It may seem strange but in the era of increased player safety, the average career of an NFL player is now only 3 seasons which is down an avg of two years since 2000. Byron Jones’ announced retirement at age 30 at the height of his earning power is a reminder that these NFL players are gladiators who are paid well but aren’t lasting as long as their predecessors of the last 30 years. And the roster churn that happens every off-season means more than 40% of the roster we had in Dallas in 2022 won’t be here next year.
Modern NFL players are not playing as long as the past. Look at the evidence by decade:
- In the 1990s, there were 83 players who appeared in 150 or more games.
- From 2000-09, that number dropped to 63.
- From 2010-19, it was down to 37.
And…NFL rosters churn quite a bit every year. NFL rosters are extremely unstable. On average only 56% of players return to the same team from one year to the next and two years out it is just around 35%. That means each year the average NFL team will keep a little more than half of their players on their active roster.
So which Cowboys players will be the more than 40% of the roster we say goodbye to this year?
Here’s a link to an article by I read by over the cap.com from 2020 that has some of the info I shared here.
https://overthecap.com/roster-turnover-in-the-nfl
If a team keep all of it's draft picks, which seem Dallas pretty much does. That 13.2% right there, based on 7 of 53.
Parcells said 28% to 35% as I posted above. We hit nearly 40% a few times.
Yes players are having less time in the NFL now. However With expansion teams, so after 2000, hence that drop, expanded rosters and practice squads, older player retiring earlier, due to salary increases vs. rookie contracts. That could be part of the reason. Also younger players saturate teams now with that less pay, plus the extra players. There are more players coming out of college to replace them that are better. This drop occurred since the salary cap.
A team drafts a player in the 6th or 7th round. Then a year or 2 later, they find a 5th round that is better, but also keep that years draft picks in the 6th and 7th over the previous year or 2 two years, due to saturation they are better players or better potential, and could be based on need at positions.
So yeah, I can see the rise in that nearing 40%.
Dallas has about 30 FA's, actually a little less than normal. That is 56.6% based on 53 man roster. Which they will re-sign 10 to 15 of them.
Say they bring back 15, 15 are gone plus the 7 draft picks, that is 22 so the 41.5%. Though that number is not indicative of the entire situation.
