It has four members: the Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants, Philadelphia Eagles, and Washington Commanders.
This arrangement had been agreed in advance as a means to ensure all of the NFL's teams would be able to visit New York once in those three years.
With the merger in 1970, following contentious negotiations culminating in a random draw, it was agreed that New York (along with the St. Louis Cardinals) would permanently return to the re-branded NFC East.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, east of Dallas and St. Louis, joined the Central as an expansion team in 1976.
The Cardinals relocated to Phoenix to start the 1988 season and stayed in the East through 2001; that made them located west of every team in the NFC except for the Rams and 49ers.
9), the NFC East receives a high amount of coverage from national sports media outlets.
As of 2023, all four teams in the division were in the top ten of most valuable NFL franchises (Cowboys #1; Giants #2; Commanders #7; Eagles #9).
Including the pre-Super Bowl era, the Giants have eight league championships, while Eagles, Cowboys, and Washington have five each.