The NFL season is 50 days away. Here are 50 things to look forward to.
Nate DavisWednesday marks the 50-day point to the start of the 2023 NFL regular season, the Super Bowl 57 champion Kansas City Chiefs set to host the up-and-coming Detroit Lions on Sept. 7 at Arrowhead Stadium.
Yet much is sure to transpire between now – the New York Jets becoming the first full squad to report for training camp today – and opening night, almost surely including the near-inevitable impact of injuries that so often shift the summer landscape.
With NFL football poised to hit high gear in the coming days and weeks, here are 50 things to ponder between now and Week 1’s kickoff game … and beyond:
1. Will the league’s longest playoff drought be snapped?
It just so happens the Jets, who last qualified for postseason in 2010, own that dubious distinction. QB Aaron Rodgers and his new teammates are in camp already because they’ll be participating in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game, an extra opportunity for this roster to jell ahead of a season when the NYJ have invited their greatest expectations in more than a decade.
2. New York Jet-Pack
Four-time MVP Rodgers isn’t the only newcomer to the greater Big Apple market. He’s reunited with former Green Bay Packers teammates Allen Lazard, Randall Cobb and Tim Boyle plus offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett. Rodgers’ transition already seems to be going swimmingly, and it certainly doesn’t hurt having all this help to teach the incumbent Jets their new playbook. For now, conditions certainly seem to suggest Rodgers could be the final piece to a contending puzzle – similar to Tom Brady and Matthew Stafford in recent years – and not headed for a Russell Wilson crash and burn in his first year wearing a foreign uniform.
3. What else are we looking for on 'Hard Knocks'?
You’re going to be hearing a lot about the Jets in 2023, and they’ll be virtually unavoidable early on with a package of prime-time games and their reluctant starring role in HBO’s training camp docuseries. With an extra week to film – and perhaps little else to do in the dog days of camp – maybe Rodgers will find he enjoys his first turn on “Hard Knocks.” But even if he’s invisible – and ESPN reported the team will attempt to restrict NFL Films’ access – reigning rookies of the year Garrett Wilson and Sauce Gardner should get ample air time, OT Mekhi Becton’s comeback (and weight) will likely be closely monitored as will the health of RB Breece Hall’s reconstructed knee … which should inform whether the NYJ make a serious run at free agent RB Dalvin Cook or not.
4. What kind of impact can Dalvin Cook make?
A pretty hefty one? Cast off by the Minnesota Vikings in June – ostensibly because he’s a running back who made too much money – the four-time Pro Bowler has rushed for at least 1,100 yards each of the past four seasons … a streak matched by exactly nobody else. His 6,423 yards from scrimmage over that span are second only to Derrick Henry’s 6,914, and Cook’s 46 touchdowns in that stretch are tied for fifth. If he does indeed join a contender like the Jets or Miami Dolphins – in short, a team where the soon-to-be 28-year-old doesn’t necessarily have to assume an inordinate workload – Cook should indeed make an indelible mark.
5. What other veterans remain unsigned?
Cook isn’t the only high-profile free agent who will likely soon find a new employer. DE Jadeveon Clowney, RB Ezekiel Elliott, RB Leonard Fournette, K Robbie Gould, DE Yannick Ngakoue and QB Carson Wentz are among the big names who remain available as training camps begin to open.
6. Will new leader of the Pack bring Green Bay back?
Amid all this Rodgers yak, it’s obligatory to ask if his replacement in Wisconsin, Jordan Love, can revive the Packers and amplify the franchise’s three-decade run of quarterback excellence that includes Brett Favre. Love’s teammates seem to be saying all the right things about him, and he showed progress during his brief opportunities in 2022. But neither Favre nor Rodgers took the Packers to postseason in their first year as starters, and it remains to be seen how much patience the front office will extend to Love if his maiden voyage as QB1 disappoints.
7. Will the league’s second-longest playoff drought be snapped?
Aside from the Jets, no team has been absent from postseason longer than the Denver Broncos, whose last appearance occurred in Super Bowl 50 (also Peyton Manning’s final game). But they’ve imported play-calling guru Sean Payton as their new head coach and subsequently went on a free agent spending spree, one largely targeted at improving QB Russell Wilson’s protection following his disastrous Denver debut. Surely the Broncos, who lost a ton of close games in 2022, will significantly improve from 5-12 ... maybe even enough for Payton's 10th playoff trip.
