The 2019 NFL season will mark the league's 100th year of existence. Being that we are now less than 100 days away from the start of the season, we thought we would treat you to 100 things to know about the coming year.
The NFL plans to turn its 100th season into a yearlong celebration, so with that in mind, we are alerting you to the records that could fall, key games, new coaches, familiar faces in new places, teams to watch, and more to get you ready for the 2019 NFL season.
Enjoy!
1. The 2019 season kicks off on Thursday, Sept. 5, at 8:20 p.m. ET, with the Chicago Bears hosting the Green Bay Packers.
2. The defending Super Bowl champion New England Patriots will not play the first game of the season, as Super Bowl winners have in recent years, but will instead debut on "Sunday Night Football," where they'll take on the Pittsburgh Steelers.
3. The Patriots will not have Rob Gronkowski on their side, as Gronk retired after nine NFL seasons.
4. Drew Brees is 20 touchdown passes away from breaking Peyton Manning's all-time record.
5. Tom Brady is 23 touchdown passes away from breaking the same record.
6. After spending the past five seasons with Washington and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, DeSean Jackson is back with the Philadelphia Eagles.
7. The three non-Patriots teams in the AFC East (Jets, Bills, Dolphins) all have quarterbacks (Sam Darnold, Josh Allen, Josh Rosen) who were selected in the top 10 of the 2018 NFL Draft.
8. The Jets (Adam Gase) and Dolphins (Brian Flores) are also among the eight teams that have first-year head coaches. The others are the Cardinals (Kliff Kingsbury), Bengals (Zac Taylor), Browns (Freddie Kitchens), Broncos (Vic Fangio), Packers (Matt LaFleur), and Buccaneers (Bruce Arians).
9. Speaking of which ... Bruce Arians is back! Arians retired last offseason and spent the 2018 campaign broadcasting games, but now he's back in the league with Tampa Bay.
10. Also returning after just a single year in the broadcast booth: Cowboys tight end Jason Witten, who un-retired and will play his 16th season with Dallas.
11. Not back this year: Jaguars linebacker Telvin Smith, who decided to take the 2019 season off to deal with health and family issues.
12. Larry Fitzgerald needs 23 receptions to pass Tony Gonzalez for second all time.
13. In addition to Fitzgerald, the Cardinals have surrounded No. 1 overall pick Kyler Murray with a whole bunch of young wide receivers: second-year man Christian Kirk and rookies Andy Isabella, Hakeem Butler, and KeeSean Johnson.
14. The 2020 NFL Draft is taking place in Las Vegas. The 2021 draft will be in Cleveland and the 2023 draft is headed to Kansas City.
15. A whole bunch of players who had spent their entire career in one place are with new teams this year, including Joe Flacco (Broncos), Terrell Suggs (Cardinals), Antonio Brown (Raiders), Le'Veon Bell (Jets), Earl Thomas (Ravens), Odell Beckham Jr. (Browns), and Justin Houston (Colts).
16. Super Bowl LII MVP Nick Foles signed a monster contract with the Jaguars, where he'll reunite with former Eagles quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo, who is now the offensive coordinator in Jacksonville.
17. Buffalo Bills running back Frank Gore is back for his 15th NFL season, and he needs only 523 rushing yards to pass Barry Sanders for third all time.
18. There's a Bosa brother playing in Southern California (Chargers defensive end Joey Bosa) and Northern California (49ers defensive end Nick Bosa).
19. We still don't know who will be on this year's edition of HBO's "Hard Knocks." It won't be the 49ers, which leaves just four candidates.
20. This year's Thanksgiving slate: Bears at Lions, Bills at Cowboys, and Saints at Falcons.
21. The Buccaneers will induct longtime star cornerback Ronde Barber into their Ring of Honor in Week 3.
22. Minnesota Vikings tight end Kyle Rudolph still doesn't have a new contract. Rudolph has reportedly been discussing an extension, but the Vikings drafted a tight end (Irv Smith Jr.) in the second round of this year's draft.
23. The NFL has banned three drills from being used during training camp practices because it considers them dangerous, including the Oklahoma Drill.
