How many teams make the NFL playoffs?

Every offseason, the slates are cleared for all 32 franchises in the National Football League with the hopes that another spring and summer filled with coaching changes, draft picks, and free agent signings might yield better results than the previous year—at least for the 31 teams who failed to lift the Lombardi Trophy that season.

In order to reach that pinnacle, a team must first qualify for the postseason by performing well enough during the regular season. In years past in the NFL, this has been a bit more difficult because of the limited number of teams allowed to play in the playoffs. However, the league’s most recent collective bargaining agreement has added an extra spot which makes it a bit easier for NFL franchises to squeak into the postseason.

A new season begins again once the playoffs are underway, and that’s welcome news to the seven teams allowed in on each side. That’s 14 teams that will make the playoffs, which leaves 18 teams on the outside looking in each year, so if a team can focus on being above average in a given season, they stand a strong chance of making the playoffs.

From there, six of those seven teams allowed in from each conference—the AFC and NFC—will play in the Wild Card round to start the playoffs while each No. 1 overall seed given to the most successful team from each conference is given a bye week—a chance to rest for an extra week before starting their postseason campaign in the second round, otherwise known as the Divisional Round.

Going back to 1970, the NFL started with only 8 total playoff teams each year with expansion to 10 (in 1978), 12 (in 1990), and then 14 (in 2020). It’s entirely possible the league will push for two more teams to bring it to 16 in a future round of negotiations when the current CBA expires in 2030.

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