8. Will the league’s longest drought since winning a playoff game be snapped?
This is the domain of the Detroit Lions – incidentally, they possess the third-longest playoff drought (last appearing in 2016) – who have not prevailed in postseason since embarrassing Jimmy Johnson’s Dallas Cowboys in the 1991 divisional round. However the Lions, who missed the playoffs by a tiebreaker in 2022, suddenly seem a good bet to win the Rodgers-less NFC North – and that would mean their first-ever postseason game at Ford Field.
9. Can the Super Bowl champion finally repeat?
The 2004 New England Patriots were the last NFL team to successfully defend a Lombardi Trophy. The 2023 Chiefs are the latest to have that opportunity. And don’t forget, K.C. won Super Bowl 54 and retained its AFC crown the following season before a rash of injuries and Tom Brady's Tampa Bay Buccaneers thwarted the repeat bid.
10. Did you know?
With Brady finally (right?) retired, the Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes is the only QB1 in the league with multiple Super Bowl rings … and only Rodgers, Stafford and Wilson can join him. Win another league MVP trophy in 2023, and Mahomes will pull even with TB12, a three-time winner. Mahomes can also join Favre as the only players to win three MVPs in their first seven seasons.
11. What does Travis Kelce do for an encore?
The Chiefs’ second-most prominent player is coming off his most productive season – who needs Tyreek Hill? – and will take aim at his third title and eighth consecutive 1,000-yard receiving season (no other tight end has managed more than three in a row). Maybe Kelce could host “Saturday Night Live”? Wait, been there and done that.
12. Can a Super Bowl loser rebound with rare win?
Over the past 50 Super Sundays, only one team has prevailed the year after losing it (2018 Patriots) – so history certainly isn’t on the side of the Philadelphia Eagles in the aftermath of their Super Bowl 57 setback. They’re also breaking in a pair of new coordinators and trying to become the first team in nearly 20 years to win consecutive NFC East crowns. Yet the Eagles’ roster remains loaded, and they project as one of the few elite teams in their largely diluted conference.
13. Last-place Patriots?
It hasn’t happened since 2000, Bill Belichick’s first year at the helm and a time when the team took a sixth-round quarterback out of Michigan named Brady and still played in a five-team AFC East that included the Colts. BB’s reputation aside, the deck looks stacked in 2023 against the Pats, who certainly appear to be the most talent-deficient team in their division.
14. Overdue Bills
Buffalo remains one of 12 franchises to never hoist the Lombardi Trophy, but might the Bills become the third team in the past decade (Seahawks, Eagles) to break through for its first Super Bowl victory? It might’ve happened last year had OLB Von Miller not torn up his knee and/or if the club hadn’t paid such an emotional toll in the aftermath of S Damar Hamlin’s terrifying cardiac event in Cincinnati. Miller’s and Hamlin’s returns to health should surely provide a lift in 2023 … to say nothing of the additions of veteran DE Leonard Floyd and first-round TE Dalton Kincaid. And being a bit under the radar after being perpetually on it in 2022 could make all the difference ... assuming all this Stefon Diggs, uh, drama truly is a tempest in a teapot.
15. Does the NFL need to issue Comeback Player of the Year honors in 2023?
It will, of course, but can we just engrave Hamlin’s name already? Sorry, Russ.
16. Which AFC quarterback(s) experiences Russell Wilson’s pain in 2023?
A recent ESPN poll of league coaches, executives, scouts and players ranked seven AFC quarterbacks among the NFL’s top eight at the position and didn’t include Wilson, Miami’s Tua Tagovailoa or Cleveland’s Deshaun Watson. Obviously, that suggests multiple quality AFC QBs won’t be in the running for the Super Bowl, similar to Wilson in 2022 – his second consecutive sub-.500 season after nine consecutive winning campaigns.
17. Which NFC quarterback might experience Jalen Hurts’ success in 2023?
The Eagles’ rising star slotted sixth overall in that same ESPN poll after being unranked a year ago. Maybe no one will come off the grid to finish as MVP runner-up as Hurts did in 2022, but a wide-open NFC seems likely to produce at least a surprise or two – think something closer to the Giants’ Daniel Jones – and maybe Chicago’s Justin Fields, Green Bay’s Love, Atlanta’s Desmond Ridder or Carolina rookie Bryce Young is the one to guide his team further than expected this year.
