger retail sales of the navy blue jerseys over the white ones have prompted the team's decision. The blue jerseys will be worn for "high-profile" games at AT&T Stadium.^[160]
  


• The New York Giants wore a #14 decal on their helmets to honor Y. A. Tittle, who died on October 8, 2017.^[161] Later, they would wear a "JHT" patch from Week 10 onwards, in honor of Joan Tisch, the mother of Giants co-owner Steve Tisch, who died on November 2, 2017.^[162]
  


• The Buffalo Bills wore their all-red Color Rush uniforms when they faced the Indianapolis Colts in the aforementioned December 10 "snow game", the first team to do so on a Sunday, and the fourth team overall.^[163]
  


• All current and former Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award winners will wear a patch on their jerseys in perpetuity to acknowledge to recognize their outstanding contributions to the game and to their communities. Similarly, current nominees will wear a decal on their helmets for the rest of the season.^[164]
  


• The Atlanta Falcons wore their all red color rush jerseys with black numbers against the Saints on December 7, 2017. The numbers were a classic form of numbers. The alternate has the regular Falcon unlike the other alternate. The regular Atlanta Falcons' alternate is a black jersey, with a black helmet, and on the black helmet is the original Falcons logo.

Media

Broadcast rights

Television

This was the fourth season under the current broadcast contracts with ESPN, CBS, Fox, and NBC. This included "cross-flexing" (switching) Sunday Afternoon games between CBS and Fox before or during the season (regardless of the conference of the visiting team). NBC continued to air Sunday Night Football, the annual Kickoff game, and the primetime Thanksgiving game, and broadcast Super Bowl LII. ESPN continued to air Monday Night Football and the Pro Bowl. This also was the second and final year of the current Thursday Night Football contract with CBS, NBC, and NFL Network.

Along with ESPN's Wild Card game on ABC, ESPN announced on May 24, 2017, that the 2018 Pro Bowl would also be simulcast on ABC, marking the return of the Pro Bowl to ABC for the first time since 2003.^[165] For the first 9 weeks of the regular season, ESPN2 simulcast ESPN Deportes' Spanish-language Monday Night Football broadcasts; this served as filler programming for the channel until the start of its Monday-night college basketball broadcasts.^[166]

Although never explicitly announced, the league continued the moratorium on its blackout policy, ensuring all games would be televised in the market of their home teams regardless of ticket sales.^[167]

Because of fog and smoke obstruction, NBC was forced to televise large portions of two of their Sunday Night Football games from the skycam angle. Positive reception led NBC to experiment with increased usage of the angle as a primary view during its November 16 and December 14 Thursday Night Football telecasts. Because the angle distorts distance, the traditional sideline camera angle was used for close-yardage situations such as the red zone.^[168]

Digital

In over-the-top rights, Amazon Video acquired non-exclusive streaming rights to the 10 broadcast television Thursday Night Football games for $50 million. These streams are exclusive to paid Amazon Prime subscribers, in contrast to Twitter, which held the rights to the same package in 2016 and had made those streams free to most of the world.^[169][170]

Verizon Communications acquired international streaming rights to an NFL London Game between the Baltimore Ravens and Jacksonville Jaguars, in a similar arrangement to the 2015 game that was streamed by Yahoo!—which was acquired by Verizon in 2017. The game was streamed by Yahoo and other Verizon-owned platforms, including AOL, go90, and Complex.^[171][172]NFL Network remains a partner with Twitter for online content, including its new streaming news program NFL Blitz Live.^[173][174] The NFL also reached a deal with Facebook in September 2017 to offer video highlights following games, and streaming programs on the service's new Watch platform.^[175]

