The NFL became the world’s most valuable league by figuring out how to never fully cede the stage to the rest of the sports world. This week, games that count return — but it’s also true that since Philadelphia dethroned Kansas City in the Super Bowl in February, the intrigue into the NFL never truly went away.
In the last seven months, rules were altered, players moved and new contenders emerged. Here is everything that happened during the offseason that could influence the 2025 season:
Familiar faces, new places
The NFL’s version of an earthquake hit without warning last Thursday when Dallas opted to trade All-Pro pass rusher Micah Parsons to Green Bay rather than pay a lucrative extension. Trying to emerge from a crowded class of Super Bowl contenders in the NFC, the Packers made Parsons the highest-paid nonquarterback in league history and only had to give up two first-round picks and defensive lineman Kenny Clark.
After waiting months to decide where to sign as a free agent, four-time MVP quarterback Aaron Rodgers chose Pittsburgh. Rodgers is “pretty sure” his 21st NFL season will be his last. The Steelers had a void at quarterback after last season’s starters both went to New York — with Justin Fields taking over as the Jets’ starter, and Russell Wilson with the Giants.
Sam Darnold, meanwhile, is out to prove his career revival last season in Minnesota wasn’t a one-year wonder. The quarterback’s career season helped the Vikings to a 14-3 record, but after consecutive brutal losses ended their season, the team opted to promote their 2024 first-round pick, JJ McCarthy, to starter. Darnold is now in Seattle, but for how long? Though his contract is for three years and $100.5 million, the Seahawks can get out of the deal after just one season.
Seattle needed a quarterback after trading last year’s starter, Geno Smith, to Las Vegas, reuniting him with coach Pete Carroll, who is in his first season with the Raiders.
Quarterback movement doesn’t mean much without receivers to throw to and blockers to offer protection. The Cowboys traded for Pittsburgh receiver George Pickens, who became expendable after Pittsburgh itself traded for DK Metcalf. The Los Angeles Rams signed Davante Adams after letting former star wideout Cooper Kupp walk to Seattle. And Washington upgraded its protection of star second-year quarterback Jayden Daniels by trading for offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil.
The rules that changed (and those that didn’t)
The best-known and most argued-over play in the NFL remains legal in 2025 — barely. Philadelphia pushed its way to a Super Bowl championship behind a super-charged short-yardage strategy known alternately as the “tush push” or “brotherly shove,” in which blockers positioned behind quarterback Jalen Hurts push him forward. It looked like the only opponent capable of stopping the “tush push” was NFL owners. But when they met in May to vote on whether to ban the play, Philadelphia launched an impassioned defense and narrowly kept the play legal by a two-vote margin.
Some rules did, however, undergo changes.
To promote more returns, kickoffs that land in the end zone or beyond will result in drives starting at the 35-yard line, five yards farther downfield than last season. The move incentivizes teams to kick the ball into the “landing zone” between the goal line and the 20-yard line. Yet watch for this wrinkle: Tacklers can’t begin running downfield until the ball is either caught or hits the ground. Will teams attempt to kick knuckleballs into the “landing zone” to buy their defenders more time?
Onside kickoffs last season could take place only in the fourth quarter. That’s no longer the case. Teams must still “declare” their intent to onside kick but now can do it at any point in the game, so long as they are trailing.
In overtime during the regular season, each team is now guaranteed a possession. That’s a change from before, when the team that got the ball first in overtime could end the game if it scored a touchdown.
The eyes in the sky
For as long as football has existed, whether a team has converted or fallen just short of a first down has been determined manually by a “chain gang” of officials toting orange, upright sticks connected by a 10-yard chain. This season, “chain gangs” will still be on the sideline but will no longer be the primary method of measurement. That will fall to Sony’s Hawk-Eye system, which uses six cameras placed throughout a stadium. The NFL claimed in April that its virtual process could save up to 40 seconds per play.
The new technology won’t, however, change the human error that can be introduced when officials spot the ball after every play.
Can Philadelphia repeat?
The Eagles’ best case for a title defense begins with their power along both the offensive and defensive lines. Because of it, Saquon Barkley became just the ninth running back with a 2,000-yard season, and their defense could harass Kansas City star quarterback Patrick Mahomes in the Super Bowl despite never blitzing.
But to reach Super Bowl 60 in Santa Clara, California, Philadelphia will have to come out on top again in a deep NFC, with Green Bay, Detroit, Washington, San Francisco and the Los Angeles Rams lingering as contenders.
In the AFC, Baltimore, Buffalo and Kansas City remain the class of the conference, with each team’s title hopes hinging on the play of their quarterbacks. Expect reigning Most Valuable Player Josh Allen, the Ravens’ Lamar Jackson and Mahomes to be in the MVP conversation again.
Welcome to the league, rook
Quarterback Cam Ward, the top overall pick in April’s draft, begins his rookie season as the starter in Tennessee. Little is expected of the Titans but Ward has the capacity to surprise; look no further than his rise from zero-star high schooler to the top of the draft.
The biggest draft curiosity entering the season surrounds second-pick Travis Hunter, the Heisman-winning receiver and cornerback whom Jacksonville will allow to play both ways in the pros, too. An upper-body injury cost Hunter more than a week of training camp, but he is expected to be available for the season’s start.
For the Giants, third overall pick Abdul Carter added more talent to what was already an imposing defensive line, but perhaps the bigger question is if, or when, first-round quarterback Jaxson Dart will start at quarterback.
On the heels of bounce-back seasons by running backs in Philadelphia (Barkley) and Baltimore (Derrick Henry), rookie Ashton Jeanty (Las Vegas) will try to add to the belief that reports of the position’s demise has been greatly exaggerated. The sixth overall pick, Jeanty ran roughshod through college defenses and will be highly featured by the Raiders and new offensive coordinator Chip Kelly.
The variables that could shake up the season
The NFL earned the nickname “Not For Long,” a reference to the all-too-brief length of most players’ careers. It could also refer to the lifespan of trends that dominate football one year, only to be obsolete the next.
Washington was last season’s most unexpected success, advancing to its first conference title game in 33 years behind Daniels, the offensive rookie of the year. Yet the Commanders’ outlier success converting on fourth downs, and the way Daniels caught the league by surprise, makes them also primed to be a candidate for regression.
On the other end of last season’s rookie quarterback spectrum were Chicago’s Caleb Williams, Atlanta’s Michael Penix Jr. and New England’s Drake Maye. All were first-round picks but saw varying levels of playing time and success. As the No. 1 overall pick in 2024, Williams is under the most pressure to live up to expectations, especially after the Bears hired wunderkind offensive coordinator Ben Johnson as head coach.
And Johnson wasn’t the only star coordinator lost by the Detroit Lions. They’re also replacing defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn, who left to coach the Jets.
It was only two years ago that San Francisco was playing in the Super Bowl. Then attrition decimated the roster in 2024, most notably star running back Christian McCaffrey. He is back healthy, but the 49ers had to let go of key pieces of its roster to afford quarterback Brock Purdy’s new contract. Will the Niners still have enough talent to contend? Their odds of winning the NFC West also depend on whether the Rams, a division rival, can keep quarterback Matthew Stafford’s aching back healthy all season.
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