18. Which first-round QB from the 2021 draft washes out first?
Fresh off an AFC South title, it won’t be the Jacksonville Jaguars’ Trevor Lawrence, the No. 1 pick two years ago. Also highly unlikely Fields, a one-man gang in 2022 who now has more support around him, loses his job. But the Jets’ Zach Wilson and San Francisco 49ers’ Trey Lance – the second and third overall picks, respectively, neither slated to start this season – and New England Patriots’ Mac Jones could all find themselves at a career crossroads given the ever-shrinking runways afforded to Round 1 QBs.
19. Which QB drafted in 2020 outshines his classmates this year?
Hurts was on the losing end of Super Bowl 57. Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow was on the losing end of Super Bowl 56. Tagovailoa and the Los Angeles Chargers’ Justin Herbert would obviously love to play on Super Sunday next February amid the ever-escalating stakes of what is quickly becoming one of the best quarterback crops ever, all but Hurts a first-rounder three years ago.
20. The next history-making QB?
How about Fields. Had he not missed Week 18 last season, the Bears’ blossoming star likely would have broken Lamar Jackson’s single-season mark for rushing yards by a quarterback (1,206 in 2019). That could be in play again. And given WR DJ Moore’s arrival in Chicago and likelihood Fields could quickly surpass Jackson’s prowess as a passer, we might soon be looking at the first player to pass for 3,500 yards (or even 4,000) in a season while rushing for 1,000. The NFL in the 21st century, ladies and gentlemen.
21. Will there be any quarterback battles this summer?
Maybe? Sort of? No telling who will start Week 1 for the Arizona Cardinals or 49ers, but both teams could have seat fillers until Kyler Murray (ACL) and Brock Prudy (UCL), respectively, are ready to go. In Washington, the Commanders seem to be leaning toward unproven Sam Howell over decently paid veteran Jacoby Brissett, while in Tampa, the Buccaneers seem to be leaning toward decently paid veteran Baker Mayfield over unproven Kyle Trask. But it’s the NFL, and we all know it can change like the weather.
22. Could there be a surprise QB situation?
Ever since Jimmy Garoppolo agreed to join the Las Vegas Raiders, his contract has been revised, he’s had surgery for the foot injury that scuttled the end of his 2022 season in San Francisco and has yet to practice with the Silver and Black. (And, in the interim, All-Pro WR Davante Adams has questioned the franchise’s direction following the departure of his pal, former QB Derek Carr.) Adams will really have to do some soul searching if he is catching passes from antediluvian journeyman Brian Hoyer or rookie Aidan O’Connell if Garoppolo is unavailable.
23. Who’s on the hot seat?
Unfair as it often is, we’re in the microwave era when NFL coaches can begin the season on the hot seat rather than landing there in, like, Week 11. But among the names worthy of regular temperature readings?
▶ Year 2 with Watson better be much improved if Kevin Stefanski wants to reach his fifth season in Cleveland.▶ The Raiders got worse last season under Josh McDaniels … and the bottom may be nowhere in sight. ▶ Heck, longtime Patriots insider Tom Curran has even suggested Belichick, 25-26 post-TB12, might be in some trouble this year.▶ And Mike McCarthy. Again, maybe unfair to a guy who’s overseen playoff berths the past two years. But now he's calling the plays for what was a top-five scoring offense under deposed coordinator Kellen Moore the past two years … and for a franchise that owner Jerry Jones certainly expects to do more than reach the divisional round every few years.
In any event, expect next winter’s head coach hiring cycle to be infinitely more memorable than this year’s.
24. Who’s on the cold seat?
Five teams reached the playoffs in 2022 after making a head coaching change. This year, five teams overall – a relatively modest number – made a switch under the headset. Payton and new Carolina Panthers boss Frank Reich seem much better positioned for postseason entry than the other newcomers, the Cardinals’ Jonathan Gannon, Houston Texans’ DeMeco Ryans and Indianapolis Colts’ Shane Steichen.
25. New coach, new QB
Reich, Ryans and Steichen have something else in common: They’ll each be breaking in one of this year’s first-round quarterbacks. It’s not quite a fait accompli, but the smart money is probably on Carolina’s Young, Houston’s C.J. Stroud and Indianapolis’ Anthony Richardson all starting on opening day – but the trio will almost certainly take the bulk of their respective teams’ reps in 2023. Wins could be hard to come by, but the Panthers, Texans and Colts should benefit from some extraordinary passing talents and infusions of needed excitement.
