The 25 biggest NFL stories of the 2010s

Since Jimmy Haslam's 2012 Browns purchase, the team has employed four GMs and six head coaches. One of the GMs, Ray Farmer, was suspended for illegal communication during a game. Haslam overruled Farmer on 2014's Johnny Manziel pick just prior to Josh Gordon's suspension run. The Browns put Cleveland through plenty this decade and hit rock bottom upon pairing an overmatched front office with Hue Jackson in 2016. They let Pro Bowl talent walk in free agency, went 1-31 between 2016-17, bungled an AJ McCarron trade and delivered top-shelf "Hard Knocks" work in 2018. Somehow, the Browns' 2019 underachievement is less newsy than the mania preceding it.

Redskins dysfunction has nearly matched the Browns' in recent years, and when Cousins gamed the system to escape, it had a leaguewide effect. Playing on the franchise tag for two years, Cousins became the top free agent quarterback since Peyton Manning and inked an unprecedented three-year, $84 million fully guaranteed contract with the Vikings. This accelerated a boom in QB salaries. The stagnant market ignited, with six players eclipsing Cousins and creating the $30M-per-year club. Russell Wilson's $35M salary is $10M north per year of Derek Carr's market-topping deal signed less than two years earlier.

Months after revealing he was gay during an ESPN interview, University of Missouri defensive end Michael Sam heard his name called on the final day of the 2014 NFL Draft. The Rams drafted Sam, the 2013 SEC Co-Defensive Player of the Year, in the seventh round. Sam did not test well at the NFL Scouting Combine and did not play a regular-season game with St. Louis, but the historic pick earned nationwide attention. Sam spent time with the CFL's Montreal Alouettes but stepped away from the game shortly after.

The Raiders finally succeeded in luring Gruden out of the ESPN booth in 2018, signing him to a 10-year deal. Although the Raiders were a playoff team in 2016, Gruden went in and cleaned house. He has since traded three of previous GM Reggie McKenzie's first-round picks, with 2018's Khalil Mack and Amari Cooper deals making major noise around the league. The Bears sent the Raiders two first-round picks and change for Mack, and while the Raiders recorded a ghastly 13 sacks in 2018, they entered the 2019 draft with three first-rounders. Gruden's team is progressing, starting 5-4 this season.

The two-time All-Pro running back went two July franchise tag deadlines without agreeing to a Steelers extension. Rather than risk injury by logging another of the Steelers' old-school workloads, Bell sat out the 2018 season. Burning fantasy GMs worldwide, Bell became the first franchise-tagged player since Chiefs defensive lineman Dan Williams in 1998 to skip a season. While it can be argued Bell erred by forgoing $14.5 million last season, avoiding an injury and further punishment helped him secure a four-year, $52.5M Jets deal in free agency. Bell is struggling in New York but has $27M fully guaranteed.

A linebacker on his way to a lucrative Steelers extension, Shazier suffered one of the worst injuries in modern NFL history late in the 2017 season. The spine injury to then-25-year-old defender required surgery and left a hole on a Super Bowl contender's defense. Shazier has made remarkable progress in the two years that followed. The former Pro Bowler was given a 20 percent chance to walk again. He accomplished that fairly quickly, has been a mainstay in workout videos and remains a key part of the Steelers. He's worked with their coaching staff while still drawing a player's salary.

The runner-up in the NFL's Los Angeles sweepstakes, the Raiders shocked the league by brokering a deal to leave for Las Vegas. Securing a record $750 million in public funding, the Raiders became the first NFL team to agree to leave its original market twice. Stadium talks with Oakland broke off, but the team became the rare three-season lame duck — faring much better in this capacity than the 1996 Houston Oilers did after announcing they'd leave their market — but are expected to move into their domed stadium in Vegas in 2020. The NFL will soon be in 23 states.

Andrew Luck cruised to 2018 Comeback Player of the Year acclaim, but another injury in 2019 prompted the Colts quarterback to call it quits after six-plus years as an NFLer. The former generational prospect-turned-2012 top pick led the Colts to four playoff berths and was positioned as one of the league's best passers, leading a rapidly rebuilding team. Luck's offseason calf malady changed the blueprint. The Colts failed to develop a reliable offensive line for years, and Luck missed nine games in 2015 before his 2017 shoulder trouble forced him to miss that season. Jacoby Brissett is now the Colts starter.

