Possible NFL schedule release date and 11 things we know about the slate of games

The NFL schedule release is one of the biggest days on the league calendar and we now know what week to circle

If you've been waiting patiently for the NFL schedule to be released, you're not going to have to wait much longer. The release date isn't set in stone just yet, but the schedule will be coming out at some point in mid-May and it appears that the NFL is eyeing one of two or three dates. 

According to ESPN, the NFL is targeting a date between May 12 and May 14 to release the full schedule. 

"Circle your calendars for the week of May 11th," Adam Schefter said on the latest episode of his podcast. "I would think that we'll get a schedule release announcement sometime around May 12th, May 13th, May 14th. Somewhere between Tuesday the 12th and Thursday the 14th."

In each of the past two years, the NFL has released the schedule on a Wednesday, so if the league sticks to that plan, then the release date will fall on May 13. However, the league did release the schedule on a Thursday in both 2022 and 2023, so May 14 could certainly be possibility this year. Either way, it seems pretty safe to assume that the schedule will be coming out one of those two days, so be sure to clear your calendar. 

Although we won't know the full schedule until next month, there are plenty of things we do already know about this year's slate of games, so let's check out a few of them. 

Two games have been set for Week 1

The NFL has already announced two games that will take place during the opening week of the season. 

• Wednesday, Sept. 9: TBA at Seahawks (8:20 p.m. ET, NBC)
• Thursday, Sept. 10: 49ers vs. Rams in Australia (8:35 p.m. ET, TBA)

Notes: The Seahawks game will mark just the second time over the past 75 years that the NFL will open its season on a Wednesday. Since the Seahawks are the home team, that means they'll face either the Cardinals, Cowboys, Giants, Bears, Chiefs, Chargers or Patriots (We ranked all the options here). However, it likely won't be Kansas City. Chiefs owner Clark Hunt said the league likely won't tab his team to play in the opener since't it's not yet clear if Patrick Mahomes would be available for the Sept. 9 game.

As for the NFL's first game in Australia, that game won't technically be kicking off on Thursday night. Due to the time 14-hour difference, the game will kick off at 10:35 a.m. on FRIDAY in Melbourne, which will create an 8:35 p.m. ET kickoff on Thursday night in the United States. The iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground will be hosting the NFL's first game Down Under. 

Nine international games on the schedule

There will be nine international games on the schedule this year, which is the most in NFL history. We know the home teams involved for each game, but right now, the Australia game is the only matchup where we also know the visiting team. 

Here's what the international schedule looks like so far:

• Melbourne -- Rams vs. 49ers 
• Rio de Janeiro -- Cowboys vs. TBA
• Paris -- Saints vs. TBA
• Mexico City -- 49ers vs. TBA  
• London -- Jaguars vs. TBA (Wembley Stadium)
• London -- Jaguars vs. TBA (Tottenham Hotspur Stadium)
• London -- Commanders vs. TBA (Tottenham Hotspur Stadium)
• Munich -- Lions vs. TBA
• Madrid -- Falcons vs. TBA

Notes: There are a lot of rumors floating around about the international games, so let's cover those. 

• Brazil: Dallas will be hosting the NFL's first ever game in Rio de Janeiro and according to the Baltimore Banner, the Cowboys opponent in that game will be the Ravens. According to the Sports Business Journal, the Brazil game will likely be played in Week 3. 
• Paris: The Saints will be hosting the NFL's first game ever in Paris, and according to French Media, that game will likely be played in Week 7 (Oct. 25). 
• Mexico City: The 49ers have two international games this year and it appears we know the dates for both games. We already know that they'll be traveling to Australia in Week 1. As for the Mexico trip, the NFL's executive vice president of media distribution, Hans Schroeder, revealed at the annual league meeting that the Mexico game will be played in Week 11, so the 49ers will be headed to Mexico City just before Thanksgiving. 
• Madrid: The Chiefs have been pushing hard to play the Falcons in Madrid, but the NFL hasn't yet made a decision on who the opponent will be. "We've been very open and aggressive with the league -- as we have been since the beginning -- that we want to play in Spain this year," Chiefs president Mark Donovan said last week, via the Kansas City Star. Last year's game in Spain was played in November and that will likely be the case again this year. 
• Giants. There's a report that Giants will be playing an international game this year, so they could end up as a visiting team in one of these games. The Giants are scheduled to play the Commanders, Cowboys and Lions on the road, so if they do play an international game, it would be in Rio, London or Munich. 

As for the London games, the NFL generally puts those on the calendar in consecutive weeks starting in early October, so that will likely be the case again. The Jaguars will be serving as the home team for two straight games in London, marking the first time in NFL history that a team has played consecutive international games as the home team. 

Other scheduling notes: Christmas tripleheader happening, Thanksgiving Eve possible

Here are a few other notes about the upcoming schedule: 

• The Christmas tripleheader will be returning in 2026. For the fourth time in five years, the Christmas tripleheader is back. The first two games of the holiday will be shown on Netflix and Fox will get the prime-time game. One team that could end up playing on Christmas is Kansas City. The Chiefs have played on Christmas for three straight seasons, and now, they want to make it four in a row. "We'd love to play on Christmas," Donovan said, via ESPN. "We respect that the league wants to spread it around. We get it. Right now, we expect to be in a lot of prime-time games. We've made it pretty clear that our preference is to play at home on Christmas." 
• Thanksgiving Eve game could happen. In other scheduling news, the NFL could he holding a Thanksgiving Eve game for the first time ever. The league is giving serious consideration to playing a prime-time game on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. "We're actively looking at that window," Schroeder said, via PFT. "We think when we look at the calendar and look at other natural nights that we could aggregate and serve our fans, and deliver a unique-size audience, that's a night that jumps out to us."
• Second Black Friday game might be in play. The NFL added a Black Friday game three years ago and there could be a second onecoming in 2026 to go along with the Thanksgiving Eve game. Back in December, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said the league was considering the possibility of having a Black Friday doubleheader this year. 
• No more Monday doubleheaders. Since 2023, the NFL has been holding multiple Monday night doubleheaders each season, but that will no longer be the case starting this year. "When we did the deal (with Disney) five years ago, we thought adding two games on Monday night would be a great thing for fans," Schroeder said of why the league is dumping the Monday doubleheaders, via The Athletic. "It was more free football that was sort of outside of a Sunday afternoon. I think we collectively struggled and realized that fans felt that they were conflicted to choose between those games."

The 2026 schedule will feature 272 games and although we don't know the time or date for most of those games, we do know who each team will be playing and you can check out the home-and-away opponents for all 32 teams by clicking here.