26. Can the Cowboys really ‘run the damn ball’?
McCarthy said a few weeks after last season that “I want to run the damn ball,” while taking thinly veiled shots at Moore. But with Elliott gone and new RB1 Tony Pollard hardly built to be a bell cow, is that actually a realistic tack, much as McCarthy might want to limit his defense’s snaps? Oh, and let’s not forget the Packers didn’t rank among the league’s top-10 rushing squads in any of McCarthy’s final five seasons in Green Bay.
27. Will the Chargers just pass the damn ball?
Moore found a soft landing with the Bolts following his Dallas divorce. And the Chargers haven’t played much defense the past two seasons and figure to find themselves needing to sling it in the quarterback-rich AFC. Lastly, with first-round WR Quentin Johnston joining Mike Williams and Keenan Allen, why wouldn’t you just put Herbert in the gun all day and let him check down to RB Austin Ekeler and TE Gerald Everett if he doesn’t have time to connect with one of his wideouts? If you’re looking for a 5,000-yard, 50-TD QB in 2023, Herbert could very well be that guy.
28. Which coordinator will make the biggest impact?
Moore should give the Chargers a new offensive identity, but the most compelling coordinator hire this year has to be Vic Fangio in Miami. Given his track record and the Dolphins’ talent – including CB Jalen Ramsey’s arrival – this defense should rank in the top 10 for the first time since 2010 … and that should be more than sufficient to make Miami a bona fide championship threat.
29. What’s up with Watson?
Cleveland’s QB1 is three years removed from being a Pro Bowler. He looked rusty and hardly meshed with the Browns offense during his six-game, season-ending stint as the starter in 2022. And, not for nothing, his personal reputation doesn’t seem remedied even an iota now years removed from his scandalous demise in Houston. The Browns have everything riding on Watson, and this is the year he must prove he can handle that burden – on and off the field.
30. How long will it take a new culture to take root in Washington?
NFL owners are expected to formally approve the sale of the Commanders on Thursday. Between the lines – and barring a breakthrough by Howell – the team could project as the 2023 version of last year’s Jets with a largely formidable roster anchored by subpar quarterback play. But the bigger question is how long it will take to realize meaningful transformation within the hallways of Commanders Park after the once-proud organization was torpedoed under outgoing owner Dan Snyder’s stewardship. Washington has one playoff win this century … and that was the most positive aspect of Snyder’s disgraceful reign. You're (almost) up, Josh Harris.
31. Will Ravens finally have a Pro Bowl wideout?
Heading into the franchise’s 28th season, the circumstances seem right for its first star receiver given Jackson is healthy and financially secure and should be passing more frequently in new coordinator Todd Monken’s offense. Oh, and Baltimore also has five wide receivers with first-round pedigree. OK, neither Laquon Treadwell nor Nelson Agholor is likely morph into a star, but maybe rookie slot Zay Flowers, youngster Rashod Bateman or certainly a healthy Odell Beckham can get that elusive Pro Bowl nod in Charm City.
32. Which quarterback will next reset the salary scale?
After landing a long-awaited five-year, $260 million payday this offseason, Jackson is the league’s best-compensated player – annually anyway – now averaging $52 million per. But if we know anything – just ask Hurts – Jackson’s stay atop the financial mountaintop will be brief. Herbert or Burrow, now eligible for massive extensions, are positioned to bypass Jackson in the near term. Yet if their deals unfold as presumed, don’t expect the “winner” to hold the ultimate bag for long – because Mahomes, whose $45 million average salary now ranks seventh league-wide, might summarily recalibrate the pecking order for several years.
33. Sophomore surge?
Not everyone (meaning most players) sets the league on fire as a rookie. But quite a few will be expected to take a significant step forward after disappointing 2022 debuts. Among those worthy of close surveillance: Texans CB Derek Stingley, Lions WR Jameson Williams – when his six-game gambling suspension ends – Jets pass rusher Jermaine Johnson II, Texans WR John Metchie and Ravens pass rusher David Ojabo.