24. For the second straight season, the Houston Texans have an offensive star coming off a torn ACL. Last year it was quarterback Deshaun Watson; this year it's wide receiver Will Fuller.
25. The Eagles, for seemingly the 93rd year in a row, added a stud defensive lineman on a below-market contract in free agency. This year, it was former Broncos and Jaguars defensive tackle Malik Jackson.
26. Cardinals cornerback Patrick Peterson is suspended for the first six games of the season for violating the league's PED policy.
27. The NFL has a five-game international schedule this year. In London, Bears vs. Raiders on Oct. 6; Panthers vs. Buccaneers on Oct. 13; Bengals vs. Rams on Oct. 27; and Texans vs. Jaguars on Nov. 3. And in Mexico City: Chiefs vs. Chargers on Nov. 18.
28. Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson needs 11 wins to pass Tom Brady's record of 86 during his first eight NFL seasons.
29. Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton is coming off a major injury, having had surgery on his throwing shoulder this offseason.
30. Buccaneers and Titans quarterbacks Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota are headed into the fifth-year option seasons on their rookie contracts. Winston has a new coach (Arians) and Mariota has a couple new weapons (Adam Humphries and rookie A.J. Brown) to work with.
31. Chicago Bears star Khalil Mack is headed into his second season with the team, and this time around, he'll have the offseason to prepare with his squad rather than a contract dispute to worry about.
32. Brandon Marshall (30) and Antonio Gates (45) are close to joining the 1,000-reception club, but Marshall is not currently on a team and Gates is expected to back up Hunter Henry this season.
33. Detroit Lions coach Matt Patricia (a former defensive coordinator with the Patriots) signed a couple former Patriots this offseason: defensive end Trey Flowers and wide receiver Danny Amendola.
34. In Year 2 of their new uniform set, the Titans are making a change to their light blue jerseys because they were too difficult to read last year.
35. The Pittsburgh Steelers moved up in the NFL Draft this year in order to acquire a player who is considered their replacement for injured star Ryan Shazier: former Michigan linebacker Devin Bush.
36. The NFL added a Saturday night tripleheader this season, which will come in Week 16. We don't yet know which teams will be participating. They'll be announced by Week 8.
37. Bengals star A.J. Green is heading into the final year of his contract. He's still really good.
38. The 2016 quarterback class (Jared Goff, Carson Wentz, Dak Prescott) is eligible for contract extensions, but Prescott is the only one likely to get one this year, because he was a fourth-round pick and thus the Cowboys don't have the ability to keep him on the fifth-year option in 2020.
39. The New York Giants traded Odell Beckham Jr. and Olivier Vernon and let Landon Collins sign with division rival Washington, but Eli Manning is still around. Saquon Barkley has his work cut out for him.
40. We still don't really know how healthy Rams running back Todd Gurley is. There have been vague reports about the condition of his knee, and the Rams traded up to select former Memphis running back Darrell Henderson in the draft.
41. After losing in the AFC title game, the Kansas City Chiefs made a whole lot of changes this offseason. They cut Justin Houston and Eric Berry, traded Dee Ford, traded for Frank Clark, signed Tyrann Mathieu and Alex Okafor and drafted Juan Thornhill.
42. Speaking of the Chiefs: Reigning MVP Patrick Mahomes is heading into Year 2 as a full-time starter. Mahomes is coming off a preposterous 5,097 passing yards and 50 touchdowns in 2018.
43. Also heading into Year 2 as the starter: 2018 No. 1 overall pick Baker Mayfield. The Browns have Kitchens installed as their full-time head coach, along with Todd Monken as offensive coordinator. They also acquired ODELL FREAKING BECKHAM and still have Jarvis Landry, David Njoku, Nick Chubb and Duke Johnson (not to mention suspended running back Kareem Hunt).
44. The Packers spent this offseason being incredibly aggressive in remaking their defense yet again, signing Preston Smith, Za'Darius Smith and Adrian Amos and drafting Rashan Gary and Darnell Savage Jr.
45. To replace Gronkowski, the Patriots brought Ben Watson out of retirement. Watson, who was drafted by New England back in the day, is now suspended for the first four games of the season.
46. Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins has two years and $60 million left on his groundbreaking fully guaranteed contract.
