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2023 NFL season

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2023 NFL season
Regular season
DurationSeptember 7, 2023 (2023-09-07) – January 7, 2024 (2024-01-07)
Playoffs
Start dateJanuary 13, 2024 (2024-01-13)
Super Bowl LVIII
DateFebruary 11, 2024
SiteAllegiant Stadium, Paradise, Nevada
Pro Bowl
DateFebruary 4, 2024
SiteTBA
2023 NFL season is located in the United States
Patriots
Patriots
Bills
Bills
Dolphins
Dolphins
Jets
Jets
Bengals
Bengals
Ravens
Ravens
Steelers
Steelers
Browns
Browns
Colts
Colts
Titans
Titans
Jaguars
Jaguars
Texans
Texans
Broncos
Broncos
Chiefs
Chiefs
Raiders
Raiders
Chargers
Chargers
AFC teams: West, North, South, East
2023 NFL season is located in the United States
Cowboys
Cowboys
Giants
Giants
Eagles
Eagles
Commanders
Commanders
Bears
Bears
Lions
Lions
Packers
Packers
Vikings
Vikings
Falcons
Falcons
Panthers
Panthers
Saints
Saints
Buccaneers
Buccaneers
Cardinals
Cardinals
Rams
Rams
Seahawks
Seahawks
49ers
49ers
NFC teams: West, North, South, East

The 2023 NFL season is scheduled to be the 104th season of the National Football League (NFL). The season is planned to begin on September 7, 2023, with the defending Super Bowl LVII champion hosting the NFL Kickoff Game, and end on January 7, 2024. The playoffs are then scheduled to start on January 13, and conclude with Super Bowl LVIII, the league's championship game, at Allegiant Stadium in Paradise, Nevada, on February 11.

Player movement

Free agency

Free agency is scheduled to begin on March 15, 2023.[1]

Retirements

Notable retirements

Other retirements

Draft

The 2023 NFL Draft is scheduled to be held outside Union Station in Kansas City, Missouri, on April 27–29.[4] Chicago, by virtue of having the worst record in 2022, holds the first overall selection.

2023 deaths

Pro Football Hall of Fame Members

Art McNally
McNally was the director of officiating for the NFL from 1968 to 1991. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2022, becoming the first official to receive the honor. He died January 1, age 97.[5]

Others

Preseason

The majority of training camps are planned to open on July 26. The preseason is scheduled to begin on August 3 with the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game.[citation needed]

Regular season

The season is planned to be played over an 18-week schedule beginning on September 7. Each of the league's 32 teams plays 17 games, with one bye week for each team. The regular season is scheduled to end on January 7, 2024; all games during the final weekend will be intra-division games, as it has been since 2010.[citation needed]

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.[6]

The division pairings for 2023 are as follows:[6]

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

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

Interconference game by 2022 position
NFC East at AFC West
NFC North at AFC North
NFC South at AFC East
NFC West at AFC South

Highlights of the 2023 season are planned to include (with, unless otherwise noted, specific teams and kickoff times to be announced at a later date):

Changes to flexible scheduling rules

As part of the new media agreements, the league's flexible scheduling system has been modified this season to include Monday Night Football games, and increase the amount of cross-flexing (switching) of Sunday afternoon games between CBS and Fox. Games can now be flexed into Monday Night Football similar to how games can be flexed into NBC Sunday Night Football or into Saturdays on the final four weeks of the season. CBS and Fox will still be able to protect a limited number of games involving a specific number of AFC or NFC teams, respectively.[12]

Scheduling changes

Week 18: Two games with playoff implications are planned to be moved to Saturday, January 6, at 4:30 p.m. and 8:15 p.m. ET, both airing on ESPN, ABC, and ESPN+. Another game with playoff implications will be moved into NBC Sunday Night Football at 8:20 p.m. ET. The rest will be scheduled as Sunday afternoon games on CBS or Fox.[13]

Postseason

The 2023 playoffs are scheduled to begin with the wild-card round, with three wild-card games played in each conference. Wild Card Weekend is planned for January 13–15, 2024. In the Divisional round scheduled for January 20–21, 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 will advance to the Conference Championship games scheduled for January 28. Super Bowl LVIII is scheduled for February 11 at Allegiant Stadium in Paradise, Nevada.

