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NFL owners approve 17-game season, starting in 2021 Players agreed to the additional game as part of their 2020 collective bargaining agreement, which gave the league an option to expand as soon as the 2021 season. The preseason will be reduced from four games to three to maintain compliance with the CBA, which limits the total number of preseason and regular-season games played to 20.
NFL expects full stadiums for 2021 season, commissioner Roger Goodell says
The league never established an attendance cap while playing during the heart of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Attendance dipped more than 90% compared to 2019 and a total of 1.2 million fans were included in attendance counts for the entire regular season and postseason. League revenues fell accordingly.
Colt McCoy signs 1-year deal with Arizona Cardinals, will back up Kyler Murray
The Red River Rivalry is coming to Arizona Cardinals quarterbacks room. Colt McCoy, the former Texas standout, signed a one-year contract with Arizona, where he will back up former Oklahoma star Kyler Murray , the team announced Tuesday night. McCoy has played for four teams in his 11-year NFL career, most recently spending the 2020 season with the New York Giants. He played in four games with two starts last season, while throwing for 375 yards, one touchdown and one interception. McCoy also played for the Washington Football Team from 2014 to 2019, the San Francisco 49ers in 2013 and the Cleveland Browns from 2010 to 2012.
Gabe Jackson gets new 3-year, $22.575 million deal after trade to Seattle Seahawks, sources say
The Seattle Seahawks gave veteran guard Gabe Jackson a new three-year, $22.575 million contract after acquiring him in a trade with the Las Vegas Raiders earlier this month, sources told ESPN on Tuesday. Seattle essentially ripped up the two years that remained on Jackson's contract with the Raiders, which the Seahawks inherited when they acquired him for a fifth-round pick on March 17. He was previously due base salaries of $9.35 million and workout bonuses of $250,000 in each of the next two seasons before entering free agency in 2023. Now, Jackson gets $10.075 million this year -- a $9 million signing bonus and $1.075 million in base salary -- along with $6 million in 2022 and $6.5 million in 2023. He's set to enter free agency in 2024.
New York Jets trade QB Sam Darnold to Carolina Panthers for 3 draft picks
Three years after hailing him as a franchise savior, the New York Jets traded Sam Darnold to the Carolina Panthers on Monday, ending months of intense speculation about their quarterback plans. In return for Darnold, the No. 3 overall draft pick in 2018, the Jets received three picks: a sixth-rounder in the 2021 draft later this month and a second-rounder and fourth-rounder in 2022. In three seasons, Darnold went 13-25 as a starter, with 45 touchdown passes and 39 interceptions. He completed 59.8% of his passes and never finished above 26th in passer rating. He finished as the NFL's lowest-rated passer in 2020 (72.7), 36th out of 36 qualifying quarterbacks. His career passer rating is 78.6, which ranks 39th out of 39 since 2018.
Veteran defensive back Quinton Dunbar is signing a one-year deal with the Detroit Lions, his agency, Elite Loyalty Sports, said Monday. Dunbar joins the Lions after an injury-plagued season with the Seattle Seahawks, who added him last March only to see him play in six games -- all starts -- because of a knee problem that required season-ending surgery. Dunbar, 28, finished 2020 with one interception and five passes defended. Dunbar made 25 starts over five seasons with Washington, which signed him as an undrafted free agent out of Florida in 2015. He began his NFL career as a wide receiver, then was converted to cornerback as a rookie. He has 10 career interceptions and a sack in his six seasons. Washington signed Dunbar to a three-year, $10.5 million contract after the 2017 season. The Seahawks inherited the final year of that deal, which paid Dunbar roughly $3.34 million in 2020.
NFL's 17-game schedule: Opponents for all 32 teams
NFL owners were granted the ability to expand to 17 games as part of last year's collective bargaining agreement with players. They approved the 17-game schedule, beginning in 2021, on Tuesday at the virtual owners meetings. The league had already approved a scheduling formula for a 17th game, which would include an extra game against a nonconference opponent each year based on standings from the previous season. The season will begin on Thursday night, Sept. 9 and end Sunday, Jan. 9, 2022. The Pro Bowl will be played on Sunday, Feb. 6, 2022 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas and the Super Bowl LVI at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles has been pushed back one week, from Feb. 6 to 13, 2022.
The Carolina Panthers on Wednesday agreed to a deal with free-agent cornerback A.J. Bouye as they attempt to improve their secondary heading into this month's NFL draft. Bouye, a Pro Bowler in 2017, will be suspended for the first two games of the 2021 season as part of a six-game ban he received last year for violations of the league's policy on performance-enhancing substances. He will be allowed to participate in offseason and preseason practices, according to the league. Bouye entered the NFL in 2013 with Houston as an undrafted free agent. He played well enough that he received a five-year, $67.5 million deal with Jacksonville in 2017. He had six interceptions that season in 16 starts. He has only two picks since, and he had none for Denver last year. In 69 career starts, he has 14 interceptions overall.
Philadelphia Eagles bolster defense with LB Eric Wilson, re-sign RB Jordan Howard Wilson, 26, tied for the NFL lead among linebackers with three interceptions in 2020, and he also had three sacks and eight passes defended to go with 122 tackles in his breakout season. Howard, 26, rushed for 525 yards and six touchdowns in 10 games before being slowed by injury.