The wait for the 2024 NFL season gets shorter and shorter every day. However, before every game counts will be the preseason, which will determine how each of the 32 teams’ 53-man rosters will shake out.
When does the 2024 NFL preseason start?
When Does the NFL Preseason Get Underway?
The 2024 NFL preseason will begin with the Pro Football Hall of Fame game on Aug. 1 in Canton, Ohio, featuring the Houston Texans and Chicago Bears.
The first week of preseason action for the other 30 teams will begin Aug. 9-15. That’s followed by Week 2, Aug. 16-22, and Week 3, Aug. 23- Sept. 4.
There will then be a bye week before the beginning of the season, which is slated to start from Sept. 5-12.
In 2023, the preseason took place on a similar schedule, starting Aug. 3 with the Hall of Fame game between the Cleveland Browns and New York Jets.
The full NFL schedule will be released sometime in May.
Who Are the Favorites Entering the Preseason?
Heading into the season, the Kansas City Chiefs are once again the favorite to win the Super Bowl, with +550 betting odds at DraftKings Sportsbook.
In PFN’s post-draft power rankings, the Chiefs hold the No. 1 spot, followed by the San Francisco 49ers, Philadelphia Eagles, Cincinnati Bengals, and Detroit Lions.
Other notable Super Bowl contenders for 2024 include the Baltimore Ravens, Buffalo Bills, and Texans, to name a few.
Is the NFL Shortening the Preseason?
In 2021, the NFL voted to extend the regular season to 17 games. As a result, the preseason was shortened to three weeks, with the fourth game being replaced with a bye week instead.
Now, the NFL has talked about potentially adding an 18th game and removing another preseason game.
The talks first became public when NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell appeared on “The Pat McAfee Show” and shared his thoughts on the possibility.
"I think we're good at seventeen games right now but we're always looking at how we continue..
I'm not a fan of the preseason and I'd replace a preseason game with a regular season game any day" ~ @nflcommish #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/Tv8xdjkSXJ
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) April 26, 2024
“I think we’re good at 17 now,” said Goodell. “But … I’m not a fan of the preseason.”
“The reality is, I’d rather replace a preseason game with a regular season game any day,” Goodell added. “That’s just picking quality. If we get to 18 [regular season games] and two [preseason games], that’s not an unreasonable thing.”
KEEP READING: NFL Schedule Release
Goodell’s goal would be to replace a preseason game with an 18th regular season game and add a second bye week for every team.
In this scenario, the Super Bowl would fall on Presidents’ Day Weekend, giving many that Monday off from work and school.