The Seattle Seahawks defeated the New England Patriots in Super Bowl 60 on Feb. 8, 2026, at Levi’s Stadium.
Seattle will open the 2026 regular season at home, and the game is expected to be played on Sept. 10, continuing the tradition of defending champions hosting the league’s opener. That’s seven months from championship confetti to the first snap of a new campaign.
The 2026 season will run 18 weeks through Jan. 10, 2027, with playoffs beginning Jan. 16. Super Bowl 61 is scheduled for Feb. 14, 2027, at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. That Valentine’s Day date makes it the latest Super Bowl ever played.
Key Offseason Dates Before Training Camp
The new league year begins at 4 p.m. ET on March 11. Before that, teams can negotiate with pending unrestricted free agents during the legal tampering period from March 9-11. The 2026 NFL Draft takes place April 23-25 in Pittsburgh, with Las Vegas holding the first overall pick after finishing with the worst record in 2025.
Between the draft and training camp, teams hold organized team activities in three phases. Phase 1 consists of strength and conditioning work through May 3. Phase 2 features non-contact walkthroughs and individual drills from May 4-24. Phase 3 includes OTAs and mandatory minicamp during the final four weeks of May and early June.
Teams can hold rookie minicamps on one of two weekends following the draft: May 1-4 or May 8-11. These serve as extended orientations for draft picks and undrafted rookies before veteran players arrive for OTAs.
The NFL Scouting Combine runs Feb. 23 through March 2 in Indianapolis. Clubs with returning head coaches may begin offseason workout programs on April 20. Teams that hired new coaches after the 2025 season can start workouts on April 6.
Training camps open in mid-July. Rookies can report up to seven days before veterans. Veteran quarterbacks and injured players may be required to report no earlier than five days before the full squad. The exact dates vary by team.
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July 15 serves as the deadline for clubs to reach multiyear extensions with franchise-tagged players. After that date, those players can sign only one-year deals that can’t be extended until after the regular season.
The preseason kicks off with the Hall of Fame Game on July 30 in Canton, Ohio. Week 1 of the preseason starts Aug. 6, and the three-week exhibition schedule concludes by late August.
How Does the 2026 International Schedule Change the League Calendar?
The 2026 season features a record nine international games, more than any previous year. The NFL will stage its first regular-season game in Australia when the San Francisco 49ers face the Los Angeles Rams at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. New Orleans will serve as the designated home team for the first regular-season game in France at the Stade de France in Paris.
Dallas plays a designated home game at the Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. London hosts three games across Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and Wembley Stadium, with Jacksonville serving as the home team for one Wembley contest.
The league also returns to Mexico City for regular-season games at Estadio Banorte and at the Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid. This aggressive international expansion compresses preparation windows for participating teams, who must manage logistics and travel while maintaining competitive readiness.
The full schedule, including specific dates and times for all 272 regular-season games, is expected to be released around May 13. Teams typically begin revealing their schedules on social media at 7:30 p.m. ET, with the comprehensive league release following at 8 p.m. ET on NFL Network and ESPN.
The regular season concludes Jan. 10, 2027, with all Week 18 games featuring intra-division matchups. Wild Card Weekend runs Jan. 16-18, followed by the Divisional Round on Jan. 23-24 and Conference Championships on Jan. 31.