Head coaching and front office changes

Head coaches

Off-season

Team Departing coach Interim coach Incoming coach Reason for leaving Notes
Arizona Cardinals Kliff Kingsbury TBA Fired Kingsbury was fired on January 9, after 4 seasons with the Cardinals. During his tenure, the team was 28–37–1 (.432), with one playoff appearance and no playoff wins.[14]
Carolina Panthers Matt Rhule Steve Wilks Frank Reich After a 1–4 start, Rhule was fired on October 10, 2022, after 2+ seasons with the team. During his tenure, the Panthers were 11–27 (.289) with no playoff appearances.

Wilks, the team's defensive pass game coordinator and secondary coach, took over as interim coach. This is his second NFL head coaching position, having previously been the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals for one season.[15]

Denver Broncos Nathaniel Hackett Jerry Rosburg TBA Hackett was fired on December 26, 2022, after a 4–11 (.267) tenure, missing the playoffs in his only partial season with the team.[16]

Rosburg, the team's senior assistant to the head coach, was named interim head coach. This is his first head coaching position; he previously served as the Baltimore Ravens special team coordinator for eleven seasons.[17]

Houston Texans Lovie Smith TBA Smith was fired on January 8 after one season, compiling a record of 3–13–1 (.206) and no playoff appearances.[18]
Indianapolis Colts Frank Reich Jeff Saturday TBA Reich was fired on November 7, 2022, after starting the season 3–5–1 (.389). In 5+ seasons with the Colts, Reich was 40–33–1 (.547), with 2 wild card playoff appearances and a playoff record of 1–2 (.333).[19]

Saturday, a 6-time Pro Bowler who played 13 seasons as a center in the NFL (12 of them for the Colts), and consultant for the team, was named interim head coach. His only previous coaching experience at any level was for Hebron Christian Academy in Dacula, Georgia.[20]

Front office personnel

Off-season

Team Position Departing office holder Reason for leaving Interim replacement Incoming office holder Notes
Arizona Cardinals General manager Steve Keim Resigned N/A Monti Ossenfort Keim stepped down on January 9 for health-related reasons. He had served as the Cardinals' GM for 10 seasons.[14]

Ossenfort was hired on January 16. He was previously the Tennessee Titans' director of player personnel from 2020–2022.[21]

Chicago Bears President Ted Phillips Retired Kevin Warren Phillips retired after the 2022 season.[22]

Warren was hired on January 12. He was previously the Big Ten Commissioner from 2020–2023.[23]

Tennessee Titans General manager Jon Robinson Fired Ryan Cowden Ran Carthon Robinson was fired on December 6, 2022, after 6+ seasons as the Titans' GM, despite a relatively successful tenure with the Titans, including 2 AFC South titles, 4 playoff appearances, and an AFC Championship appearance in 2019.

Cowden, the team's vice president of player personnel, served as interim GM for the rest of the season.[24]

Carthon, the San Francisco 49ers' Director of Player Personnel since 2016, was hired on January 18. He had been in management positions with several teams since 2008, after playing two seasons with the Indianapolis Colts from 2004–2006.[25]

Uniforms

Uniform changes

  • Detroit team president Rod Wood said that the Lions would consider a uniform change to be implemented in 2023. In December 2022, it was reported that the team filed paperwork to change their uniforms for the following season.[26][27]
  • Philadelphia announced the return of their Kelly green throwback uniforms for the 2023 season on March 29, 2022. According to Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie, this version of the Kelly green uniforms will be modeled after the set from 1985–1995.[28] The Eagles last featured Kelly green uniforms during the 2010 season.[29]
  • Seattle announced that they would reintroduce their 1990s era uniforms as a part of the "NFL's classic uniform program" during the 2023 season on November 27, 2022.[30]
  • Tampa Bay announced the return of the throwback "creamsicle" uniforms worn from 1976–1996 on February 28, 2022. The team intended to wear the design during the 2022 season but delayed its reintroduction until 2023, citing supply chain issues.[31] The team will wear this design for the first time since the 2012 season.[32]

Media

Television

This will be the first season under new eleven year TV agreements with the CBS, Fox, NBC, and ESPN/ABC, renewing their rights to the AFC package, NFC package, Sunday Night Football, and Monday Night Football, respectively, through the 2033 season. Among the new changes:[33][34][35]

