The Longest-Tenured Player on Every NFL Roster Entering 2025

Two years ago, I looked at the longest-tenured player on each roster around the NFL. No analysis, just a for-fun look at the players who have hung out on their given roster the longest. Since then, the top two (and one of the players tied for third) are gone, with two retirements and one departed in free agency.

Obviously, that’s no big surprise — “Why the Oldest Person in the World Keeps Dying.” So now, with the majority of free agency behind us, I’m looking again. Who is the longest-tenured player on each NFL roster heading into the 2025 season? Let’s take a look, longest to shortest.

(One note: I’ll mention them when they qualify, but I’m not crowning any long snappers as their teams’ longest-tenured players. Sorry, guys. I’m sure you understand.)

First, though, let’s just look at age — the five oldest players in the NFL right now. There’s some subjectivity here — I included Aaron Rodgers, despite him not currently being on a roster for next season, but omitted Nick Folk for the same reason. Maybe I include a guy who’s done! Maybe I omit a guy who isn’t! It’s best-guesses.

The Oldest Players in Football

1. Aaron Rodgers, QB, Free Agent (Age: 41)

Just speaking personally, Aaron Rodgers is exactly one week older than me, born Dec. 2, 1983, the last NFL player older than me after Jason Peters’ retirement. That’s not the reason I chose to include him despite him not being on a roster, but … it’s not not the reason.

2. Marcedes Lewis, TE, Free Agent (Age: 41)

My threshold for whether to include a current free agent or not is basically “Have we heard that he’s looking?” And while Marcedes Lewis has 11 catches in the last three seasons combined, he has said he wants to return.

3. Joe Flacco, QB, Free Agent (Age: 40)

After Lewis, the next three names are all kickers, all free agents and all possibly done (Matt Prater, Mason Crosby — who hasn’t played since 2023 — and Nick Folk). So next up is Flacco, who has taken a visit with at least the Giants this offseason.

4. JJ Jansen, LS, Carolina Panthers (Age: 39)

Jansen has played one offensive snap in his career, back in 2019. But he’s been the team’s long snapper since 2009 (after a year on injured reserve for Green Bay). He made the Pro Bowl in 2013. He’s been on one-year deals the last few years, and he signed another for the 2025 season back in February.

5. Jon Weeks, LS, San Francisco 49ers (Age: 39)

Unlike Jansen, Weeks is on a new team. He spent 15 years with the Texans, making a Pro Bowl in 2015. But he hit free agency this offseason and signed with the 49ers a couple weeks ago. A team going out and getting a 39-year-old certainly ain’t that common.

Longest-Tenured Players on Each Team

To the chart!

(If a player was briefly released but then re-signed and I missed it, apologies. I think I caught them all, but … things happen.)

1. New Orleans Saints: Cameron Jordan, EDGE
Pittsburgh Steelers: Cameron Heyward, DT

Joined team: April 28, 2011
Days on roster: 5,082

In the battle of Camerons, Jordan bests Heyward by a few minutes, given he was the 24^th overall pick in the 2011 NFL Draft, while Heyward was the 31^st. Cam Newton — technically Cameron Newton — was the first overall pick that day as well, so it was maybe the No. 1 Cameron Day in NFL history.

3. Minnesota Vikings: Harrison Smith, S

Joined team: April 26, 2012
Days on roster: 4,718

It sounded like Smith was considering retirement this offseason, but the Vikings convinced him to stick around with a contract restructure. He made his last Pro Bowl in 2021 and is entering the last year of his deal, so this time next year it certainly seems like the Vikings will have a different name here. But for now, Smith is still the guy.

4. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Lavonte David, LB

Joined team: April 27, 2012
Days on roster: 4,717

Jordan and Heyward above got listed as co-No. 1, while Smith and David get listed separately. And that’s because Smith was a first-round pick in 2012, while David was a second-rounder, taken a day later. David isn’t the player he was at his peak at this point, but the Buccaneers are one of the most “keep guys around” teams in the league, with Mike Evans and William Gholston at 11 and 12 years, respectively, on the roster, so David is chugging along as well.

5. Baltimore Ravens: Justin Tucker, K

Joined team: May 29, 2012
Days on roster: 4,685

I feel like this one is going to change really soon (Ronnie Stanley, 3,255 days, will inherit the crown). Between massive skill regression and some very damning off-field stories, Tucker’s days as a Raven seem very likely to be nearing their end. But for now, here we are.

