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2026-09-07

NFL 2026/27 Season: What Fans Need to Know

Football season never really goes away in Canada, it just goes quieter for a few months.

Now the NFL is back, and this year’s edition arrives with a champion defending its title at home, a wave of blockbuster trades behind it, and the league’s biggest international slate yet.

When does the NFL season begin?

The 2026 NFL season kicks off 8:20pm ET on Wednesday, September 9, as the Seattle Seahawks host the New England Patriots at Lumen Field – a rematch of Super Bowl LX, which Seattle won 29-13 back in February. It’s the first time the league has opened a season on a Wednesday since 2012, when the Dallas Cowboys beat the defending champion New York Giants 24-17 in a game moved up a day to avoid a conflict with the Democratic National Convention.

This year’s shift is scheduling logistics of a different kind – it clears the way for the following night’s game in Australia, the first NFL regular-season matchup ever played there.

It’s the San Francisco 49ers vs the LA Rams at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, with cornerback Trent McDuffie and Myles Garrett likely set to make their Rams debuts.

Kyler Murray gets his first start for the Minnesota Vikings when the rest of the league opens play that Sunday, September 13, rounding out a stacked Week 1.

Last season recap: Seahawks’ reign begins

The Seattle Seahawks are Super Bowl champions again, that win over New England at Levi’s Stadium capturing the franchise its second Lombardi Trophy, and first since 2014.

Kenneth Walker III took home Super Bowl MVP, while the story that got them there proved the age-old adage: defense wins championships. The Seattle defense finished the regular season having allowed the fewest yards per game in the league under first-year head coach Mike Macdonald. Sam Darnold’s turnaround at quarterback added a redemption arc to the run, after edging the Rams 31-27 in the NFC Championship Game on the way to the title.

The Patriots’ run was the real playoff surprise. A year removed from a 4-13 season, Mike Vrabel’s first year as head coach turned them into the first team in NFL history to reach the Super Bowl the season after losing 13 or more games, a turnaround that ultimately won Vrabel AP Coach of the Year. Elsewhere in the awards, Rams QB Matthew Stafford took MVP, Seahawks WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba won Offensive Player of the Year, and Cleveland Browns DE Myles Garrett – since traded to the Rams – won Defensive Player of the Year after breaking the NFL’s single-season sack record.

Key NFL storylines ahead of the 2026 season

QB movement

Kyler Murray signed with Minnesota on a one-year, league-minimum deal after the Arizona Cardinals released him, immediately winning the starting job from JJ McCarthy.

Aaron Rodgers re-signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers on a one-year deal worth around $25 million – a reunion made sweeter by new head coach Mike McCarthy, who coached Rodgers for 13 seasons with the Green Bay Packers, taking over from Mike Tomlin after the former head coach moved into the NBC broadcast booth.

WR trade market

The Miami Dolphins traded Jaylen Waddle to the Denver Broncos for a 2026 first-round pick, a third-round pick, and a fourth-round swap, a package that shows how much draft capital top receivers now command.

Edge rusher spending

The champion Seahawks lost their own edge rusher, Boye Mafe, to a three-year $60m deal with the Cincinnati Bengals – one of several departures from Seattle’s title roster this offseason.

Meanwhile, the Rams added Myles Garrett from the Browns in a blockbuster built around Jared Verse and draft picks, instantly giving LA one of the league’s most dangerous fronts.

Rams overhaul secondary

The Rams also landed cornerback Trent McDuffie from the Kansas City Chiefs on a four-year extension, the offseason’s biggest blockbuster once a separate Raiders-Ravens trade for Maxx Crosby collapsed over a failed physical.

Skill-position depth

Mike Evans left the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for the 49ers on a three-year, $60.4m deal after the 49ers lost receiving production to departures and injury.

The Buffalo Bills added DJ Moore and safety CJ Gardner-Johnson, bolstering a defence that was already one of the stingiest in the league last season.

Other notable trades

The Houston Texans acquired running back David Montgomery, sending back offensive lineman Juice Scruggs and draft picks.

The New Orleans Saints traded for edge rusher Tyree Wilson from the Las Vegas Raiders, the Chicago Bears landed veteran center Garrett Bradbury from New England, the 49ers acquired defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa from Dallas, and the Packers swapped defensive tackle Colby Wooden to the Indianapolis Colts for linebacker Zaire Franklin to replace outgoing starter Quay Walker.

How to watch the NFL this season

The NFL continues to draw a massive global following, with select nationally televised windows including Sunday, Monday, and Thursday night games, plus the playoffs.

One thing worth noting if you’re following the games – or the markets – closely: online streams typically run one or two minutes behind live TV broadcasts.

Players to watch this NFL season

Five players in particular are worth following once the 2026 NFL season kicks off. They are:

Chase Brown (Cincinnati Bengals) – from London, ON. Brown enters the year as Cincinnati’s clear lead running back after posting 1,456 scrimmage yards last season, the most in a single season by any Canadian-born player in NFL history.
Sydney Brown (Atlanta Falcons) – from London, ON. Chase’s twin brother, Brown plays safety for the Falcons and is the most recent Canadian to win a Super Bowl, which he achieved with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2025.
Theo Johnson (New York Giants) – from Windsor, ON. Johnson had a breakout 2025, nearly doubling his rookie production and becoming the all-around tight end many project him to become out of college.
Matthew Bergeron (Atlanta Falcons) – from Victoriaville, QC. Bergeron’s four-year $96m contract with the Falcons makes the offensive lineman the highest-paid Canadian football player of all time (annually).
Akheem Mesidor (LA Chargers) – from Ottawa, ON. A first-round pick this year, Mesidor arrives as the most highly-touted Canadian prospect from the NFL draft in over 10 years.

NFL international games 2026

The 2026 season features a record nine international games across four continents and seven countries, part of the NFL’s biggest push beyond North America yet.

As well as the Melbourne matchup in Week 1, the slate includes stops in Rio de Janeiro, three games in London, and a stop in Paris.

The full 2026 NFL international slate is as follows:

Week 1 – Melbourne, Australia (Sept 10). 49ers vs Rams at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, the NFL’s first-ever regular season game Down Under.
Week 3 – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (Sept 27). Ravens vs Cowboys at the Maracana Stadium, the league’s first-ever game in Rio.
Week 4 – London, UK (Oct 4). Colts vs Commanders at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Week 5 – London, UK (Oct 11). Eagles vs Jaguars at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Week 6 – London, UK (Oct 18). Texans vs Jaguars at Wembley Stadium.
Week 7 – Paris, France (Oct 25). Steelers vs Saints at Stade de France, the NFL’s first-ever game in Paris.
Week 9 – Madrid, Spain (Nov 8). Bengals vs Falcons at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.
Week 10 – Munich, Germany (Nov 15). Patriots vs Lions at FC Bayern Munich Stadium.
Week 11 – Mexico City, Mexico (Nov 22). Vikings vs 49ers at Estadio Banorte, the NFL’s first return to Mexico since 2022.