September 02, 2017
As of roughly 9:15 p.m. on cut-down day, when we finished collecting data from all 32 NFL team website rosters, the Cleveland Browns had the youngest team in the NFL. Previously, the St. Louis / Los Angeles Rams held that title for five straight seasons, from 2012 to 2016. The Arizona Cardinals have the oldest roster in the NFL.
By the time you read this, this data will already out of date as teams continue to make tweaks to their rosters, although even with continued roster movement, the average ages of each team shouldn’t change much. Here are the results, with a recent historic look at the average ages of each team on 53-man cut down day:
| Team | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 |
| Browns | 24.24 (1) | 25.08 (2) | 26.06 (16) | 25.69 (9) | 25.25 (2) |
| Rams | 25.09 (2) | 25 (1) | 24.94 (1) | 25.09 (1) | 24.98 (1) |
| Bengals | 25.48 (3) | 26.3 (23) | 26.28 (20) | 25.91 (14) | 25.91 (12) |
| Texans | 25.53 (4) | 26.17 (19) | 25.81 (5) | 25.98 (16) | 26.22 (20) |
| Colts | 25.6 (5) | 26.52 (29) | 27.17 (32) | 26.66 (29) | 26.55 (24) |
| Jets | 25.62 (6) | 26.23 (21) | 26.6 (27) | 25.85 (13) | 25.6 (7) |
| Jaguars | 25.64 (7) | 25.43 (4) | 25.25 (2) | 25.2 (2) | 25.41 (5) |
| Chargers | 25.7 (8) | 25.73 (9) | 26.32 (21) | 26.64 (28) | 26.28 (21) |
| Giants | 25.7 (9) | 26.02 (14) | 26.53 (25) | 26.75 (31) | 26.66 (27) |
| 49ers | 25.72 (10) | 26.08 (16) | 25.83 (8) | 26.36 (22) | 26.56 (25) |
| Packers | 25.72 (11) | 25.36 (3) | 25.49 (3) | 25.62 (6) | 25.42 (6) |
| Lions | 25.75 (12) | 26.09 (18) | 26.53 (24) | 26.34 (21) | 27.15 (32) |
| Seahawks | 25.83 (13) | 25.6 (7) | 25.92 (12) | 25.65 (7) | 25.31 (4) |
| Chiefs | 25.91 (14) | 25.54 (6) | 25.83 (6) | 25.34 (3) | 25.68 (8) |
| Redskins | 25.94 (15) | 26.36 (25) | 26.15 (17) | 26.44 (24) | 26.84 (31) |
| Broncos | 25.96 (16) | 25.47 (5) | 26.19 (18) | 25.81 (12) | 26.75 (28) |
| Cowboys | 26.06 (17) | 26 (12) | 26.02 (14) | 25.44 (4) | 26 (15) |
| Steelers | 26.06 (18) | 26.34 (24) | 26.57 (26) | 26.26 (18) | 26.45 (23) |
| Raiders | 26.08 (19) | 26.02 (13) | 26.45 (23) | 27 (32) | 26.11 (17) |
| Vikings | 26.09 (20) | 26.58 (31) | 25.83 (7) | 25.58 (5) | 25.96 (13) |
| Buccaneers | 26.15 (21) | 25.7 (8) | 25.91 (11) | 25.66 (8) | 25.98 (14) |
| Bears | 26.26 (22) | 25.85 (10) | 26.21 (19) | 26.72 (30) | 26.77 (29) |
| Eagles | 26.36 (23) | 26.49 (28) | 26.69 (28) | 26.26 (19) | 25.74 (10) |
| Falcons | 26.4 (24) | 27.08 (32) | 26.77 (30) | 26.57 (25) | 26.08 (16) |
| Ravens | 26.42 (25) | 26.43 (27) | 26.04 (15) | 26.04 (17) | 26.16 (18) |
| Patriots | 26.45 (26) | 26.07 (15) | 25.95 (13) | 25.76 (11) | 25.88 (11) |
| Titans | 26.49 (27) | 25.87 (11) | 25.83 (9) | 26.39 (23) | 26.19 (19) |
| Saints | 26.51 (28) | 26.4 (26) | 26.7 (29) | 26.32 (20) | 26.32 (22) |
| Dolphins | 26.6 (29) | 26.19 (20) | 25.62 (4) | 25.92 (15) | 25.7 (9) |
| Bills | 26.74 (30) | 26.3 (22) | 25.87 (10) | 25.72 (10) | 25.3 (3) |
| Panthers | 26.75 (31) | 26.53 (30) | 26.89 (31) | 26.57 (26) | 26.57 (26) |
| Cardinals | 27.28 (32) | 26.09 (17) | 26.35 (22) | 26.6 (27) | 26.79 (30) |
Note: Every year I do this study, I seem to get the same basic comment, which I'll address ahead of time.
"The difference between the Browns and Cardinals is only 3.04 years. So what?"
While 3.04 years may not be a monumental difference between two individual players, keep in mind that these are the average ages of 53 players per team.
3.04 years on average * 53 players = A difference of about 161.1 total years between the Browns and Cardinals.
In other words, if you took the 16 oldest Cardinals and shaved 10 years off each of their ages, their roster still wouldn't be as young as the Browns.
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