A total of 66 players have opted out of the 2020 NFL season because of the coronavirus pandemic, nearly half of them linemen.
Twenty offensive linemen and 11 defensive linemen opted out before Thursday’s deadline. 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.
No team came close to the New England Patriots in losing players for the upcoming season, which begins Sept. 10 with the Houston Texans visiting the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs.
The Patriots, already minus several stars who left in free agency — including, of course, Tom Brady to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers — saw eight players opt out: 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. Hightower, Cannon and Chung were key contributors in recent seasons.
The Cleveland Browns were next with five players skipping the season: defensive tackle Andrew Billings, offensive tackle Drake Dorbeck and guards Drew Forbes, Colby Gossett and Malcolm Pridgeon.
Only three teams had no one opting out: the Pittsburgh Steelers, Atlanta Falcons and Los Angeles Chargers.
“Those are not easy decisions to make as a player, especially when you love the game,” said Denver Broncos safety Justin Simmons, who will play this season. “But family will always come first. And I’ve had a lot of difficult conversations with my wife and, yeah, it’s not ever going to be easy. Just like for the rest of America, it’s not easy on anyone right now.”
The rest of the breakdown by positions went like this: 11 wide receivers, eight linebackers, six cornerbacks, four running backs, three tight ends and three safeties. No quarterbacks, kickers or punters opted out.
Should a player decide to walk away after Thursday’s deadline because of a changed medical circumstance, he would get a stipend — unless he already exceeded the value of the stipend in the time he was active. Otherwise, there will be no financial compensation for voluntary future opt-outs.
There also are salary-cap relief machinations attached to opt-outs. Contract bonus payments due to be applied to the cap in 2020 will be delayed a year even though the bonus has been paid.
Simmons saw two teammates, Von Miller and Kareem Jackson, contract COVID-19. Both are back and planning to play, which aided Simmons in deciding not to opt out.
“Speaking just in my family, my wife is the one that’s the most nervous,” he said, “and we understand everything going on with numbers and statistics. But just having conversations with guys like Kareem and Von, people that have had it and had to endure that and work through it, it’s a scary time. And the reality is this is affecting a lot of families.
“And so my wife and I have had really difficult conversations about opting out and what the season’s going to look like. And do you really think measures are being taken that you guys are being cared for in the best way possible? And obviously I haven’t seen a lot of the places around the NFL, but just being here, you can really see the effort in the Denver facilities to make sure that we’re doing everything we can to make sure we can play football in a safe manner.”
Players opting out of the 2020 NFL season
Arizona Cardinals — OT Marcus Gilbert
Baltimore Ravens — OL Andre Smith, KR De’Anthony Thomas
Buffalo Bills — CB E.J. Gaines, DT Star Lotulelei
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Carolina Panthers — LB Jordan Mack, LB Christian Miller
Chicago Bears — DT Eddie Goldman, S Jordan Lucas
Cincinnati Bengals — OT Isaiah Prince, DT Josh Tupou
Cleveland Browns — DT Andrew Billings, OT Drake Dorbeck, G Drew Forbes, G Colby Gossett, G Malcolm Pridgeon
Dallas Cowboys — CB Maurice Canady, WR Stephen Guidry, FB Jamize Olawale
Denver Broncos — OT Ja’Wuan James, DT Kyle Peko
Detroit Lions — WR Geronimo Allison, DT John Atkins, C Russell Bodine
Green Bay Packers — WR Devin Funchess
Houston Texans — DT Eddie Vanderdoes
Indianapolis Colts — S Rolan Milligan, LB Skai Moore, CB Marvell Tell
Jacksonville Jaguars — Edge rusher Lerentee McCray, CB Rashaan Melvin, DT Al Woods
Kansas City Chiefs — G Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, T Lucas Niang, RB Damien Williams
Las Vegas Raiders — LB Ukeme Eligwe, CB D.J. Killings, DE Jeremiah Valoaga
Los Angeles Rams — OT Chandler Brewer
Miami Dolphins — WR Allen Hurns, WR Albert Wilson
Minnesota Vikings — DT Michael Pierce
New England Patriots — RB Brandon Bolden, OT Marcus Cannon, S Patrick Chung, LB Dont’a Hightower, TE Matt LaCosse, WR Marqise Lee, OL Najee Toran, FB Dan Vitale
New Orleans Saints — TE Jason Vander Laan, TE Cole Wick
New York Giants — CB Sam Beal, WR Da’Mari Scott, OT Nate Solder
New York Jets — WR Josh Doctson, OL Leo Koloamatangi, LB C.J. Mosley
Philadelphia Eagles — WR Marquise Goodwin
San Francisco 49ers — WR Travis Benjamin, OT Shon Coleman
Seattle Seahawks — G Chance Warmack
Tampa Bay Buccaneers — OT Brad Seaton
Tennessee Titans — OL Anthony McKinney
Washington — DE Caleb Brantley, LB Josh Harvey-Clemons
AP’s Dennis Waszak Jr. and Arnie Stapleton contributed.