The 2015 NFL season was the 96th season in the history of the National Football League (NFL), and the 50th in the Super Bowl era. To celebrate the 50th season of the Super Bowl, a gold-plated NFL logo and other various gold-themed promotions were used throughout the season. It began on Thursday, September 10, 2015, with the annual kickoff game featuring the defending Super Bowl XLIX champion New England Patriots defeating the Pittsburgh Steelers. The season concluded with Super Bowl 50, the league's championship game, on Sunday, February 7, 2016, at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California, with the Denver Broncos defeating the Carolina Panthers 24–10.
During the 2015 season, the Oakland Raiders, the St. Louis Rams, and the San Diego Chargers announced their intentions to relocate back to Los Angeles in the ensuing off-season (all three teams had previously resided in the city at various points in their history). NFL owners eventually only approved the relocation of the Rams, by a vote of 30–2 on January 12, 2016. Thus, 2015 ended up being the Rams' last season in St. Louis.
Player movement The 2015 NFL League Year began on Tuesday, March 10, 2015, at 4:00 p.m. ET. On Saturday, March 7, clubs started to contact and enter into contract negotiations with the certified agents of players who became unrestricted free agents upon the expiration of their 2014 contracts at 4:00 p.m. ET on March 10. On Tuesday, March 10, 2015, clubs exercised options for 2015 on all players who have option clauses in their 2014 contracts, submitted qualifying offers to their restricted free agents with expiring contracts and to whom they desire to retain a Right of First Refusal/Compensation, submitted a Minimum Salary Tender to retain exclusive negotiating rights to their players with expiring 2014 contracts and who have fewer than three accrued seasons of free agency credit, "Top-51" began, all clubs must be under the 2015 salary cap, all 2014 player contracts expired at 4:00 p.m. ET and trading period for 2015 began. (4:00 p.m. ET).
This season's salary cap increased to $143.28 million per team, up from $133 million in 2014.
Free agency A total of 453 players were eligible for some form of free agency at the beginning of the free agency period. Among the players who changed teams via free agency included:
Quarterbacks Brian Hoyer (Cleveland to Houston) and Josh McCown (Tampa Bay to Cleveland). Running backs Frank Gore (from San Francisco to Indianapolis), Chris Johnson (from New York Jets to Arizona), Ryan Mathews (from San Diego to Philadelphia), DeMarco Murray (from Dallas to Philadelphia), and Shane Vereen (New England to New York Giants) Wide receivers Dwayne Bowe (Kansas City to Cleveland), Michael Crabtree, Andre Johnson (Houston to Indianapolis), Jeremy Maclin (Philadelphia to Kansas City), Eddie Royal (San Diego to Chicago), and Torrey Smith (Baltimore to San Francisco), Tight ends Jordan Cameron (Cleveland to Miami), Charles Clay (Miami to Buffalo), Owen Daniels (Baltimore to Denver), Lee Smith (Buffalo to Oakland) and Julius Thomas (Denver to Jacksonville) Offensive linemen James Carpenter (Seattle to New York Jets), Orlando Franklin (Denver to San Diego), Rodney Hudson (Kansas City to Oakland), Mike Iupati (San Francisco to Arizona), Jermey Parnell (Dallas to Jacksonville) and Stefen Wisniewski (Oakland to Jacksonville) Defensive tackles Nick Fairley (from Detroit to St. Louis), Terrance Knighton (from Denver to Washington), Jared Odrick (Miami to Jacksonville, Stephen Paea (Chicago to Washington), Ndamukong Suh (Detroit to Miami),Suh signs with Dolphins, cites money as the reason Detroit Free Press, March 11, 2015 Vince Wilfork (New England to Houston); and Dan Williams (Arizona to Oakland) Defensive ends Greg Hardy (Carolina to Dallas), Michael Johnson (Tampa Bay to Cincinnati), Pernell McPhee (Baltimore to Chicago), Jabaal Sheard (Cleveland to New England) and Brian Orakpo (Washington to Tennessee), Linebackers Bruce Carter (Dallas to Tampa Bay), Nate Irving (Denver to Indianapolis)., Brooks Reed (Houston to Atlanta) and Sean Weatherspoon (Atlanta to Arizona) Cornerbacks Perrish Cox (San Francisco to Tennessee), Antonio Cromartie (Arizona to New York Jets),Pedulla, Tom. Antonio Cromartie is reunited with Darelle Revis on the Jets . The New York Times. March 12, 2015. Retrieved March 14, 2015. Chris Culliver (San Francisco to Washington), Byron Maxwell (Seattle to Philadelphia), Darrelle Revis (New England to New York Jets), Buster Skrine (Cleveland to New York Jets), Cary Williams (Philadelphia to Seattle) and Tramon Williams (Green Bay to Cleveland) Safeties Rahim Moore (Denver to Houston), Antrel Rolle (New York Giants to Chicago) and Da'Norris Searcy (Buffalo to Tennessee)
Four players were assigned the non-exclusive franchise tag by their teams, which ensured that the team would receive compensation were the player to sign a contract with another team. These players were wide receivers Dez Bryant (Cowboys) and Demaryius Thomas (Broncos), linebacker Justin Houston (Chiefs), and defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul (Giants). One other team used the transition tag, which offers the player's current team a chance to match offers from other franchises and also guarantees draft pick compensation (at a lesser level than the franchise tag) if a tagged player signs elsewhere. The player given the transition tag was Charles Clay (Dolphins). On March 19, 2015, Clay signed a five-year, $38M contract with the Buffalo Bills, after the Dolphins elected not to match the offer.
