When is the NFL Schedule Going to Be Released?

The NFL schedule for the 2026-27 season is set to be released in mid-May following the NFL Draft. 

Teams already know their opponents for the upcoming season. In addition to six divisional games, divisions play eight games against common opponents and three unique teams. 

Uncommon opponents are decided by a team’s finishing position in their division last year. Here’s a breakdown of the unique opponents for each division by finishing position:

• AFC East: AFC North, AFC South, NFC West
• AFC North: AFC West, AFC East, NFC East
• AFC South: AFC West, AFC East, NFC North
• AFC West: AFC South, AFC North, NFC South
• NFC East: NFC South, NFC North, AFC North
• NFC North: NFC East, NFC West, AFC South
• NFC South: NFC East, NFC West, AFC West
• NFC West: NFC North, NFC South, AFC East

The order in which teams play their schedule will be determined when the schedule is released in May. 

Seattle, the defending Super Bowl champions, will open the season on Thursday, Sept. 10. The regular season concludes on Jan. 10 with Super Bowl LXI set for Feb. 14, 2027. 

NFL International Games 2026

This season, the NFL expands its international offerings for the 2026-27 season. New stops this season include Paris, Mexico City and Melbourne. 

In addition to those three cities, London will host three games in 2026. The NFL also returns to Madrid, Munich and Rio de Janeiro in 2026. 

Full matchups for the cities are still to be announced. Melbourne will host 49ers vs Rams with the following teams receiving designations to play in other cities: 

• Munich: Detroit Lions
• London: Jacksonville Jaguars (x2) & Washington Commanders
• Mexico City: San Francisco 49ers
• Paris: New Orleans Saints
• Rio de Janeiro: Dallas Cowboys

Predicting the Biggest Games for the 2026 NFL Season

Outside of the standard divisional matchups, a couple of notable games stand out on the schedule between Super Bowl odds contenders. 

By 2026 preseason Super Bowl odds, here are a couple current matchups between the top-tier teams (home team listed first):

• Bills vs. Lions
• Bills vs. Chiefs
• Bills vs. Ravens
• Seahawks vs. Chiefs
• Seahawks vs. Chargers
• Rams vs. Bills
• Rams vs. Chiefs
• Rams vs. Packers
• 49ers vs. Eagles
• Eagles vs. Rams

In terms of Super Bowl contenders – teams priced between +800 and +1500 – only the Rams possess a top-10 schedule difficulty by opponent win totals. 

Buffalo faces a difficult test when you remove division games. Cumulatively, Buffalo’s common and uncommon foes outside the division average an 8.03 win total.