A two-year-long investigation determined then-Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams oversaw a scheme that rewarded players for injuring opponents during his three-season tenure. Details of playoff bounties on Kurt Warner, Brett Favre, Alex Smith and Frank Gore surfaced. The Vikings accused the Saints of targeting Favre in 2010, but the program persisted into the 2011 playoffs . The NFL banned Williams indefinitely, suspended Sean Payton for the 2012 season and gave GM Mickey Loomis an eight-game ban. Williams resumed his coordinator career with the 2014 Rams and later became the Browns' interim head coach.

Amid the 2011 NFL lockout, the referees' deal was not extended. It led to an officials lockout in 2012. The NFL went with replacement referees, who worked the preseason and the first three weeks of the regular season. While talks during the Week 3 lead-up went nowhere, a nationally televised snafu accelerated them. A Russell Wilson final-play lob landed in Packers safety M.D. Jennings' arms, but with Golden Tate also grasping the ball, one official called it a touchdown (despite another's touchback ruling). The "Fail Mary" was upheld, giving Seattle the win. Two days later, the referees returned to work with a new deal.

In late 2014, NFL-to-L.A. buzz emerged. Eventually, two plans — one in which the Rams would relocate to Inglewood and another in which the Chargers and Raiders partner in Carson — form. Owners in 2016 decided to merge the plans, green-lighting the Rams' return to L.A. (after 21 St. Louis seasons) while giving the Chargers a year to determine if they'd join them. The Raiders could only relocate if the Chargers passed. The Bolts' bid for a downtown San Diego stadium failed, and after the Rams trekked west in 2016, they joined in 2017. Although the Inglewood stadium hasn't opened, the Bolts' move is not going well.

Former Dolphins second-round pick Jonathan Martin left the team during the 2013 season and accused the franchise of player misconduct. The Stanford alum-turned-starting Dolphins tackle's claims led to the team suspending fellow guard Richie Incognito soon after. Although an NFL investigation deemed ex-Dolphin O-linemen Mike Pouncey and John Jerry as co-conspirators, Incognito did not find another gig until 2015. He returned to the league as a Pro Bowl Bills blocker from 2015-17, but 2018 off-field incidents led to him missing last season as well. The Raiders took a chance on him this year. Martin has not played since 2014.

Although the Bert Emanuel non-catch in the 1999 NFC title game brought some leniency to the process, the NFL's "survive the ground" component backfired in big spots this decade. After Calvin Johnson's 2010 non-touchdown in Chicago, officials overturned a pivotal Dez Bryant catch in the 2014 divisional round. This led to a close Dallas loss in Green Bay. Three years later, the Steelers were denied home-field advantage in the AFC playoffs after Jesse James' final-seconds touchdown was overturned. The league made changes to inject common sense into the equation, but the amended rule remains murky. 

After a neck injury prevented Manning from playing in 2011, stopping his start streak at 208, the Colts went 2-14. In position to draft Andrew Luck, the Colts cut their 13-year starter in March 2012. That ignited the highest-profile sweepstakes in free agency's 27-year run. The then-35-year-old quarterback met with the Broncos, Cardinals, Dolphins, 49ers and Titans in a near-two-week period. His Denver decision swung the AFC power balance. Manning broke records, won a record fifth MVP Award and voyaged to two more Super Bowls in a four-year Denver stay. The Colts have yet to return to the NFL's top stage.

Facing second-and-goal from the 1-yard line for a second straight championship, the Seahawks made perhaps the most controversial play call in NFL history. Offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell eschewed what may have been Marshawn Lynch's second short-yardage TD of Super Bowl XLIX by calling for a pass directed toward backup wideout Ricardo Lockette. Malcolm Butler's interception was not only the biggest defensive play in Super Bowl history, but it also ended Seattle's dynasty bid and relaunched New England's. The Pats had gone 10 years in between titles but have won three of the past five, with the Falcons finish topping this one for shock value.

The Roger Goodell era has progressed on a front Paul Tagliabue's run largely ignored, with the NFL implementing several safety-based changes. Concussion protocol emerged in the 2010s as did a crackdown on helmet-to-helmet hits. This led to changes in standard kickoffs, which have been moved back up to the 35-yard line, and onside kicks, which no longer allow a running start. Players like Vontaze Burfict became vilified for largely ignoring the way of the new game. Points of emphases to protect quarterbacks also emerged, with roughing the passer becoming a point of contention after rulings have swung games. 

Nickell Robey-Coleman's uncalled pass interference on Tommylee Lewis likely cost the Saints a Super Bowl LIII berth. One of the most scrutinized sequences in NFL officiating history led to coaches pushing for a change. The owners agreed to experiment with pass interference replay review in 2019. That has not gone well. After a few calls were overturned in September, the league has evidently tightened the grip on rulings that can be changed. At this rate, it would be a surprise if this rule gets renewed for another season.

