[1] The regular season started on September 9, 2021, with defending Super Bowl LV champion Tampa Bay defeating Dallas in the NFL Kickoff Game.
The playoffs started on January 15 and concluded with Super Bowl LVI, the league's championship game, at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, on February 13, with the Los Angeles Rams defeating Cincinnati.
On March 15, teams were allowed to exercise options for 2021 on players with option clauses in their contracts, submit qualifying offers to their pending restricted free agents, and submit a Minimum Salary Tender to retain exclusive negotiating rights to their players with expiring 2020 contracts and fewer than three accrued seasons of free agent credit.
[102][103] Without Riveron, multiple people in the officiating department will be making the final decisions over replay reviews instead of a single person.
[105] The following officials were hired: The following rule changes were approved at the NFL Owner's Meeting on April 21:[106] The league introduced COVID-19 protocols intended to encourage vaccination among players, coaches, and staff.
[113] On July 23, the league announced the following temporary rules for 2020 would remain in place for 2021, allowing roster flexibility due to uncertainty regarding the pandemic.
[123] There was a league-wide bye week the weekend of September 4–5, between the final preseason game and the start of the regular season.
The 2020 collective bargaining agreement (CBA) signed by team owners and the NFLPA allowed for an expansion of the regular season from 16 to 17 games.
When the entire season schedule was released on May 12, the league announced that in Weeks 15 and 18, two games would be moved to their respective Saturdays.
[144] Super Bowl LVI was held on February 13 at 6:30 p.m. EST on NBC at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.
[245] On January 29, the Texans hired Culley, whom for the last 42 years was an assistant coach for several teams, most recently for the Baltimore Ravens from 2019 to 2020.
[246] Meyer, an experienced college football head coach with a combined record of 187–32 (.854) with Bowling Green, Utah, Florida, and Ohio State, and three national championships, was hired on January 14.
He spent previous 18 seasons with the New Orleans Saints organization, most recently as vice president/assistant general manager of pro personnel.
[272] Aided by the availability of vaccines, by June 29 all 32 NFL teams had received approval to play their games with no restrictions on attendance.
This came after all games in 2020 were played with either a greatly reduced audience or no fans at all due to public health orders or team discretion based on CDC guidance.
[279] Some teams implemented requirements for proof of vaccination and masking due to public health orders or CDC guidance.
This included "cross-flexing" (switching) Sunday afternoon games between CBS and Fox before or during the season, regardless of the conference of the visiting team.
[299][300] Thursday Night Football aired on NFL Network, with Fox and Amazon Prime Video simulcasting 11 games.
[303] Due to NBC's coverage of the 2020 Summer Olympics (held 2021), the network sold its broadcast rights to the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game to Fox.
[304] On March 18, the NFL announced its future television deals for 2023–2033, which will see CBS, Fox, and NBC maintain their existing Sunday packages with expanded digital rights for their streaming services (Paramount+, Tubi, and Peacock, respectively).
ESPN also entered into a new agreement for Monday Night Football for 2022, adding the aforementioned Week 18 Saturday doubleheader beginning this season.
[299][300] It was later announced in May that Fox and NFL Network had opted out of its final season of Thursday Night Football, so Amazon will take over TNF starting 2022.
[306] On July 19, ESPN announced an agreement with Omaha Productions, the production company of Peyton Manning, to produce Monday Night Football with Peyton and Eli, a supplemental telecast of Monday Night Football on ESPN2 and ESPN+ with Manning, his brother Eli, and guest celebrities for ten games each season from 2021 to 2023.
On October 13, the league announced that ESPN and ABC signed a five-year deal to simulcast the Monday Night wild-card playoff game, with ESPN2 and ESPN+ providing the "Peyton and Eli" broadcast.