2022 NFL season

The season began on September 8, 2022, with the defending Super Bowl LVI champion Los Angeles Rams falling to Buffalo in the NFL Kickoff Game, and ended on January 8, 2023.

The playoffs started on January 14 and concluded with Super Bowl LVII, the league's championship game, at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, on February 12, with Kansas City defeating Philadelphia.

On March 14, teams were allowed to exercise options for 2022 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 2021 contracts and fewer than three accrued seasons of free agent credit.

[103] Side Judge Lo van Pham was hired from the Big 12 Conference, becoming the league's first Asian-American NFL official.

[104] Down Judge Robin DeLorenzo became the third female NFL official, joining Sarah Thomas and Maia Chaka.

The NFC (Philadelphia) and AFC champions (Kansas City) advanced to Super Bowl LVII, which was played on February 12 at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.

The following players were named first-team All-Pro by the Associated Press:[234] The following were named the top performers during the 2022 season: On February 1, former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores sued the NFL, the Dolphins, the New York Giants, and the Denver Broncos, alleging racism, violations of federal employment law, and that his interviews were a sham meant solely to fulfill the Rooney Rule.

[259] The lawsuit also alleges that during Flores' tenure with the Dolphins, team owner Stephen M. Ross pressured him to deliberately lose games, offering him $100,000 for each game he lost in order for the Dolphins to get better draft picks for the following season and that Ross fired Flores after he refused to comply with this pressure.

[260] The lawsuit seeks damages and injunctive relief in the form of changes to hiring, retention, termination, and pay transparency practices for coaching and executive positions in the NFL.

[262] In March and April 2021, then-Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson was accused by 22 massage therapists of sexual misconduct.

[263] On March 11, 2022, a grand jury declined to indict Watson on criminal charges related to "harassment and sexual misconduct".

[269][270] On August 18, after the NFL and the NFLPA reached a settlement, Watson was suspended for the first 11 games of the season and was fined $5 million.

[271] On August 2, it was announced that following a six-month independent investigation by Mary Jo White and a team of lawyers, the Miami Dolphins would forfeit their 2023 first-round draft pick and a 2024 third-round pick for violating the league's anti-tampering policy on three occasions from 2019 to 2022 by engaging in impermissible conversations with quarterback Tom Brady and coach Sean Payton, both of whom were under contract with other teams.

[273] On August 9, the league owners unanimously approved the sale of the Denver Broncos from the trust of Pat Bowlen to a group consisting of Rob Walton, Carrie Walton Penner, Greg Penner, Mellody Hobson, Condoleezza Rice, and Lewis Hamilton for $4.65 billion.

[281] Addressing the implications for team standings and playoffs, it said "not playing the Buffalo-Cincinnati game to its conclusion will have no effect on which clubs qualify for the postseason.

[284] Hackett, who spent the previous three seasons as the Green Bay Packers offensive coordinator, was hired on January 27.

[286] Smith, who spent the previous season as Houston's defensive coordinator and associate head coach, was hired on February 7.

[295] McDaniel, who spent the previous five seasons as the San Francisco 49ers offensive and run game coordinator, was hired on February 6.

[297] O'Connell, who spent the previous two seasons as the Los Angeles Rams offensive coordinator, was hired on February 16.

[307] Saturday, a 6-time Pro Bowler who played 14 seasons as a center in the NFL (13 with the Colts), and current consultant for the team, was named interim head coach.

This is his first head coaching position; he previously served as the Baltimore Ravens special team coordinator for eleven seasons.

He previously served for the New England Patriots from 2013 to 2021 in various executive roles and in the final year as the director of player personnel.

[350] During weeks 4 and 5, players, executives, and coaches wore patches and decals of international flags to represent their national heritage.

[374] 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.

[133] This was the final season under DirecTV's deal for exclusive rights to the NFL Sunday Ticket out-of-market sports package.

[384] Amazon then signed a multi-year deal with DirecTV to distribute TNF to business customers, ensuring availability to entertainment venues such as bars, restaurants, and casinos that were not readily equipped to accommodate a streaming-only platform.

Mike Tirico—who had been NBC's secondary play-by-play announcer and Michaels' designated fill-in since joining the network in 2016[400][401]—succeeded Michaels as the lead commentator for Sunday Night Football, with Maria Taylor succeeding him as lead studio host[402] and Jason Garrett replacing Drew Brees on the Football Night in America panel.

[404] Amazon's studio panel will be led by Fox's Charissa Thompson, with analysts Tony Gonzalez, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Richard Sherman, and Andrew Whitworth.

[405] With Buck and Aikman's departure, Fox's number-2 commentary team of Kevin Burkhardt and Greg Olsen were promoted to the network's top pairing.

[406] Replacing Burkhardt and Olsen were Joe Davis and Daryl Johnston, starting his third stint as Fox's number 2 analyst.