NFL 2022 SEASON KEY DATES

After a Matthew Stafford-led Los Angeles Rams Super Bowl victory to culminate the 2021 NFL season, the league got underway with the new 2022 season in mid-March 2022. Free agency began on March 16th, 2022 with a number of key players heading to new teams. The offseason’s biggest news revolved around Kansas City Chiefs WR signing with the Dolphins as well as the Baker Mayfield trade to Carolina Panthers and acquiring Deshaun Watson

The 2022 regular season is not that far away. Here’s a look at the key dates for the upcoming 2022 season.

KEY DATES

Aug. 31 – Roster Deadline
All 32 NFL teams must reduce their rosters to a maximum of 53 players. The rosters must be submitted to the league office by 4 p.m. ET. Teams that have players on the Active/Physically Unable to Perform or Active/Non-Football Injury lists must select a designation for such players. Designations include placing them on the active roster, waiving them, negotiating a trade, terminating their contract or making their current designation permanent.

Sept. 1 – Waivers/Practice Squads
After the roster cutdown, teams have until 4 p.m. ET to claim players from the waiver list. Teams may begin assembling a Practice Squad that may consist of 16 players as of 2020. 10 players the previous year.. The NFL increased the size of the Practice Squad by six players prior to last season. Any team participating in the NFL’s International Development program is permitted to sign one extra (international) player to its practice squad.

Any players placed on Injured Reserve or the Reserve/Non-Football Injury lists may be designated for return later in the season.

Sept. 8 – NFL Kickoff Thursday
Introduced in 2002, the NFL annual Kickoff Game will take place this season on Thursday, Sept. 8, 2022. As is tradition, the game is hosted by the previous year’s Super Bowl champion. This year, Los Angeles Rams will host Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills. The game officially marks the beginning of the 2022 regular season.

Sept. 8-11 – NFL Week 1 Continues
Week 1 of the 2022 regular season continues on Sunday, Sept. 12 with 16 games schedules. Cincinnati Bengals, which lost to the Rams in Super Bowl LVI, will be at home against Steelers. Tom Brady's Bucs , will travel to Dallas to take on the Cowboys in the first edition of Sunday Night Football in 2022.

Week 1 concludes on Monday night with the Denver Broncos traveling to Seattle to face the Seahawks. In previous seasons, the league normally played a doubleheader on the first Monday of the season. That was eliminated last season and will be replaced with a Saturday doubleheader in Week 18.

Oct. 10 – London Series
Formerly known as the NFL’s International Series, the NFL will resume playing overseas. The coronavirus pandemic eliminated any games outside of the US in 2020. The NFL London Series will resume this year with the:

- Minnesota Vikings playing the New Orleans Saints at London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on October 2nd, 2022 @ 9:30am EST.

- New York Giants will play Green Bay Packers at London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on October 9th, 2020 @ 9:30am EST.

- Dever Broncos will play Jacksonville Jaguars at London’s Wembley Stadiumon on October 30th, 2020 @ 9:30am EST.

Oct. 12-13 – Fall League Meeting
Each season, officials from the league’s front office as well as team owners and ownership groups will meet to discuss a variety of topics. Subjects range from the current season to rules changes to sales of franchises.

Mid-October – Injured May Return
Beginning the sixth day prior to a team’s seventh regular season game, players that were placed on Injured Reserve, Physically Unable to Perform, or Reserve/Non-Football Injury may begin practice. Those players may be activated during a 21-day practice period or prior to 4 p.m. ET on the day after the 21-day practice period ends.

Nov. 2 – NFL Trade Deadline
All trades must be completed by 4:00 p.m. ET on Nov. 2. Paperwork must be finalized and submitted to the league office.

Nov. 24 – Thanksgiving Day
As has been tradition for the past several years, three NFL games will be played on Thanksgiving Day. The annual game in Detroit kicks off the day at 12:30 p.m. The Lions will host the Buffalo Bill. At 4:30 p.m., the Dallas Cowboys play host to the New York Giants. The night game is scheduled for 8:20 p.m. and features the New England Patriots playing the Minnesota Vikings in the U.S. Bank Stadium.

Jan. 8 – Week 18 (Final Week of Regular Season)
The league voted to add an extra game to the regular season schedule and, as a result, another week was added. The final week of play will now be Week 18. A doubleheader is scheduled to be played on Sunday, Jan. 8. The games will feature teams that have playoff implications heading into the final week of play.

Jan. 14-15 – Wild Card Weekend
The NFL instituted new playoff rules last season. In addition to the four division winners in each conference, three wild card teams are selected for the postseason. That pushed the number of playoff teams from 12 to 14. Only the No. 1 seed in each conference receives a bye in the first round of the NFL playoffs.

Jan. 21-22 – Divisional Playoffs
The winners from Wild Card Weekend advance to play in the NFL’s divisional playoffs. The winners of these games advance to the following week’s conference championship games.

Jan. 29 – Conference Championship Games
The highest seeded team remaining in each conference hosts the other remaining team in the AFC and NFC championship games.

Feb. 12 – Super Bowl LVII
After the two-week break, the AFC and NFC champions will meet in Super Bowl LVII, which is scheduled to be played at State FarmStadium in Glendale, Arizona. It will be the fourth Super Bowl to be played in the Phoenix metro area. It is the home of the Arizona Cardinals.

2023 NFL Football Season