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  1. 2026 Full NFL Schedule and Bye Weeks
  2. When Do NFL Organized Team Activities (OTAs) Start?
  3. When Do NFL Mandatory Minicamps Start?
  4. When is the NFL Franchise Tag Deadline?
  5. When Does NFL Training Camp Start?
  6. When are the NFL Hall of Fame Game, Joint Practices, and Preseason Games?
  7. When Is The First NFL Game of 2026?

At Fantasy Alarm, fantasy football season never really ends. Between our dynasty fantasy football rankings and our early 2026 Best Ball Cheat Sheet, we really don’t stop competing to win championships. But we have to admit that, now that the 2025 NFL Draft is in the books and the full 2026 NFL schedule has been released, things are REALLY starting to heat up!

The NFL news and rumors that come out over the next couple of months are going to dictate everything for our fantasy football rankings. So it’s important that you know the schedule for important dates coming up. When OTAs start? When are the mandatory mini-camps? When does training camp start? Which teams are doing joint practices ahead of pre-season games? We’ll answer all those questions here in our NFL Offseason tracker, where we’ll update more key dates as they are released!

2026 Full NFL Schedule and Bye Weeks

The full NFL schedule is out for each team already, meaning it’s time to dig into the analysis for our fantasy football leagues. At Fantasy Alarm, we’ve already analyzed the Biggest Winners and Losers based on strength of schedule. Our own Howard Bender has also looked at how the bye weeks will influence your fantasy football drafts. So make sure you are up to speed there, especially for early best ball, where the schedule is incredibly important!

 

 

 

When Do NFL Organized Team Activities (OTAs) Start?

Most teams have OTAs starting in mid-to-late May. Each team has 10 days of OTAs that they can spread out over May and early June as they please, with some days off in between. Some of the camps have already started this week, while others don’t start until June. Here is when each team starts OTAs, with the full dates being found here. 

May 18

May 19

May 26

May 27

June 1

June 2

When Do NFL Mandatory Minicamps Start?

Most teams hold mandatory minicamp for three consecutive days in the first or second week of June. Many teams are holding theirs from June 9-11, with some variation into mid-June (full detailed schedules for all teams are available in the official NFL announcement).

Notable early exceptions (June 2-4):

June 8-10 window:

(The majority fall in the June 9-11 window, while several teams shift to June 15-18.)

 

 


 

When is the NFL Franchise Tag Deadline?

Teams that franchise-tagged players have until July 15th to sign them to a multi-year deal. Otherwise, they either need to play on the franchise tag or a negotiated one-year deal (like Josh Jacobs did in 2024).

When Does NFL Training Camp Start?

Training camp dates have not been released yet for 2026. Typically, rookies report in mid-July (sometimes as early as a week before veterans) with most veterans reporting in late July.  

When are the NFL Hall of Fame Game, Joint Practices, and Preseason Games?

The 2026 Hall of Fame Game is scheduled for Thursday, August 6th, in Canton, Ohio, between the Carolina Panthers and the Arizona Cardinals. The rest of the preseason games will take place in August, starting on August 13th. The full NFL Schedule can be found here. Around half the teams also schedule joint practices, which typically begin in early to mid-August.

Here is what has been announced for NFL joint practices so far.

Confirmed:

Also planned:

Note: The Detroit Lions have announced they are opting out of joint practices for the 2026 training camp, calling them “counterproductive” in recent years.

 

 


 

When Is The First NFL Game of 2026?

The first NFL game will kick off on Wednesday, September 9th, with the reigning champion Seattle Seahawks hosting the New England Patriots in a Super Bowl rematch. The Super Bowl-winning team hosts the first game of the season every year, with the two exceptions in recent history being the 2013 Baltimore Ravens starting their season on the road after winning the Super Bowl due to a scheduling conflict with the Baltimore Orioles (the Ravens lost that game) and when the NFL celebrated their 100th season by opening with the Chicago Bears hosting the Green Bay Packers.