34. Post-tag drama
Monday was the deadline for franchised players to sign long-term extensions, but the entire trio of tagged running backs failed to secure commitments beyond 2023. Pollard has signed his one-year tender, but Giants star Saquon Barkley and 2022 league rushing champ Josh Jacobs of the Raiders have not. That means Barkley and Jacobs can skip training camp without financial penalty – and could even sacrifice actual paychecks if they opt to miss games early in the season a la Le’Veon Bell, absences that would surely put a great hindrance on their teams.
35. Fantasy finds
While the up-in-the-air status of both Barkley and Jacobs is are sure to cause some disarray atop fantasy football drafts, it’s the middle rounds that so often win (and lose) leagues. A few names to have on your list: Bucs RB Rachaad White, Chiefs WR Kadarius Toney and Broncos TE Greg Dulcich.
36. Ridley’s return
One of 2023’s subplots will be the return of Jaguars WR Calvin Ridley, another popular mid-round fantasy target, from his one-year suspension for betting on NFL games. Reports out of Duval County have been upbeat regarding Ridley, who hasn’t played since Week 7 of the 2021 season. But after trading for him last year, it should be fascinating to see what kind of player Jacksonville gets. Ridley had a breakout campaign in 2020, playing much of it opposite Atlanta WR1 Julio Jones, before he finished with 90 catches for 1,374 yards and nine TDs. But with Jones gone in 2021, Ridley’s production cratered through five games before he stepped away from the Falcons for mental health reasons. Now it’s time to find out whether he’s Batman or Robin.
37. Name a Rams defender aside from Aaron Donald
Take a minute. Think about it. If you’re a hardcore NFL fan, maybe you came up with S Jordan Fuller. But with Floyd and Ramsey among the departed, might have to be shootout city at SoFi Stadium with Donald potentially quintuple-teamed on every play. Stafford and WR Cooper Kupp better be fully recovered from injury-marred 2022 seasons.
38. Is Seattle’s defense back?
Oh, the Rams also let MLB Bobby Wagner go, and the perennial All-Pro hopped on Interstate 5 and headed home to the Pacific Northwest. He rejoins a Seahawks defense that hasn’t ranked in the top five since 2016 but appears on the verge of a “Legion of Boom” reboot with young CBs Tariq Woolen and first-rounder Devon Witherspoon as headliners. And with the offense positioned to get back to its pound-the-rock, grind-the-clock roots, this D has a chance to make a quantum leap.
39. No option to new options
Former first-rounders Jacobs and Daniel Jones morphed into impact players in 2022, months after their teams declined the fifth-year options on their rookie contracts. Following the season, Jones raked in a four-year, $160 million bounty. Jacobs stands to make $10.1 million in 2023 while hoping he can truly cash in next year … if his positional designation allows it. Among 2020 first-rounders whose options were declined this year, the obvious one to watch is Commanders DE Chase Young, the second overall pick three years ago. The 2020 Defensive Rookie of the Year’s talent is obvious, but Young – he’s played just 12 games over the past two seasons – must prove he’s recovered from his 2021 knee injury. Another intriguing story is the Jets’ Becton, whose injuries have limited him to one game since his rookie year. But he now has the opportunity to shine if he manages to showcase himself as Rodgers’ blind side protector.
40. A 2,000-yard receiver?
Dolphins gamebreaker Hill recently vowed to become the first receiver ever to hit the 2K plateau. "I will break 2,000 yards next year, bro," he said on his podcast. “Two thousand yards and another Super Bowl – we getting that. Believe that." Hill was on pace halfway through last season and believes more familiarity with Miami’s playbook and a more durable Tagovailoa could get him over the hump. But don’t discount Vikings All-Pro Justin Jefferson, who led the NFL with 1,809 receiving yards in 2022 – despite totaling just 53 in the final two games – and might have to take on even more targets following the exits of Cook and WR Adam Thielen.
41. Other records in jeopardy
This will be the third regular season utilizing a 17-game schedule. Pittsburgh Steelers OLB T.J. Watt tied the single-season sack record of 22½ in 2021, and Manning’s mark of 5,477 passing yards in a season has survived by fewer than 250 yards in each of the past two campaigns.
42. A 600-yard receiver?
The Tennessee Titans didn’t have one in 2022, nor anybody who caught as many as 60 balls. Newly signed WR DeAndre Hopkins ought to remedy that, though it remains to be seen how much he’ll boost what appears to be a declining squad that lost its final seven games last season.
