Maybe this has been discussed: what's up with all the jersey number changes in 2021?

[rotisserieking 34]

If this has been discussed, apologies as I missed it. But WTF is up with so many people changing their jersey numbers this season? There are a lot of "stars" who have gone with single digit numbers and it's bizarre. All the years I've watched football it's very rare when a player changes their number (like Julio going to Tenn) but this year it's pretty common. Was there some secret movement or message behind it that I missed?

[cmh6476 748]

they added flexibility on numbers players can wear with various positions, I think.

[Showboat 143]

And for some inexplicable reason, a lot of RB and WR prefer to have single digit jersey numbers.

[jrokh 567]

For some, I think it is completely explicable: it was their college or high school number…

[Hardcore troubadour 12,588]

So the NFL could annoy their customers some more. Also they could make a few more nickels in jersey sales and make believe they GAF about what the players want. 

[TBayXXXVII 2,106]

13 minutes ago, Hardcore troubadour said:

So the NFL could annoy their customers some more. Also they could make a few more nickels in jersey sales and make believe they GAF about what the players want. 

I think this pretty much nailed it.

Also, it's partly because teams were very liberal in the past with retiring numbers.  There are teams out there with 5 and 6 numbers in the 80's (for example), that are retired.  That's why the NFL had to open up numbers in the 10's to WR's.

[polecatt 399]

21 hours ago, jrokh said:

For some, I think it is completely explicable: it was their college or high school number…

That's it completely!

I'm sure in a few specific instances there's a marketing reason for it too