This was the final season of the NFL's exclusive mobile streaming contract with Verizon Wireless; the league intended to no longer have a single exclusive partner going forward, citing changes to viewing habits.^[176] On December 11, 2017, the NFL announced that it had agreed to a new 5-year, $2.5 billion digital rights agreement with Verizon, allowing it to stream in-market Sunday afternoon games, as well as all nationally televised games, across its mobile platforms. Unlike the previous deal, these streams are no longer exclusive to Verizon Wireless subscribers, as Verizon planned to leverage the divisions of its digital media subsidiary Oath (including the aforementioned Yahoo) as a platform to promote these streams to a larger audience, as well as other digital content and expanded highlights rights. As part of the agreement, Verizon began allowing access to its existing mobile streams to non-customers for the 2017-18 playoffs.^[177] As the new contract is non-exclusive, the NFL's television partners may negotiate to add the mobile streaming rights that were reserved to Verizon under the previous contract; NBC was the first to do so.^[178]

Two new international digital rights deals led to user criticism over their quality of service. In Canada, NFL Sunday Ticket shifted from distribution through television providers to the over-the-top provider DAZN, while in Europe, Deltatre took over European distribution of NFL Game Pass and launched new mobile apps. Both services faced criticism over their streaming quality, while Delatre's app faced criticism for having bugs and initially lacking features seen in the previous version of the platform. The Independent exposed that Deltatre had also issued an internal e-mail instructing its employees to give the apps 5-star reviews. DAZN subsequently announced that it would return to distributing Sunday Ticket through Canadian television providers in addition to their OTT service.^[179][180]

Radio

This was the final season of the NFL's existing national radio contract with Westwood One.^[181]Entravision (in the last year of a three-year deal)^[182] and ESPN Deportes Radio split Spanish broadcast rights.^[183]

Commercials

The league has sought to reduce the number of standard commercial breaks (media timeouts) on its telecasts from 21 to 16, four in each quarter, with each break extended by one additional 30-second commercial. One particular scenario the league sought to eliminate is the "double-up," in which a network cuts to a commercial after a scoring play, then airs the kickoff, and again goes to commercial before play from scrimmage resumes. Under the proposal, the league will allow networks to cut to commercial during instant replay reviews, which it had not been allowed to do before. Commissioner Roger Goodell stated that the changes are being made in an attempt to consolidate downtime between the actual game play so that there are fewer and less noticeable interruptions; he does not expect the changes to have an appreciable impact on the real-time length of a game, which currently clocks in at slightly over three hours.^[184]

The NFL has also, as a trial, lifted its ban on the broadcast of commercials for distilled spirits during its telecasts. However, they are subject to restrictions; a maximum of four liquor ads may be broadcast per-game, along with two per-pregame and postgame show. These ads may not contain football-related themes or target underage viewers, and must contain a "prominent social responsibility message".^[185][186]

Personnel changes

Tony Romo, who announced his retirement as a player on April 4, 2017, joined CBS, where he replaced Phil Simms as lead color commentator. Simms and Nate Burleson, who comes over from NFL Network, will replace Tony Gonzalez and Bart Scott on CBS's pregame show, The NFL Today.^[187][188]Jay Cutler also announced his retirement from professional football on May 5 and was slated to join Fox as a color analyst for its NFL coverage;^[189] he later rescinded that announcement in August and joined the Miami Dolphins.^[17] Gonzalez will move to Fox, where he will join Fox NFL Kickoff; upon his departure, Gonzalez stated that he wished to pursue opportunities closer to his home in California, rather than travel to New York weekly to appear on CBS. James Lofton, coming over from radio, will replace Solomon Wilcots as a CBS analyst.^[190]

On May 31, 2017, it was announced that Mike Tirico would replace Al Michaels on play-by-play on NBC's portion of the Thursday Night Football package, joined by Cris Collinsworth.^[191] The NFL had previously required this role to be filled by NBC's lead broadcast team of Michaels and Collinsworth; Tirico called a limited slate of games in 2016, including several NBC-broadcast games as a fill-in for Michaels (who voluntarily took several games off due to the increased number he was calling that season), and as part of a secondary team for selected games the TNF package.^[192][193] He will also succeed Bob Costas as the lead studio host for NBC.^[194][195] However, due to its proximity to the 2018 Winter Olympics (where he also succeeded Bob Costas as lead host), Tirico did not participate in NBC's Super Bowl LII coverage.^[196]

