August 31, 2019
As of roughly 8:45 p.m. on cut-down day, when we finished collecting data from all 32 NFL team website rosters, the Miami Dolphins had the youngest team in the NFL.
The Dolphins, of course, made a blockbuster trade today in which they acquired a pair of first-round picks, as well as a second-round pick from the Houston Texans for Laremy Tunsil and Kenny Stills. Before that trade, the Dolphins already had 11 draft picks in the 2020 NFL Draft, according to this, as well as a pair of projected compensatory picks. They could be the youngest team in the league for a few years.
Previously, the youngest teams in the NFL were as follows:
• 2018: Cincinnati Bengals
• 2017: Cleveland Browns
• Every year from 2012-2016: St. Louis / Los Angeles Rams
The New England Patriots have the oldest roster this year.
By the time you read this, this data will already out of date as teams continue to make tweaks to their rosters, although even with continued roster movement, the average ages of each team shouldn’t change much.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 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 |
| Dolphins | 25.2 (1) | 26.5 (26) | 26.6 (29) | 26.2 (20) | 25.6 (4) |
| Bucs | 25.4 (2) | 26.1 (22) | 26.2 (21) | 25.7 (8) | 25.9 (11) |
| Browns | 25.4 (3) | 25.3 (2) | 24.2 (1) | 25.1 (2) | 26.1 (16) |
| Seahawks | 25.5 (4) | 25.7 (9) | 25.8 (13) | 25.6 (7) | 25.9 (12) |
| Packers | 25.5 (5) | 25.7 (10) | 25.7 (11) | 25.4 (3) | 25.5 (3) |
| Vikings | 25.5 (6) | 25.5 (6) | 26.1 (20) | 26.6 (31) | 25.8 (7) |
| Colts | 25.6 (7) | 25.6 (8) | 25.6 (5) | 26.5 (29) | 27.2 (32) |
| Jaguars | 25.6 (8) | 25.5 (5) | 25.6 (7) | 25.4 (4) | 25.3 (2) |
| Raiders | 25.6 (9) | 27.4 (32) | 26.1 (19) | 26 (13) | 26.5 (23) |
| Rams | 25.6 (10) | 25.5 (4) | 25.1 (2) | 25 (1) | 24.9 (1) |
| Broncos | 25.7 (11) | 26 (17) | 26 (16) | 25.5 (5) | 26.2 (18) |
| 49ers | 25.7 (12) | 25.8 (15) | 25.7 (10) | 26.1 (16) | 25.8 (8) |
| Bengals | 25.7 (13) | 25.2 (1) | 25.5 (3) | 26.3 (23) | 26.3 (20) |
| Steelers | 25.7 (14) | 25.9 (16) | 26.1 (18) | 26.3 (24) | 26.6 (26) |
| Chargers | 25.8 (15) | 25.8 (14) | 25.7 (8) | 25.7 (9) | 26.3 (21) |
| Chiefs | 25.9 (16) | 25.8 (13) | 25.9 (14) | 25.5 (6) | 25.8 (6) |
| Ravens | 25.9 (17) | 26 (18) | 26.4 (25) | 26.4 (27) | 26 (15) |
| Giants | 26.0 (18) | 26.1 (21) | 25.7 (9) | 26 (14) | 26.5 (25) |
| Texans | 26.0 (19) | 25.6 (7) | 25.5 (4) | 26.2 (19) | 25.8 (5) |
| Washington | 26.1 (20) | 26.2 (23) | 25.9 (15) | 26.4 (25) | 26.2 (17) |
| Saints | 26.2 (21) | 26.3 (24) | 26.5 (28) | 26.4 (26) | 26.7 (29) |
| Bears | 26.2 (22) | 25.7 (12) | 26.3 (22) | 25.9 (10) | 26.2 (19) |
| Lions | 26.2 (23) | 26.6 (27) | 25.8 (12) | 26.1 (18) | 26.5 (24) |
| Cowboys | 26.3 (24) | 25.4 (3) | 26.1 (17) | 26 (12) | 26 (14) |
| Panthers | 26.3 (25) | 26.8 (29) | 26.8 (31) | 26.5 (30) | 26.9 (31) |
| Bills | 26.3 (26) | 26.7 (28) | 26.7 (30) | 26.3 (22) | 25.9 (10) |
| Cardinals | 26.4 (27) | 26.5 (25) | 27.3 (32) | 26.1 (17) | 26.4 (22) |
| Falcons | 26.5 (28) | 26.9 (31) | 26.4 (24) | 27.1 (32) | 26.8 (30) |
| Titans | 26.5 (29) | 26.1 (20) | 26.5 (27) | 25.9 (11) | 25.8 (9) |
| Jets | 26.5 (30) | 26 (19) | 25.6 (6) | 26.2 (21) | 26.6 (27) |
| Eagles | 26.6 (31) | 25.7 (11) | 26.4 (23) | 26.5 (28) | 26.7 (28) |
| Patriots | 27.0 (32) | 26.8 (30) | 26.5 (26) | 26.1 (15) | 25 (13) |
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 Dolphins and Patriots is only 1.8 years. So what?"
While 1.8 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.
1.8 years on average * 53 players = A difference of about 95.4 total years between the Dolphins and Patriots.
In other words, if you took the 19 oldest Patriots and shaved 5 years off each of their ages, their roster still wouldn't be as young as the Dolphins' roster.
To note, "old" doesn't mean "bad," especially for a team like the Patriots, who are Super Bowl contenders every year. But certainly, you don't want to be old and bad, like some of the teams on the chart above. And obviously, teams that are both young and talented can feel pretty good about their long-term chances of being consistent contenders.
Follow Jimmy & PhillyVoice on Twitter: @JimmyKempski | @thePhillyVoice
Like us on Facebook: PhillyVoice Sports
Add Jimmy's RSS feed to your feed reader
