The ATF is coming to the rescue of the NFL.

The director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives — which often finds itself in the cross hairs of pro-gun conservatives — announced on Friday that he’s leaving the agency, and sources said he’s joining the National Football League.

Todd Jones, who is slated to step down in two weeks, will be taking a newly created position at the NFL after four years at the federal enforcement agency, the sources said.

Jones, 57, is the ATF’s first Senate-confirmed director in seven years. He also is a former US attorney in Minnesota, corporate lawyer and Marine Corps officer.

He had taken over the ATF on an acting basis in 2011 following the scandal over the agency’s Fast and Furious gun-tracking operation, in which US-funded weapons ended up in the hands of Mexican drug cartels.

The Senate confirmed him only in 2013.

Attorney General Eric Holder hailed Jones on Friday as an “exemplary leader, a consummate professional and an outstanding public servant.”

The ATF is an agency within Holder’s Justice Department.

The ATF had infuriated congressional Republicans and gun-rights advocates last month when it proposed expanding a ban on armor-piercing ammunition to include .223-caliber bullets used in AR-15 rifles.

The agency called it an effort to administratively deal with banned armor-piercing bullets used in handguns, but it abandoned the plan following accusations from advocates, lobbyists and lawmakers that it was a back-door effort at gun control.

House Judiciary Committee Chair Robert Goodlatte (R-Va.), a critic of the ATF, kicked Jones on the way out the door.

“It is clear the ATF needs a change in leadership to repair its tarnished image,” he said.

Jones is joining the NFL at a troubled time for the league as it grapples with reports of domestic violence by players, pays out a massive settlement over player concussions and faces criticism over other health dangers to its players. It has also been rocked by cheating scandals, such as Deflategate in January.

Sources said Jones was being named “investigative counsel” at the NFL.

An NFL spokesman didn’t return a call for comment.