47. The Raiders, what with Jon Gruden and Antonio Brown and their three first-round picks, seem like a good bet to lead the league in entertainment factor.
48. In response to the wildly controversial missed pass interference call at the end of last season's NFC title game, the league changed the rules to make pass interference reviewable via coach's challenge this season.
49. Last season, the Ravens ran a throwback offense with Lamar Jackson under center. In offseason practices, they're remaking that offense, but will still base their attack around Jackson's skill set.
50. A team has not repeated as NFC East champion since the Eagles did it in 2003 and '04. The Cowboys have won three of the past five division titles, but missed the playoffs entirely in the other two seasons.
51. By contrast, the Patriots have won the AFC East every year since 2009, and in 16 of the past 18 seasons.
52. The Colts began the offseason with a monster amount of cap space, but they didn't splurge too much in free agency. Their major expenditures were a new deal for corner Pierre Desir and the signings of Justin Houston and Devin Funchess.
53. The Broncos might have Joe Flacco as their starter, but they also drafted former Missouri passer Drew Lock in the second round. Flacco is not exactly gung-ho about mentoring Lock.
54. The Bucs decided to cut longtime defensive lineman Gerald McCoy. McCoy was the No. 3 overall pick in the 2010 draft. The player with whom the Bucs replaced him, Ndamukong Suh, was the No. 2 pick in the same draft.
55. Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz is coming back from a major injury for the second consecutive season. Last year it was a torn ACL. This year it's a back issue that kept him out of the final few games and the team's playoff run.
56. Russell Wilson is one of the only stars left from the Seahawks' Legion of Boom run: Richard Sherman and Earl Thomas have since signed elsewhere; Doug Baldwin, Kam Chancellor and Cliff Avril retired due to injury concerns; and Michael Bennett was traded last offseason.
57. The Chargers, already armed with one of the best defenses in football, added two more intriguing pieces through the draft: Notre Dame lineman Jerry Tillery and Delaware safety Nasir Adderley.
58. People almost universally expect the Browns (the Cleveland Browns!) to be good this season. Cleveland is tied with the Chargers for the ninth-best Super Bowl odds at 16-1.
59. The 2020 quarterback draft class is supposed to be pretty awesome: There's Alabama's Tua Tagovailoa, but also Oregon's Justin Herbert, Georgia's Jake Fromm, Washington's Jacob Eason and Oklahoma's Jalen Hurts, among others.
60. Aaron Rodgers is coming off back-to-back non-playoff seasons for the first time in his career.
61. The Jets still don't have a GM, because they fired Mike Maccagnan after letting him spend over $100 million in free agency and make the third pick in a crucial draft. New coach Adam Gase is the interim GM.
62. New Jets running back Le'Veon Bell has to wait all the way until Week 16 to play his former team. Other new faces in new places don't have to wait quite as long.
63. Falcons star Julio Jones is still waiting for a contract extension, which could be the richest ever for a wide receiver.
64. The Bills spent a whole bunch of money this offseason to upgrade the infrastructure around Josh Allen, signing receivers Cole Beasley and John Brown, tight end Tyler Kroft and linemen Mitch Morse, Quinton Spain, Spencer Long, Ty Nsekhe and Jon Feliciano.
65. The Browns didn't just add talent on offense. They also signed Sheldon Richardson and Morgan Burnett and drafted Greedy Williams.
66. The Rams saw Lamarcus Joyner sign with the Raiders, but they hung onto Dante Fowler Jr., and they replaced Joyner with Eric Weddle, while also drafting Taylor Rapp.
67. It has been a while since the Saints had a top tight end, but they sprung for Jared Cook this offseason.
68. The Chiefs are switching over from Andy Reid's longtime 3-4 defense to a 4-3 under new defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, who coached against Reid when they were both in the NFC East.
69. The 49ers selected punter Mitch Wishnowsky in the fourth round of the draft. He's a former Australian rules football player and former Ray Guy award winner.
70. The Bears, after seeing their season end on a missed field goal, traded for a kicker (Eddy Piniero) earlier this offseason.
