2022 NFL season
The 2022 NFL season was the 103rd season of the National Football League. The season began on September 8, 2022, with the defending Super Bowl LVI champion Los Angeles Rams falling to Buffalo in the NFL Kickoff Game, and ended on January 8, 2023. The playoffs started on January 14 and concluded with Super Bowl LVII, the league's championship game, at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, on February 12, with Kansas City defeating Philadelphia.
The former Washington Redskins, after two seasons of using the placeholder name Washington Football Team, were renamed the Washington Commanders prior to the start of the season.
The week 17 game between Buffalo and Cincinnati was canceled after Buffalo safety Damar Hamlin suffered a nonfatal cardiac arrest on the field of play. It was the first regular season game to be canceled and not rescheduled since the 1987 NFLPA players' strike.
Player movement
The 2022 NFL league year and trading period began on March 16. On March 14, teams were allowed to exercise options for 2022 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 2021 contracts and fewer than three accrued seasons of free agent credit. Teams were required to be under the salary cap using the "top 51" definition. On March 16, clubs were allowed to contact and begin contract negotiations with players whose contracts had expired and thus became unrestricted free agents.This season's salary cap increased to $208.2 million per team, up from both of the previous seasons impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, $198.2 million in 2020 and $182.5 million in 2021.
Free agency
Free agency began on March 16. Notable players to change teams included:- Quarterbacks Andy Dalton, Marcus Mariota and Mitchell Trubisky
- Running backs Chase Edmonds, Ronald Jones II, Sony Michel, and Raheem Mostert
- Wide receivers D. J. Chark, Russell Gage, Jakeem Grant, Julio Jones, Zay Jones, Christian Kirk, Jarvis Landry, Allen Robinson, JuJu Smith-Schuster, and Sammy Watkins
- Tight ends Evan Engram, Gerald Everett, Austin Hooper, O. J. Howard, Hayden Hurst, Kyle Rudolph, and C. J. Uzomah
- Offensive linemen Terron Armstead, Duane Brown, Alex Cappa, La'el Collins, Austin Corbett, Ted Karras, Andrew Norwell, Rodger Saffold, Brandon Scherff, and Laken Tomlinson
- Defensive linemen Carlos Dunlap, Folorunso Fatukasi, Dante Fowler, Akiem Hicks, Sebastian Joseph-Day, and Jarran Reed
- Linebackers Randy Gregory, Jordan Hicks, Myles Jack, Chandler Jones, Cory Littleton, Haason Reddick, Von Miller, Foyesade Oluokun, Za'Darius Smith, and Bobby Wagner
- Defensive backs James Bradberry, Stephon Gilmore, Casey Hayward, J. C. Jackson, Tyrann Mathieu, Marcus Maye, Rodney McLeod, D. J. Reed, Justin Reid, Logan Ryan, Charvarius Ward, Jordan Whitehead, Darious Williams, Marcus Williams, and Xavier Woods
- Kicker Greg Zuerlein
- Punters Johnny Hekker, Thomas Morstead, and Bradley Pinion
Trades
- March 16: Seattle traded QB Russell Wilson and a 2022 fourth round selection to Denver in exchange for QB Drew Lock, TE Noah Fant, and DE Shelby Harris along with 2022 first, second, and fifth round selections, and 2023 first and second round selections.
- March 16: Indianapolis traded QB Carson Wentz and a 2022 second round selection to Washington in exchange for a 2022 second round selection and a 2023 conditional third round selection.
- March 16: Chicago traded LB Khalil Mack to the Los Angeles Chargers in exchange for 2022 second and sixth round selections.
- March 16: Las Vegas traded DE Yannick Ngakoue to Indianapolis in exchange for CB Rock Ya-Sin.
- March 16: Dallas traded WR Amari Cooper and a 2022 sixth round selection to Cleveland in exchange for 2022 fifth and sixth round selections.
- March 16: New England traded LB Chase Winovich to Cleveland in exchange for LB Mack Wilson.
- March 17: Green Bay traded WR Davante Adams to Las Vegas in exchange for 2022 first and second round selections.
- March 18: Houston traded QB Deshaun Watson and a 2024 sixth round selection to Cleveland in exchange for 2022 first and fourth round selections, 2023 first and third round selections, and 2024 first and fourth round selections.
- March 21: Atlanta traded QB Matt Ryan to Indianapolis in exchange for a 2022 third round selection.
- March 23: Kansas City traded WR Tyreek Hill to Miami in exchange for 2022 first, second, and fourth round selections along with 2023 fourth and sixth round selections.
- April 5: Miami traded WR DeVante Parker and a 2022 fifth round selection to New England in exchange for a 2023 third round selection.
- April 28: Tennessee traded WR A. J. Brown to Philadelphia in exchange for 2022 first and third round selections.
- April 28: Baltimore traded WR Marquise Brown and a 2022 third round selection to Arizona in exchange for a 2022 first round selection.
- August 15: Philadelphia traded TE J. J. Arcega-Whiteside to Seattle in exchange for FS Ugo Amadi.
- October 9: Atlanta traded LB Deion Jones and a 2024 seventh round selection to Cleveland in exchange for a 2024 sixth round selection.