  • Flexible scheduling has been expanded to include Monday Night Football, and increase the amount of "cross-flexing" (switching) Sunday afternoon games between CBS and Fox. Under the new "cross-flexing" system, CBS and Fox will be able to protect a limited number of games involving a specific number of teams from their respective conference.[35][36]
  • The number of Monday Night Football split-network doubleheaders, where ABC and ESPN each air a separate game, increases from one to three per season.[33][35]
  • Fox acquires the rights to air Christmas Day games as the schedule permits.[37]
  • The two extra Wild Card games gained by the 2020 playoff expansion will continue to be rotated annually between CBS, NBC, and Fox. Specifically, CBS will at least broadcast a second Wild Card game during the 2024, 2029, and 2033 seasons; and NBC at least during the 2026 and 2031 seasons.[35] ABC/ESPN will continue to only air one Wild Card game per season;[35] this will be the third year under their five-year deal to broadcast the Monday night Wild Card game.[38]
  • The four broadcasters will now each air one divisional playoff game per season, with ABC/ESPN taking over the slot that was previously rotated annually between CBS (after odd-numbered regular seasons) and Fox (after even-numbered regular seasons).[35]
  • ABC/ESPN has been added back into the annual Super Bowl rotation, with the four broadcasters airing the game in the following order: CBS, Fox, NBC, ABC/ESPN.[35]

NFL Network will continue to televise select regular season games, at least seven of them exclusively under its cable provider agreements.[39][40]

Fox Deportes will continue to air Spanish-language coverage of Fox games. ESPN Deportes will do the same for ESPN, ABC, and CBS games. Universo and Telemundo Deportes (select games) will do the same for NBC games.[citation needed]

Monday Night Football with Peyton and Eli continues to air on ESPN2 under its current deal through the 2024 season.[41]

CBS will continue to produce alternative, youth-oriented telecasts of selected games on sister channel Nickelodeon.[42]

This is the second season that DirecTV is allowed to air Thursday Night Football on DirecTV's packages for business customers. This agreement was independent of DirecTV's previous NFL Sunday Ticket deal, primarily to allow bars, restaurants, casinos, and other venues to continue offering TNF games without reconfiguring their systems to accommodate a streaming-only platform.[43]

Streaming

This will be the first of six seasons that Peacock will exclusively stream one game per year through 2028. It will continue to simulcast all NBC games through 2033.[33]

This will be the second season that ESPN+ exclusively streams one International Series game, along with simulcasts of all ABC games through the 2033 season.[44]

Paramount+ will continue to simulcast all CBS games through 2033.[33]

This will be the second season that Thursday Night Football exclusively streams on Amazon Prime Video and Twitch.[45] This will also be the first year that Amazon will have the rights to stream a newly scheduled game on the Black Friday.[9]

NFL+ will continue to simulcast all local and national primetime regular season games on mobile platforms (not including casting to TV's), all out of market preseason games Live (national games for mobile devices only) along with replays of all games.[46]

NFL Sunday Ticket

For residential customers, this will be the first season that the NFL Sunday Ticket out-of-market sports package will exclusively be on YouTube TV, as well as on YouTube's Primetime Channels service as a standalone subscription option.[47] DirecTV declined to renew its exclusive rights to NFL Sunday Ticket, which it held since the package's debut in 1994.[48][49]

It is unknown whether DirecTV will continue to hold the rights to offer NFL Sunday Ticket to bars, restaurants, and other commercial venues, allowing them to continue showing games without having to reconfigure their systems to accommodate a streaming-only platform.[50]

Radio

Westwood One will continue its longstanding audio broadcasting rights to all nationally televised games, while adding audio coverage of other events such as the NFL Draft and NFL Honors. It also greatly expands the ability for its broadcasts to be distributed for free via digital platforms, including via local affiliates' "primary digital platforms", and via the NFL app.[51] Compass Media, ESPN Radio and Sports USA will continue to broadcast select Local Sunday afternoon games nationally on radio.[52]