43. Will Derrick Henry wind up in another uniform in 2023?
As noted, Tennessee’s prospects don’t appear rosy, and it might not take much for the Titans to go whole hog on a rebuild. And two-time rushing king King Henry, 29 – he’s averaged more than 1,500 rushing yards and nearly 110 per game over the last four seasons despite missing half the 2021 campaign – is entering the final year of his deal and could potentially alter the balance of power if he’s available ahead of Halloween’s trade deadline.
44. What other players are entering the final year of their contracts?
Barkley, Jacobs, Pollard and Ekeler, depending on their respective teams’ circumstances, could all conceivably find themselves on the trade block with free agency looming in 2024. QBs Kirk Cousins and Ryan Tannehill, OBJ, TE Noah Fant, DL Danielle Hunter and Leonard Williams and LB Devin White are among the prominent players soon to be seeking new deals … and potentially not finishing this season in their current uniforms.
45. Will Bijan Robinson change his position?
Maybe as a rookie, the Falcons’ first-round tailback/slot/weapon extraordinaire need not worry. But if he’s as good as advertised – and definitely could be the league’s most exciting newcomer in 2023 – it might not be too early to mount a Deebo Samuel-esque “wide back” strategy given the dire financial state of affairs currently experienced by ball carriers.
46. What to make of the NFC South?
The Buccaneers finished 8-9 last year – with Brady’s services – just good enough to win the division with each of the other three clubs finishing just one game back. With Brady retired, all four teams will feature a new QB1 … if not much of a Q rating. Yet, given the general perceived parity in the conference, don’t be surprised if two of these clubs are still playing in mid-January.
47. New rules in 2023
While watching preseason games, you might notice a few recently adopted rules:
▶ Per the league’s operations website, “when an instant replay decision results in a reversal under (2 minutes), the play clock will be reset to (40 seconds) instead of (25 seconds); unless another rule requires otherwise, such as when there is also a (10-second) runoff, in which case the play clock will be reset to (30 seconds). Additionally, inside (2 minutes), reversing from a ruling with a stopped clock to one with a running clock requires either a (10-second) runoff or a charged team timeout.”▶ All failed fourth-down conversions will now be automatically reviewed, just as turnovers and scoring plays are. Successful fourth-down conversions can still be challenged, barring those that would automatically be reviewed inside the two-minute warning or overtime.▶ An offense can no longer benefit from an untimed down at the end of a half due to its own penalty.
48. What else is different?
▶ For the first time in five decades, players are again authorized to wear jersey number 0.▶ Kickers and punters are now eligible to wear any number between 0 and 49 or 90 and 99.▶ Tripping is now classified as a 15-yard personal foul infraction that could warrant additional discipline regardless of whether or not it’s flagged.▶ For the first time since 2010, teams can once again designate an emergency No. 3 quarterback who will not count against the active game-day roster.▶ There will now be one league-wide roster cutdown from 90 players per team to 53. This year’s deadline will be at 4 p.m. ET on August 29, two days after the preseason schedule concludes.
49. Who will be in the Caleb Williams market?
USC’s Heisman Trophy winner seems to be the presumptive No. 1 pick of next year’s draft. And if we’ve learned anything, no matter how good or financially secure an NFL quarterback seems to be, he can almost surely be on the move at a moment’s notice – and especially if a filthy young arm on a cost-controlled rookie contract becomes available. Depending on any number of very feasible circumstances, one could make a case for half the league’s teams potentially getting into the Williams sweepstakes. The Titans, Commanders, Vikings, Raiders and Buccaneers seem to be obvious destinations given their current situations, Minnesota perhaps the only one of that group that seems a true long shot to find itself drafting in the top three. Yet it’s easy enough to foresee scenarios where the Patriots, Packers, Seahawks and even the Dolphins, Steelers, Rams or Cardinals get involved. Expect the “race” for 2024’s No. 1 pick to be closely monitored as early as Halloween.
50. Uniformity
Last, but hardly least, more NFL teams will be taking advantage in the second season since the league reauthorized the usage of alternate helmets. Among the throwbacks and new looks we can’t wait to see: Broncos, Browns, Buccaneers, Eagles, Lions, Seahawks and … the “Houston Oilers.” (And, ICYMI, the Cardinals underwent a full rebrand, which is a definite step in the right direction from what they’d been wearing.)
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Follow USA TODAY Sports' Nate Davis on Twitter @ByNateDavis.