71. This will be the first NFL season without Julius Peppers since 2001.
72. Washington thought it got its quarterback of the near-future last offseason when it traded for Alex Smith, but both he and his backup (Colt McCoy) suffered broken legs last year, and Washington ended up with Dwayne Haskins in the draft.
73. The Bills saw longtime defensive tackle Kyle Williams retire, and immediately replaced him with former Houston defensive lineman Ed Oliver, who they selected with the No. 9 overall pick in the draft.
74. The Patriots drafted a wide receiver in the first round (N'Keal Harry) for the first time since 1996.
75. Bobby Wagner and K.J. Wright are the only defenders left from the Seahawks' last Super Bowl team. Wagner plans on becoming the NFL's highest-paid linebacker, and is representing himself in contract talks.
76. The Cowboys fired longtime offensive coordinator Scott Linehan and replaced him with 30-year-old Kellen Moore, who was Dak Prescott's backup two years ago and quarterbacks coach last year.
77. OK so this one is technically not happening during the actual season, but later this summer several players will be competing in a 40-yard dash race for charity.
78. The 2019 Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees are longtime Broncos owner Pat Bowlen, former Broncos and Washington corner Champ Bailey, former Cowboys scout Gil Brandt, former Chiefs and Falcons tight end Tony Gonzalez, former Patriots, Jets, Chiefs and Broncos cornerback Ty Law, former Jets and Titans center Kevin Mawae, former Ravens, Texans and Jets safety Ed Reed, and former Chiefs and Dallas Texans safety Johnny Robinson.
79. The 2019 season is (supposedly) the Raiders' final season in Oakland before they move to Las Vegas.
80. The following players have been franchise-tagged but have not been signed to a new deal: 49ers kicker Robbie Gould, Falcons defensive tackle Grady Jarrett and Texans linebacker Jadeveon Clowney.
81. The NFL changed the start times of the divisional round's Sunday games, moving them back to the late afternoon and early evening to allow for more convenient scheduling.
82. The Bills will have a player wearing O.J. Simpson's No. 32 for the first time in 42 years.
83. Bill Belichick will be calling his own plays on defense for the first time since 2010.
84. The Seahawks signed Ezekiel Ansah to bolster their pass rush, but he could possibly miss the first month of the season recovering from offseason surgery.
85. The Bengals will not be coached by Marvin Lewis for the first time in 16 years. New coach Zac Taylor was 19 when Lewis was originally hired.
86. There will be a movie made about the life of Texans star DeAndre Hopkins' mother.
87. Rams star Aaron Donald is looking to become the third player to win the Defensive Player of the Year award three times (Lawrence Taylor and J.J. Watt are the others), and the first to win it three times in a row.
88. Dez Bryant is running again after rupturing his Achilles last year, and is looking to get back in the league.
89. The NFL combine is staying in Indianapolis, but some drills will shift to prime time starting next year.
90. Tom Brady, Drew Brees and Philip Rivers all have contracts that expire at the end of the season.
91. The Jaguars and Browns have fewer players aged 30 or older than any other team in the league, while the Patriots have the most such players.
92. The Rams are replacing two starters (John Sullivan and Rodger Saffold) from their league-best offensive line with mid-round picks from 2018 (Brian Allen and Joseph Noteboom).
93. Von Miller is two sacks away from 100 for his career.
94. Eli Manning needs 196 completions to become only the fifth quarterback ever to complete 5,000 passes. Fellow 2004 draftees Ben Roethlisberger and Philip Rivers need 384 and 482 completions to do the same.
95. Andrew Luck has a full offseason to work and is not coming back from a major injury for the first time in a while.
96. After struggling to rush the passer last year, the Titans signed Cameron Wake and drafted Jeffery Simmons and D'Andre Walker.
97. Two important pieces of the San Francisco 49ers' offense are coming off torn ACLs suffered last season: quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo and running back Jerick McKinnon.
98. The NFL's oldest coach, Pete Carroll, is 32 years younger than the NFL itself. (Carroll turns 68 in September.)
99. No team has longer odds to win the Super Bowl than the Miami Dolphins at 200-1. No NFL team has ever played in the Super Bowl in its home stadium.
100. Super Bowl LIV will be held at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami on Feb. 2, 2020.
