Sixty-six players have opted out of the 2020 NFL season due to the coronavirus pandemic, nearly half of them linemen – 20 on offense and 11 on defense.
Players with a medical opt out will receive a $350,000 stipend, while those voluntarily opting out receive $150,000 as an advance against future salaries. The deadline to opt out was 4 p.m. EDT Thursday.
No team has come close to the New England Patriots in losing players for the upcoming season, which begins Sept. 10 with the Houston Texans visiting the Kansas City Chiefs, who won the Super Bowl in February. The Patriots, already minus several stars who left in free agency – including, of course, veteran quarterback Tom Brady, the six-time Super Bowl champ now with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers – also lost eight players via opt outs: running back Brandon Bolden, offensive tackle Marcus Cannon, safety Patrick Chung, linebacker Dont’a Hightower, tight end Matt LaCosse, wide receiver Marqise Lee, offensive lineman Najee Toran and fullback Dan Vitale. Cannon, Chung and Hightower were key contributors in recent seasons.
Cleveland was next with five players skipping the season for the Browns: defensive tackle Andrew Billings, offensive tackle Drake Dorbeck and offensive guards Drew Forbes, Colby Gossett and Malcolm Pridgeon. The Atlanta Falcons were one of only three teams with no one opting out – the Los Angeles Chargers and the Pittsburgh Steelers were the others – while the only Tennessee Titans player who opted out was Anthony McKinney, an offensive lineman who signed with the team as an undrafted free agent out of TCU this past spring.
There were 11 wide receivers, eight linebackers, six cornerbacks, four running backs, three tights ends and three safeties who opted out; no quarterbacks, kickers or punters did so.