6. Philadelphia Eagles: Lane Johnson, T

Joined team: April 25, 2013
Days on roster: 4,354

Despite being fifth on this list, Johnson is the player in this space who has held his crown the shortest amount of time, because at the start of March he was only the second longest-tenured Eagle. But Brandon Graham’s retirement pushed Johnson to No. 1. He’s under contract with the team through 2027, and while we know “under contract” is a tenuous term in the NFL, he’s still a very good player.

7. Kansas City Chiefs: Travis Kelce, TE

Joined team: April 26, 2013
Days on roster: 4,353

Kelce is our first offensive skill player. There were plenty of people who thought he’d ride off into the sunset had the Chiefs finished off their threepeat in the Super Bowl, but the loss kept him around in an “I can’t go out like that” sense. But any given season could (and likely will) be Kelce’s last at this point.

8. Atlanta Falcons: Jake Matthews, T

Joined team: May 8, 2014
Days on roster: 3,976

The 2014 draft started rough. The first four picks were Jadeveon Clowney, Greg Robinson, Blake Bortles and Sammy Watkins (Some of) those guys had their moments, but all in all that’s a rough go. But after that, the next three names off the board were Khalil Mack, Jake Matthews and Mike Evans. That’s where it got good. Matthews has only made one Pro Bowl — back in 2018 — but he’s played 179 of a possible 180 games in his 11 years, and reliability in itself is plenty valuable.

9. Cleveland Browns: Joel Bitonio, T

Joined team: May 9, 2014
Days on roster: 3,975

Bitonio didn’t make his first Pro Bowl until 2018. He’s made seven in a row since. He talked retirement during last season before agreeing to come back for another season on a Browns team that needs reliable pieces wherever it can get them. Just don’t ask him to rap.

10. Washington Commanders: Tress Way, P

Joined team: Aug. 20, 2014
Days on roster: 3,872

My favorite entries in this space are the guys who start on one roster and last, like, a week before going somewhere else and then playing there for the rest of forever. Way signed with the Bears as an undrafted free agent in 2013, was waived in August of that year, signed back with them the next offseason and was waived again that August. The Commanders (who weren’t even called that then) claimed him on waivers, and … that’s it. Way’s punted for Washington for 11 straight years since. He found his home.

11. Los Angeles Rams: Rob Havenstein, T

Joined team: May 1, 2015
Days on roster: 3,618

Havenstein played only 11 games last year, his fewest since 2019, and there were rumors the soon-to-be 33-year-old might not make it back. But Sean McVay said the team will retain him for one more year.

12. Detroit Lions: Taylor Decker, T
Green Bay Packers: Kenny Clark, DT

Joined team: April 28, 2016
Days on roster: 3,255

The Lions and Packers both got their Forever Players in the first round in 2016. The funnier part is the players who went one pick ahead of both. So the Lions and Packers got four combined Pro Bowls from those two. One pick above? Corey Coleman and Paxton Lynch. So close to disaster.

(If something happens to Decker, the Lions wouldn’t move much — they also got Graham Glasgow one day later.)

14. Dallas Cowboys: Dak Prescott, QB
Houston Texans: Ka’imi Fairbairn, K

Joined team: April 30, 2016
Days on roster: 3,253

These were two very different paths to joining their teams on the same day. Prescott was the Cowboys’ fourth-round pick, going early on Day 3 of the draft. Fairbairn didn’t get drafted, but the Texans picked him up as an undrafted free agent later in the same day. But both are still there.

16. San Francisco 49ers: Kyle Juszczyk, FB

Joined team: March 9, 2017
Days on roster: 2,940

Juszczyk was already a Pro Bowl fullback for the Ravens when he hit free agency and landed in San Francisco. The threshold is obviously super low for fullbacks to make the Pro Bowl, but it’s still impressive that he’s made every single one since.

(Is it cheating to include Juszczyk? Maybe, because the 49ers released him March 10 and didn’t re-sign him until March 15. If so, the crown goes to George Kittle, a Day 3 pick that year, at 2,889 days.)