Trades An unusually large number of big name players switched teams via trade prior to the 2015 season. Eagles coach Chip Kelly used his newly obtained GM powers to make many blockbuster trades. The Philadelphia Eagles traded 2-time All-Pro running back LeSean McCoy to the Buffalo Bills in exchange for linebacker Kiko Alonso. The Eagles also traded Pro Bowl quarterback Nick Foles along with their selection in the second round of the 2016 NFL draft to the St. Louis Rams for quarterback Sam Bradford; the deal also included a swap of draft picks in the 2015 NFL draft as well as a possible additional 2016 draft pick from the Rams contingent on Bradford's playing time with the Eagles. The New Orleans Saints traded All-Pro tight end Jimmy Graham along with their fourth-round selection in the draft to the Seattle Seahawks in exchange for All-Pro center Max Unger and the Seahawks' first-round selection in the draft. The Saints also traded away Pro Bowl guard Ben Grubbs (to the Kansas City Chiefs for a fifth round selection in the 2015 NFL draft) and wide receiver Kenny Stills (to the Miami Dolphins in exchange for linebacker Dannell Ellerbe and a third rounder in the 2015 draft). The Detroit Lions acquired All-Pro defensive tackle Haloti Ngata from the Baltimore Ravens in exchange for draft picks to help make up for the loss of Ndamukong Suh in free agency.
Draft
The 2015 NFL draft was held April 30 – May 2, 2015, in Chicago. The draft process began with the NFL Scouting Combine, where draft-eligible players were evaluated by team personnel, which was held in Indianapolis on February 17–23. On October 2, 2014, Auditorium Theatre in Chicago was announced as the official site of the draft. The previous fifty NFL drafts (since 1965) had been held in New York. The 2015 NFL draft was the first to feature an outdoor component, where fans would be able to see the Commissioner on the Auditorium Theatre stage from across the street in Grant Park; this area was called Draft Town. In the draft, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers made Florida State University quarterback Jameis Winston the first overall selection.
New officials Referee Bill Leavy retired after the season. On May 13, 2015, the NFL promoted line judge John Hussey to the referee position. In addition to Hussey's promotion to referee, the NFL hired 10 more officials, including the first full-time female official in NFL history, Sarah Thomas, who worked as a line judge, as well as Walt Coleman IV, the son of referee Walt Coleman, who worked as a side judge.
Rule changes The following rule changes were passed for the 2015 NFL season at the owners' meeting on March 25, 2015: Allow a certified medical trainer to call a medical time-out when a player appears disoriented or concussed. This time-out is not to be charged to the team whose player is injured, even inside the two-minute warning. The only substitution allowed is for the injured player and for a single player from the opposing team to match up. Making the practice of a receiver declared ineligible lining up in the slot formation illegal; ineligible receivers must line up inside the tackle box. This was in response to the New England Patriots using this tactic in the 2014–15 NFL playoffs against the Baltimore Ravens. Extended the restriction for peel-back blocks to include all of the offensive team instead of just those inside of the tackle box. Expanded the definition of a "defenseless receiver" to include intended receivers in the air during and after an interception. Making offensive backs who chop a defender engaged above the waist by another offensive player subject to a chop-block penalty (15 yards). Pushing teammates at the scrimmage line during punts or field goals is illegal. Expanded instant replay to include whether time should be put back on the game clock at the end of any period. The league's jersey numbering system was modified to allow linebackers to wear numbers 40–49, in addition to 50–59 and 90–99. The 'process' rule on making a catch while going to the ground is adjusted. A receiver will be considered to have made a catch if they "clearly establish themselves as a runner" before going to the ground. Previously a receiver had to make a "football move".
The following changes to the extra point rules were passed for the 2015 NFL season at the owners' meeting on May 19, 2015: The line of scrimmage for extra point tries will move to the 15-yard line from the two-yard line. Two-point conversions will still be spotted at the two-yard line. Defenses will be allowed to return turnovers on two-point tries or blocked or missed PAT kicks to the opposing end zone for two points, mirroring the NCAA College football rule adopted in the 1988 season. Furthermore, a one-point safety can now also be scored if either team takes possession and fumbles out of their own end zone or is tackled in it after leaving it.
The following changes to game ball protocol were passed for the 2015 NFL season on July 27, 2015: There will be increased testing, oversight and security surrounding the balls. At random games, officials will measure the PSI of 24 footballs at halftime. Two officials, instead of only the referee, will measure and record the inflation of footballs before the game. These changes were made in response to the "deflategate" scandal.
2015 deaths The following people associated with the NFL (or AFL) died in 2015.
Frank Gifford
Frank Gifford died on August 9, just a week shy of his 85th birthday. Gifford had a 12-year playing career with the New York Giants in the 1950s and 1960s. He was a 4-time All-Pro, played in eight Pro Bowls and was named to the 1950s All-Decade Team. In Gifford was named the NFL's Most Valuable Player. After his playing career Gifford transitioned to sports broadcasting, most notably joining ABC's Monday Night Football in the program's second season and serving as the broadcast's play-by-play announcer and later color commentator for the next 27 seasons. Gifford was a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame as well as the College Football Hall of Fame.
Chuck Bednarik