- October 20: Carolina traded RB Christian McCaffrey to San Francisco in exchange for 2023 second, third, and fourth round selections, and a 2024 fifth round selection.
- October 26: Chicago traded DE Robert Quinn to Philadelphia in exchange for a 2023 fourth round selection.
- October 27: The New York Giants traded WR Kadarius Toney to Kansas City in exchange for 2023 third and sixth round selections.
- October 31: Chicago traded LB Roquan Smith to Baltimore in exchange for LB A. J. Klein along with 2023 second and fifth round selections.
- November 1: Detroit traded TE T. J. Hockenson a 2023 4th round and a conditional 2024 4th round to Minnesota in exchange for a 2023 second-round selection and a 2024 third-round selection.
- November 1: Pittsburgh traded WR Chase Claypool to Chicago in exchange for a 2023 second-round selection.
- November 1: Denver traded LB Bradley Chubb along with a 2025 fifth-round selection to Miami for RB Chase Edmonds, a 2023 first-round selection, and 2024 fourth-round selection.
- November 1: Buffalo traded RB Zack Moss and a conditional 2023 sixth-round pick to Indianapolis for RB Nyheim Hines.
Retirements
- WR Larry Fitzgerald - Eleven-time Pro Bowler, three-time All-Pro, and 2016 Walter Payton Man of the Year. Played for Arizona during his entire 17-year career.
- RB Frank Gore – Five-time Pro Bowler and one-time second-team All-Pro. Played for San Francisco, Indianapolis, Miami, Buffalo, and the New York Jets during his 16-year career.
- K Stephen Gostkowski – Four-time Pro Bowler, three-time All-Pro, and three-time Super Bowl champion. Played for New England and Tennessee during his 15-year career.
- TE Rob Gronkowski – Five-time Pro Bowler, four-time first-team All-Pro, four-time Super Bowl champion, and 2014 Comeback Player of the Year. Played for New England and Tampa Bay during his 11-year career.
- RB Todd Gurley – Three-time Pro Bowler, three-time All-Pro, 2015 Offensive Rookie of the Year, and 2017 Offensive Player of the Year. Played for the St. Louis/Los Angeles Rams and Atlanta during his six-year career.
- G Richie Incognito – Four-time Pro Bowler. Played for the St. Louis Rams, Buffalo, Miami, and the Oakland/Las Vegas Raiders during his 15-year career.
- SS Malcolm Jenkins – Three-time Pro Bowler, one-time second-team All-Pro, and two-time Super Bowl champion. Played for New Orleans and Philadelphia during his 13-year career.
- LB Ryan Kerrigan – Four-time Pro Bowler. Played for Washington and Philadelphia during his 11-year career.
- C Alex Mack – Seven-time Pro Bowler and three-time second-team All-Pro. Played for Cleveland, Atlanta, and San Francisco during his 13-year career.
- LB Clay Matthews III – Six-time Pro Bowler, two-time All-Pro, and Super Bowl XLV champion. Played for Green Bay and the Los Angeles Rams during his 11-year career.
- QB Ben Roethlisberger – Six-time Pro Bowler, two-time Super Bowl champion, and 2004 Offensive Rookie of the Year. Played for Pittsburgh during his entire 18-year career.
- OT Mitchell Schwartz – Four-time All-Pro and Super Bowl LIV champion. Played for Cleveland and Kansas City during his nine-year career.
- CB Richard Sherman - Five-time Pro Bowler, five-time All-Pro, and Super Bowl XLVIII champion. Played for Seattle, San Francisco, and Tampa Bay during his 10-year career.
- LB Terrell Suggs - Seven-time Pro Bowler, two-time All-Pro, two-time Super Bowl champion, 2003 Defensive Rookie of the Year, and 2011 Defensive Player of the Year. Played for Baltimore, Arizona, and Kansas City during his 19-year career.
- FS Eric Weddle – Six-time Pro Bowler, five-time All-Pro, and Super Bowl LVI champion. Played for the San Diego Chargers, Baltimore, and the Los Angeles Rams during his 14-year career.
- OT Andrew Whitworth – Four-time Pro Bowler, three-time All-Pro, 2021 Walter Payton Man of the Year, and Super Bowl LVI champion. Played for Cincinnati and the Los Angeles Rams during his 16-year career.
Draft
The 2022 NFL draft was held in Las Vegas, Nevada, from April 28–30. Jacksonville, by virtue of having the worst record in, held the first overall selection and selected linebacker Travon Walker out of Georgia.Officiating changes
Among the officiating changes in 2022, referee Tony Corrente retired after 27 seasons in the NFL. Umpire Tra Blake was promoted the replace Corrente. Blake had been a referee in the Alliance of American Football in 2019 and in the 2020 version of the XFL before joining the NFL later in 2020. Blake's promotion gave the NFL four African-American referees in a single season for the first time; Blake joined Ron Torbert, Shawn Smith and Adrian Hill as crew chiefs.Side Judge Lo van Pham was hired from the Big 12 Conference, becoming the league's first Asian-American NFL official.
Down Judge Robin DeLorenzo became the third female NFL official, joining Sarah Thomas and Maia Chaka.