<Tr> <Td_colspan="2"> <Ul> <Li> ← 2017 </Li> <Li> NFL seasons </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> </Td> </Tr> <Ul> <Li> ← 2017 </Li> <Li> NFL seasons </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> <P> The 2018 NFL season will be the 99th season of the National Football League (NFL). The season is set to begin on September 6, 2018 with the NFL Kickoff Game, to be hosted by the defending Super Bowl LII champion Philadelphia Eagles . The season will conclude with Super Bowl LIII, the league's championship game, on February 3, 2019 at Mercedes - Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia . </P> <P> The 2018 NFL League year began on March 14 . On March 12, clubs were allowed to contact and enter into contract negotiations with the agents of players who were to become unrestricted free agents upon the expiration of their contracts two days later . On March 9, clubs were allowed to exercise options for 2018 on players who have option clauses in their contracts, submit qualifying offers to their pending restricted free agents, and submit a Minimum Salary Tender to retain exclusive negotiating rights to their players with expiring 2017 contracts and who have fewer than three accrued seasons of free agent credit . Teams were required to be under the salary cap using the "Top - 51" definition (in which the 51 highest paid - players on the team's payroll must have a collected salary cap hit below the actual cap). The 2018 trading period also began March 14 . </P>

When does the new football season start 2018