17. Denver Broncos: Garett Bolles, T

Joined team: April 27, 2017
Days on roster: 2,891

Zero Pro Bowls (but one second-team All-Pro). But Bolles is locked in, with an extension back in December that ties him to the team through 2028. He’s an anchor on one of the best lines in the league.

18. Arizona Cardinals: Budda Baker, S
Buffalo Bills: Dion Dawkins, G
Carolina Panthers: Taylor Moton, T

Joined team: April 28, 2017
Days on roster: 2,890

Baker has been the brightest spot in Arizona for a while, making seven Pro Bowls in eight seasons. As the team went through a mini-rebuild, he was the bright spot. (LS Aaron Brewer has been on the team about seven months longer.)

It’s not just that Dawkins and Moton were both second-round picks — they were taken back-to-back, 2.63 and 2.64. Two offensive linemen, end of the second round, and just staying on their teams as long as possible.

A couple things to note: The Bills drafted Matt Milano on Day 3 and signed long snapper Reid Ferguson a week later, so this was the start of a lot of big Bills names. Meanwhile, the aforementioned JJ Jansen has actually been on the Panthers since April of 2009, so he is the overall winner of this whole exercise … except he’s a long snapper.

19. Indianapolis Colts: Grover Stewart, DT

Joined team: April 29, 2017
Days on roster: 2,889

The Colts had consecutive picks at the end of the fourth round in 2017, going with Marlon Mack and then Grover Stewart. Stewart … has been around a lot longer. Also, the team signed Rigoberto Sanchez a few days later.

Long snapper Luke Rhoden has had one season longer in Indianapolis than Stewart, so there’s that.

22. Las Vegas Raiders: Kolton Miller, T
Los Angeles Chargers: Derwin James Jr., S

Joined team: April 26, 2018
Days on roster: 2,527

There was some question whether Miller would be a bust early on in his career, but he’s absolutely righted the ship and is an upper-level tackle at this point. Meanwhile, after battling injuries big time early in his career, James has averaged 15.3 games per year the last four years, including 16 each of the last two, and made three Pro Bowls in four years. That’s the guy the Chargers thought they were getting. Those two went 15^th and 17^th in the draft, with Tremaine Edmunds in between.

24. New England Patriots: Ja’Whaun Bentley, LB
Seattle Seahawks: Michael Dickson, P
Miami Dolphins: Jason Sanders, K
Jacksonville Jaguars: Logan Cooke, P

Joined team: April 28, 2018
Days on roster: 2,525

Three special teamers and Bentley, who was a mainstay for the Patriots before being limited to two games last year. No signs of any of them going anywhere. Nice Day 3 performers.

Patriots LS Joe Cardona has been on the team since May 2, 2015.

28. New York Jets: Quinnen Williams, DL
New York Giants: Dexter Lawrence II, DL
Tennessee Titans: Jeffery Simmons, DT

Joined team: April 25, 2019
Days on roster: 2,163

New York player who made his first Pro Bowl in 2022 and then made each of the next three. Got DPOY votes once. Has bounced around his team’s defensive line but been a stalwart performer all along. And you don’t even know which of the two I’m referring to. (And Simmons is close — also three Pro Bowls in six years.)

Some things worth mention: The unkillable Darius Slayton landed on the Giants two days later, so he’s close. And long snapper Thomas Hennessy has been on the Jets since 2017.

31. Cincinnati Bengals: Drew Sample, TE/Germaine Pratt, LB

Joined team: April 26, 2019
Days on roster: 2,162

Sample, who went 20 picks before Pratt on Day 2, is my favorite kind of name in this exercise. He’s been a Bengal for six years, he’s never been the team’s No. 1 tight end, he’s never been that important a player. He’s just been chugging along as a relatively anonymous Bengal as everything changes around him. Honestly, Pratt is kind of the same. You’ve learned to hold on to some stars, Bengals, but way to hold on to some non-stars too.

32. Chicago Bears: Cole Kmet, TE/Jaylon Johnson, CB

Joined team: April 24, 2020
Days on roster: 1,798

Kmet and Johnson are the only players in this exercise who joined his team in the 2020s, both joining the Bears in the second round in 2020. Kmet has made himself into a more relevant player the last three years after a quiet first couple of seasons in the NFL, and he’s under contract for three more seasons. Johnson’s been better, with back-to-back Pro Bowls the last two years and a second-team All-Pro nod in 2023.