The Seattle Seahawks, since they won the Super Bowl, were announced as the hosts of the 2026 NFL season opener weeks before anyone knew who they would be playing. The only question was the opponent. On Wednesday, it was confirmed that the New England Patriots will travel to Lumen Field on September 9 for a rematch of Super Bowl 60.
It will be the first Week 1 Super Bowl rematch in a decade, and only the fifth NFL game played on a Wednesday since 1950. It will also be the first time Mike Vrabel coaches a regular-season game since the Dianna Russini scandal broke on April 7.
Fox Sports Radio hosts Dan Beyer and Monse Bolaños were not buying the coincidence.
NFL Season Opener Reveals League’s True Stance on Mike Vrabel Scandal
Beyer, a Fox Sports Radio anchor since 2005 who co-hosts End Zone Radio with former All-Pro safety Kerry Rhodes on Fox Sports Radio, laid out the theory with minimal ambiguity.
“This is the NFL’s way of saying, ‘We want in. We want our piece of the pie,’ when it comes to the scandal involving Mike Vrabel and Dianna Russini,” Beyer said. “That is why it is going to be the season-opening game, which right now has absolutely zero publicity, zero leaks.”
“They’re going to just put it together with the rest of the schedule and hope it blends in, and try to reap all the rewards of all the eyeballs that will show up on Wednesday, September 9, to watch the Seahawks and Patriots play and see Mike Vrabel in his first game since the scandal broke,” he added.
“This is the NFL saying, ‘WE WANT IN,’ on the scandal involving Mike Vrabel and Dianna Russini.”@danbeyeronfox to @MonseBolanos on reports that the Patriots and Seahawks are kicking off the NFL season. pic.twitter.com/e4MvtKqV2I
— FOX Sports Radio (@FoxSportsRadio) May 14, 2026
The NFL had four potential Week 1 opponents for Seattle still in play as of Wednesday. Choosing New England above all others, in a game that will be broadcast nationally on NBC and Peacock, ensures Vrabel’s first public appearance of the season becomes one of the most-watched regular-season openers in recent memory.
Bolaños, a Fox Sports Radio co-host who launched the network’s first women-led show in 2023, took the argument one step further. For her, the scheduling decision resolves a question that has been hanging over the situation since Roger Goodell announced the NFL would not investigate Vrabel for a potential violation of the league’s personal conduct policy.
“More importantly, I think we all know the answer now: Mike Vrabel is not going to receive any sort of punishment. I think that’s the answer I’m getting from this information. I was wondering maybe a suspension game here or there, you know, just for the morality clauses that are part of contracts and whatnot,” she said. “I thought something was going to happen. No, it looks like he’s going to be on the sideline coaching against the Seahawks.”
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When Beyer noted that a suspension was now off the table because it would look opportunistic, Bolanos agreed without hesitation.
“No, they can’t do it now because it would look out of pocket. It would seem like they’re taking advantage of the situation, which they 100% are.”
Per reports, the NFL is also declining to review teams’ schedule release videos in advance, meaning all 32 clubs are free to reference the Vrabel situation in their social content. It was confirmed that the league is taking a hands-off approach, allowing clubs to control their own messaging without restriction.
The Patriots have consistently backed Vrabel throughout, stating full support ahead of the draft. The NFL declined to investigate, and the league now appears set to hand him the brightest possible stage for game one.
According to PFSN’s NFL QB Impact Metric, Drake Maye ranked second in the NFL with an impact score of 91.11 in 2025, making the on-field matchup genuinely compelling. But the league knows full well that the cameras will spend just as much time on the Patriots’ sideline as they will on the scoreboard.
Beyer’s closing framing was characteristically blunt. A Super Bowl rematch nobody asked for, on a Wednesday, built around the most talked-about coaching story of the offseason. The NFL, he argued, is not trying to make this subtle.