References

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  2. ^ Weinfuss, Josh. "Cardinals' J.J. Watt announces this will be final NFL season". ESPN. Retrieved December 27, 2022.
  3. ^ McDaniel, Mike. "Raiders Linebacker Announces Retirement in Middle of Season". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved November 30, 2022.
  4. ^ Teope, Herbie (May 22, 2019). "NFL Awards 2021, 2023 drafts to Cleveland, Kansas City". NFL.com.
  5. ^ Gordon, Grant (January 2, 2023). "Art McNally, first NFL official enshrined in Pro Football Hall of Fame, dies at age 97". NFL. Retrieved January 2, 2023.
  6. ^ a b "Scheduling Formula". 2022 NFL Record and Fact Book. NFL. 2022. p. 12.
  7. ^ "Committed to Wembley Through 2024". Jaguars UK. Retrieved October 1, 2022.
  8. ^ a b "NFL announces designated teams for 2023 international games". NFL.com. January 19, 2023. Retrieved January 19, 2023.
  9. ^ a b "Prime Video to stream 'Black Friday' NFL game in 2023". NFL.com. October 18, 2022.
  10. ^ "On Christmas, the NFL's average audience was five times larger than the NBA's". ProFootballTalk. December 29, 2022. Retrieved December 31, 2022. Look for the NFL to constantly find a way to fill the day, regardless of the day of the week on which it lands. In 2023, it will be easy. Play a full slate of games on Sunday, December 24, and play three on Monday, December 25.
  11. ^ "If the NFL emphasizes Christmas Day, what does that mean for the NBA?". Awful Announcing. December 29, 2022. Retrieved December 31, 2022.
  12. ^ Marczi, Matthew (May 19, 2022). "NFL VP of Broadcast Planning Says 2023 Schedule Will Make Every Game 'A Free Agent' In Terms of Network". steelersdepot.com.
  13. ^ Breech, John (March 19, 2021). "NFL's new TV deal will bring some major changes: Here are 10 things to know, including flex games on Monday". CBS Sports. New York. Retrieved October 23, 2021.
  14. ^ a b Urban, Darren (January 9, 2023). "Cardinals Relieve Kliff Kingsbury Of Coaching Duties, Steve Keim Steps Down". azcardinals.com. Retrieved January 9, 2023.
  15. ^ "Panthers part ways with head coach Matt Rhule". panthers.com. October 10, 2022. Retrieved October 10, 2022.
  16. ^ "Broncos part ways with Head Coach Nathaniel Hackett". denverbroncos.com. December 26, 2022. Retrieved December 26, 2022.
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  26. ^ Andrew Lind. "Detroit Lions Considering Uniform Change For 2023 Season". SportsLogos.Net News. Retrieved January 7, 2023.
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  28. ^ Andrew Lind. "Philadelphia Eagles To Wear Kelly Green Alternate Uniforms In 2023". SportsLogos.Net News. Retrieved January 7, 2023.
  29. ^ "The Gridiron Uniform Database". gridiron-uniforms.com. Retrieved January 7, 2023.
  30. ^ "Seahawks announce throwback uniforms in 2023". The Seattle Times. November 27, 2022. Retrieved January 7, 2023.
  31. ^ Andrew Lind. "Tampa Bay Buccaneers' Creamsicle Throwback Uniforms Returning In 2023". SportsLogos.Net News. Retrieved January 7, 2023.
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  37. ^ "Fox Corporation Announces New Eleven-Year Media Rights Agreement with the National Football League". PR News Wire. March 18, 2021.
  38. ^ "ESPN to broadcast Super Wild Card Weekend's Monday night game for next five years". www.nfl.com. October 13, 2021.
  39. ^ "NFL completes long-term media distribution agreements through 2033 season". NFL. March 18, 2021. Retrieved October 23, 2021.
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  41. ^ Steinberg, Brian (February 9, 2022). "ESPN Expands 'ManningCast' Deal With Peyton Manning's Omaha Productions". Variety. Retrieved March 24, 2022.
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  49. ^ Sherman, Alex (June 24, 2022). "Disney, Apple and Amazon keep waiting as NFL considers Sunday Ticket offers". CNBC. Retrieved June 26, 2022.
  50. ^ McCarthey, Michael (December 22, 2022). "DirecTV Could Retain 'Sunday Ticket' Commercial Business". frontofficesports.com. Retrieved December 24, 2022.
  51. ^ Lucia, Joe (March 28, 2022). "Westwood One has a new deal with the NFL, with all primetime games available for free in the NFL app". Awful Announcing. Retrieved March 29, 2022.
  52. ^ "NFL and Westwood One Renew, Expand Partnership". Westwood One Sports. March 28, 2022. Retrieved November 23, 2022.