Heading into the NFL free agency and draft periods of the off season, which teams are looking to get younger? Well, we know that going into the 2011 season, the Detroit Lions were the oldest team in the NFL, with the oldest offense and 9th oldest defense. The Lions are probably looking to get younger.
Back in August of 2011, ESPN calculated these team ages, not using special teams players. Looking at that list, one can see how the San Francisco 49ers both improved and got younger before the start of last season.
Well, I decided to look at the age of every player on every NFL team and do that list again. This time I used special teams players. The practice squad players were not used. I took the roster for every NFL team found at NFL.com and plugged in the player ages, adding and dividing by the number of players on that roster. I started this about a week ago, and did exclude Underwood from the roster of the New England Patriots. I did not exclude Ricky Williams from the Baltimore Ravens roster, as I just found out about his retirement and he is only 34. Will he change his mind and play another year for the money?
As with the list found at ESPN from last season, the oldest teams are listed at the top, getting younger going down the list. The first column is the rank, the second the team, and the third column is that teams average years of age.
AGE OF THE NFL
- Pittsburgh Steelers - 27.35
- Arizona Cardinals - 27.34
- Atlanta Falcons - 27.33
- Detroit Lions - 27.22
- San Diego Chargers - 27.09
- Houston Texans - 26.92
- St. Louis Rams - 26.91
- Minnesota Vikings - 26.86
- New England Patriots - 26.78
- Dallas Cowboys - 26.76
- Oakland Raiders - 26.76
- Baltimore Ravens - 26.73
- Washington Redskins - 26.72
- New Orleans Saints - 26.67
- New York Jets - 26.67
- Indianapolis Colts - 26.66
- Kansas City Chiefs - 26.66
- Miami Dolphins - 26.66
- New York Giants - 26.61
- Buffalo Bills - 26.6
- Denver Broncos - 26.47
- Tennessee Titans - 26.47
- Chicago Bears - 26.41
- Cleveland Browns - 26.38
- Cincinnati Bengals - 26.37
- San Francisco 49ers - 26.36
- Philadelphia Eagles - 26.17
- Jacksonville Jaguars - 26.01
- Seattle Seahawks - 25.87
- Green Bay Packers - 25.86
- Carolina Panthers - 25.72
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers - 25.38
The Lions were 5th best in overall offensive yardage, 4th best in passing yardage, and 29th in rushing yardage. The passing game more than overcame most of the rushing shortfalls.
The Lions do have some money tied up in contracts with veterans like Kyle Vanden Bosch and Dominic Raiola, and the veteran Jeff Backus will be a free agent if the Lions don't get a contract done with him soon. With the contract Cliff Avril may demand, and the looming contract extension of Calvin Johnson, the Lions might need to restructure some contracts. There also might be a few veterans that will not be on the roster for the 2012 season.
With the Lions, getting younger can also mean more cap space and a better team, if they play their cards right.
The Super Bowl Champion New York Giants are the 19th oldest team, or the 14th youngest team looking at it the other way, about middle of the pack. The San Francisco 49ers and Green Bay Packers are two young teams in the NFC the Lions will need to contend with, the Chicago Bears are about average, and the Minnesota Vikings also may be looking for youth.