A news-cycle tour de force unlike just about anything that came before it, the nine-month Brown frenzy was amazing. The express version: The All-Pro wideout throws a football at Ben Roethlisberger, skips the Steelers' Week 17 game, asks to be traded, threatens to retire, dyes his mustache, goes after Steeler notables on Twitter, refuses to play for the Bills, complains a safer helmet will impede him in Oakland, damages his feet in a cryogenic chamber, again threatens to retire, nearly attacks Raiders GM Mike Mayock, celebrates upon being cut, signs with the Patriots, is accused of sexual misconduct by multiple women and lasts 11 days as a Patriot. 

The 2000s still featured consistent denials about the connection between concussions and long-lasting effects. While Allegheny (Pa.) County medical examiner Dr. Bennet Omalu made the initial CTE connection to football in 2002, the disease being found in other deceased players — including suicide victims Junior Seau, former Bears safety Dave Duerson and ex-Eagles safety Andre Waters — between 2006-12 created an all-time NFL crisis. While the league settled with more than 4,500 retired players for $765 million in 2013, this issue continues to reside front and center. It's changed the game more than anything this decade.

While Spygate was the more notable Patriots scandal, social media's advancement nine years later amplified the second "Gate" associated with this dynasty. After two 2014 Colts-Patriots games, Colts GM Ryan Grigson alerted the NFL about a belief that the footballs the team found were underinflated. This set off a near-two-year process, one that included extensive legal drama — which helped Tom Brady play the 2015 season suspension-free — that eventually led to New England's quarterback being determined partially culpable for the football discrepancies. Brady served a four-game suspension in 2016, and the Pats lost their 2017 first-round pick. 

The NFL faced extensive scrutiny for its handling of domestic violence cases in 2014. The video that showed Ray Rice striking his then-fiancee in an elevator ignited it. After the league initially suspended the Ravens running back two games for violating the personal conduct policy, the video surfaced. Rice has not played since. The league used its commissioner's exempt list twice that September, placing both Greg Hardy and Adrian Peterson on it for off-field incidents. Although the league has taken steps on this front, hiring ex-prosecutor Lisa Friel to head up investigations, its suspensions or lack thereof remain inconsistent. 

It remains surprising this horrifying incident is not referenced more. Late in 2012, Chiefs 25-year-old starting linebacker Jovan Belcher killed his girlfriend and then himself. The latter act occurred just feet away from then-Chiefs GM Scott Pioli and head coach Romeo Crennel. An intoxicated Belcher shot Kasandra Perkins, 22, 10 times before driving to Arrowhead Stadium and committing suicide in the parking lot. Though the Chiefs discussed not playing the next day — a home game against the Panthers — they voted to do so.

After the NFL and NFLPA could not agree on a new collective bargaining agreement, the owners locked out the players in March 2011. The first NFL work stoppage in 24 years stalled the league's offseason for months, but just ahead of the time training camps were set to open the sides finalized a deal. Unlike the stoppages in 1982 and '87, the offseason was affected. Free agency and trades could not commence until late July, resulting in a transaction firestorm that summer. Draft picks had a brief window to acquire playbooks; undrafted players couldn't sign until late July. The CBA, which expires in March 2021, slashed escalating rookie salaries.

After they traded Randy Moss in 2010, the Patriots built their passing game around tight ends Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski. A 2010 Pats fourth-round pick, Hernandez caught 13 touchdown passes between 2010-11 en route to a five-year extension in 2012. In 2013, he was arrested for the murder of Odin Lloyd, a semipro player who was dating Hernandez's sister. A jury found him guilty of first-degree murder in May 2014. Sentenced to life in prison, Hernandez in 2017 was acquitted on a charge of two other murders from 2012. He died five days later of an apparent suicide at age 27.

Entering his sixth season, Kaepernick became one of the most divisive athletes in American history by refusing to stand for the national anthem. Protesting systemic oppression and police action against minorities, the former Super Bowl starter and 49er teammates Eric Reid and Eli Harold knelt during the song's playing throughout 2016. Kaepernick has been out of football for three seasons. Other players began kneeling, drawing ire from many — including President Donald Trump — and support from others. In Week 3 of 2017, Trump comments incited a massive player protest. Reid, now a Panther after a lengthy free agency stay, and Kaepernick settled collusion grievances with the NFL in 2019. Multiple anthem-related rule changes followed as did increased player activism.