September 05, 2020
As of roughly 7:53 p.m. on cutdown day, when we finished collecting data from all 32 NFL team website rosters, the Jacksonville Jaguars had the youngest team in the NFL.
Previously, the youngest teams in the NFL were as follows:
• 2019: Miami Dolphins
• 2018: Cincinnati Bengals
• 2017: Cleveland Browns
• Every year from 2012-2016: St. Louis / Los Angeles Rams
The Atlanta Falcons, who are always among the oldest teams in the league, 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By the time you read this, this data will already out of date as teams continue to make tweaks to their rosters, although even with continued roster movement, the average ages of each team shouldn’t change much.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 cutdown day:
| Team | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 |
| Jaguars | 24.9 (1) | 25.6 (8) | 25.5 (5) | 25.6 (7) | 25.4 (4) |
| Dolphins | 25.0 (2) | 25.2 (1) | 26.5 (26) | 26.6 (29) | 26.2 (20) |
| Rams | 25.1 (3) | 25.6 (10) | 25.5 (4) | 25.1 (2) | 25 (1) |
| Browns | 25.4 (4) | 25.4 (3) | 25.3 (2) | 24.2 (1) | 25.1 (2) |
| Packers | 25.5 (5) | 25.5 (5) | 25.7 (10) | 25.7 (11) | 25.4 (3) |
| Vikings | 25.5 (6) | 25.5 (6) | 25.5 (6) | 26.1 (20) | 26.6 (31) |
| Broncos | 25.6 (7) | 25.7 (11) | 26 (17) | 26 (16) | 25.5 (5) |
| Chargers | 25.6 (8) | 25.8 (15) | 25.8 (14) | 25.7 (8) | 25.7 (9) |
| Giants | 25.7 (9) | 26.0 (18) | 26.1 (21) | 25.7 (9) | 26 (14) |
| Colts | 25.7 (10) | 25.6 (7) | 25.6 (8) | 25.6 (5) | 26.5 (29) |
| Raiders | 25.8 (11) | 25.6 (9) | 27.4 (32) | 26.1 (19) | 26 (13) |
| Cowboys | 25.8 (12) | 26.3 (24) | 25.4 (3) | 26.1 (17) | 26 (12) |
| Panthers | 25.8 (13) | 26.3 (25) | 26.8 (29) | 26.8 (31) | 26.5 (30) |
| Football Team | 25.8 (14) | 26.1 (20) | 26.2 (23) | 25.9 (15) | 26.4 (25) |
| Bengals | 25.9 (15) | 25.7 (13) | 25.2 (1) | 25.5 (3) | 26.3 (23) |
| Chiefs | 25.9 (16) | 25.9 (16) | 25.8 (13) | 25.9 (14) | 25.5 (6) |
| Steelers | 26.0 (17) | 25.7 (14) | 25.9 (16) | 26.1 (18) | 26.3 (24) |
| Jets | 26.0 (18) | 26.5 (30) | 26 (19) | 25.6 (6) | 26.2 (21) |
| Eagles | 26.0 (19) | 26.6 (31) | 25.7 (11) | 26.4 (23) | 26.5 (28) |
| Ravens | 26.1 (20) | 25.9 (17) | 26 (18) | 26.4 (25) | 26.4 (27) |
| Texans | 26.1 (21) | 26.0 (19) | 25.6 (7) | 25.5 (4) | 26.2 (19) |
| Lions | 26.1 (22) | 26.2 (23) | 26.6 (27) | 25.8 (12) | 26.1 (18) |
| Bills | 26.1 (23) | 26.3 (26) | 26.7 (28) | 26.7 (30) | 26.3 (22) |
| Cardinals | 26.1 (24) | 26.4 (27) | 26.5 (25) | 27.3 (32) | 26.1 (17) |
| Seahawks | 26.2 (25) | 25.5 (4) | 25.7 (9) | 25.8 (13) | 25.6 (7) |
| Buccaneers | 26.3 (26) | 25.4 (2) | 26.1 (22) | 26.2 (21) | 25.7 (8) |
| Patriots | 26.4 (27) | 27.0 (32) | 26.8 (30) | 26.5 (26) | 26.1 (15) |
| Titans | 26.5 (28) | 26.5 (29) | 26.1 (20) | 26.5 (27) | 25.9 (11) |
| 49ers | 26.6 (29) | 25.7 (12) | 25.8 (15) | 25.7 (10) | 26.1 (16) |
| Saints | 26.7 (30) | 26.2 (21) | 26.3 (24) | 26.5 (28) | 26.4 (26) |
| Bears | 26.7 (31) | 26.2 (22) | 25.7 (12) | 26.3 (22) | 25.9 (10) |
| Falcons | 26.9 (32) | 26.5 (28) | 26.9 (31) | 26.4 (24) | 27.1 (32) |
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 Jaguars and Falcons is only two years. So what?"
While two 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.
2 years on average * 53 players = A difference of about 106 total years between the Jaguars and Falcons.
In other words, if you took the 21 oldest Falcons players and shaved 5 years off each of their ages, they would still have an older roster than the Jaguars.
To note, "old" doesn't mean "bad," and "young" doesn't mean "good." 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.
(Also, no, using the median age for each team is not the better way to do this.) 😇
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