Beth Mowins became the second woman to call play-by-play for a national NFL broadcast, following Gayle Sierens in 1987, when she served as play-by-play announcer for the nightcap in ESPN's Week 1 Monday Night doubleheader, with Rex Ryan as her color commentator.^[197] In an unusual case of a broadcaster working for two networks in the same season, Mowins also called a regional game for CBS in Weeks 3, 15 and 17, with Jay Feely as her partner.^[198]

Also, this would end up being the last season for the Monday Night Football broadcast team of Sean McDonough, Jon Gruden, and Lisa Salters. Gruden would return to coaching the next year for the Oakland Raiders, while McDonough would return to doing College Football for ESPN, although Salters will still be on MNF. McDonough will be replaced by Joe Tessitore, who has done work for ESPN as a College Football announcer, like McDonough, while Jason Witten, who would end up retiring after this season, will replace Gruden, with Booger McFarland, being added as a field analyst.

Most watched regular season games

• DH = doubleheader; SNF = NBC Sunday Night Football
  

Rank	Date	Matchup				Network	Viewers (millions)	TV rating [199]	Window	Significance
1	December 17, 4:25 ET	New England Patriots	27	Pittsburgh Steelers	24	CBS	26.9	15.2	Late DH[a]	2016 AFC Championship rematch
2	November 23, 4:30 ET	Los Angeles Chargers	28	Dallas Cowboys	6		26.3	11.1	Thanksgiving
3	September 17, 4:25 ET	Dallas Cowboys	17	Denver Broncos	42	Fox	26.0	14.3	Late DH[b]
4	November 23, 12:30 ET	Minnesota Vikings	30	Detroit Lions	23		24.7	11.4	Thanksgiving	Lions–Vikings rivalry
5	September 10, 8:30 ET	New York Giants	3	Dallas Cowboys	19	NBC	24.4	13.4	SNF	Cowboys–Giants Rivalry
6	October 8, 4:25 ET	Green Bay Packers	35	Dallas Cowboys	31	Fox	23.9	13.6	Late DH[c]	Cowboys–Packers Rivalry
7	December 10, 4:25 ET	Philadelphia Eagles	43	Los Angeles Rams	35		23.8	13.7	Late DH[d]
8	December 24, 4:25 ET	Seattle Seahawks	21	Dallas Cowboys	12		23.0	12.2	Late DH[e]
9	September 10, 4:25 ET	Seattle Seahawks	9	Green Bay Packers	17		22.8	12.7	Late DH[f]	2014 NFC Championship rematch
10	November 12, 4:25 ET	Dallas Cowboys	7	Atlanta Falcons	27		22.0	12.8	Late DH[g]

*Note — Late DH matchups listed in table are the matchups that were shown to the largest percentage of the market.

1. 
   ^{^} NE/PIT was shown in 91% of the markets during the late doubleheader time slot of CBS coverage.


2. 
   ^{^} DAL/DEN was shown in 81% of the markets during the late doubleheader time slot of Fox coverage.


3. 
   ^{^} GB/DAL was shown in 99% of the markets during the late doubleheader time slot of Fox coverage, with the Bay Area being the only market not airing the game.


4. 
   ^{^} PHI/LAR was shown in 90% of the markets during the late doubleheader time slot of Fox coverage.


5. 
   ^{^} SEA/DAL was shown in 89% of the markets during the late doubleheader time slot of Fox coverage.


6. 
   ^{^} SEA/GB was shown in 89% of the markets during the late doubleheader time slot of Fox coverage.


7. 
   ^{^} DAL/ATL was shown in 86% of the markets during the late doubleheader time slot of Fox coverage.

References