The NFL has one last important event to get through before the league's summer months begin — the 2024 schedule release.
All 32 NFL teams already know their opponents for next season, but the order in which they play them isn't revealed until after the NFL Draft. That's to allow the league to figure out its best prime-time game options and marquee matchups after the player movement that occurs during free agency and the draft.
In recent seasons, the NFL has announced its schedule on the second Thursday of May. This year, it'll be on the third Wednesday of May, and fans are eagerly awaiting the schedule release.
Here are the latest rumors about the date and time of the NFL's schedule release and when each squad will finally be able to focus on its Week 1 opponent.
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When is the NFL schedule release?
The NFL will release its 2024 schedule on Wednesday, May 15, per Ben Fischer of Sports Business Journal.
ESPN's Adam Schefter confirmed Fischer's report shortly after, and the NFL officially announced its plans on Monday.
The NFL's schedule release show will be hosted by Rich Eisen and Colleen Wolfe, as announced in a press release. It will air on NFL Network, and those two will be joined by Maurice Jones-Drew, Michael Robinson and Cynthia Frelund as they break down the top matchups on the slate.
There will also be several notable guests on the program, including the following:
- NBC “Sunday Night Football" play-by-play broadcaster Mike Tirico
- CBS play-by-play broadcaster Jim Nantz
- ESPN “Monday Night Football" play-by-play broadcaster Joe Buck
- Prime Video “Thursday Night Football" play-by-play broadcaster Al Michaels
- Minnesota Vikings tight end T.J. Hockenson
- NFL vice president of broadcasting Mike North
Originally, many believed the NFL would release its 2024 schedule on the second Thursday of May, as it has done each of the past two seasons. Previously, the schedule used to be released in April, but the NFL has, in recent years, broken it out as its own event in the month of May.
As such, many circled May 9 as the league's date of choice for the schedule release. However, the NFL typically has some build-up to the schedule release. It tends to reveal select fixtures across programming on various networks — namely ESPN, CBS, Fox, and NBC, which all hold rights to NFL games — to create hype around the event.
No matchups were revealed as of 1 p.m. ET on Tuesday, May 7. That led many to believe that the NFL might target a later release than originally thought. NBC Sports' Mike Florio speculated that the league may opt to reveal the schedule between May 13-17.
And that is what the league will opt for. A May 15 release date pushes back the schedule reveal one week compared to the last two seasons. Fischer reported that the NFL did not give a reason why it was delayed.
The NFL will have more programming obstacles that week. In addition to the ongoing NBA and NHL playoffs, Caitlin Clark will play her first and second WNBA games Tuesday and Thursday, and golf's second major — the PGA Championship — will begin play Thursday.
But the NFL remains king and should be able to navigate those obstacles with their Wednesday schedule release.
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Who has the easiest NFL schedule in 2024?
It depends on how you assess a team's strength of schedule. If you look at the teams based on their opponents from last season, the Falcons and Saints are tied with the best mark in the NFL, as each has a .453 strength of schedule rating.
If you look at strength of schedule based on the projected record of each team's opponents using Vegas over/unders, the Falcons sit alone atop that list, per Sharp Football Analysis. The Saints check in just a few spots lower with the fifth-easiest schedule.
Either way, it appears that playing in the weaker NFC South — and getting a chance to play some of the lower-end teams from the AFC West and NFC East — will benefit these two teams. Atlanta seems to have the slightly easier path through the 2024 NFL season, but we all know that could change in a hurry once games actually get started.
Who has the hardest NFL schedule in 2024?
Based on last year's records, the Browns have the hardest strength of schedule in 2024. Cleveland's opponents had a combined winning percentage of .547, which is slightly higher than the Ravens (.536) and Steelers (.533), who check in at second and third, respectively, on the list.
The Vegas win totals tell a similar story, but they estimate that Pittsburgh will have the hardest schedule. The Browns and Ravens check in with the third- and fourth-most difficult schedules, respectively, while the Patriots check in at No. 2 overall, per Sharp Football Analysis.
It's no surprise to see these teams ranked highly. The AFC North saw all of its teams finish better than .500 last season, and the Patriots are playing in an AFC East that should only get better with Aaron Rodgers returning to the Jets.
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2024 NFL strength of schedule rankings
Below is a look at the NFL strength of schedule rankings based on last year's record:
| Rank | Team | Opponent win pct. (2023) |
| 1 | Cleveland Browns | .547 |
| 2 | Baltimore Ravens | .536 |
| 3 | Pittsburgh Steelers | .533 |
| 4 | Green Bay Packers | .526 |
| Houston Texans | .526 | |
| 6 | Buffalo Bills | .516 |
| New York Giants | .516 | |
| 8 | Jacksonville Jaguars | .512 |
| Las Vegas Raiders | .512 | |
| New England Patriots | .512 | |
| 11 | Detroit Lions | .509 |
| 12 | Dallas Cowboys | .505 |
| Los Angeles Rams | .505 | |
| New York Jets | .505 | |
| San Francisco 49ers | .505 | |
| 16 | Cincinnati Bengals | .502 |
| Kansas City Chiefs | .502 | |
| Minnesota Vikings | .502 | |
| Washington Commanders | .502 | |
| 20 | Denver Broncos | .495 |
| 21 | Indianapolis Colts | .491 |
| Philadelphia Eagles | .491 | |
| Tennessee Titans | .491 | |
| 24 | Arizona Cardinals | .488 |
| Miami Dolphins | .488 | |
| Seattle Seahawks | .488 | |
| Los Angeles Chargers | .488 | |
| 28 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | .478 |
| 29 | Carolina Panthers | .467 |
| Chicago Bears | .467 | |
| 31 | Atlanta Falcons | .453 |
| New Orleans Saints | .453 |
And here's a look at the projected strength of schedule based on 2024 win totals, per Sharp Football Analysis.
| Rank | Team |
| 1 | Atlanta Falcons |
| 2 | Los Angeles Chargers |
| 3 | Chicago Bears |
| 4 | New York Jets |
| 5 | New Orleans Saints |
| 6 | Cincinnati Bengals |
| 7 | Indianapolis Colts |
| 8 | Miami Dolphins |
| 9 | Philadelphia Eagles |
| 10 | Carolina Panthers |
| 11 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers |
| 12 | Kansas City Chiefs |
| 13 | Washington Commanders |
| 14 | Jacksonville Jaguars |
| 15 | Seattle Seahawks |
| 16 | Arizona Cardinals |
| 17 | Los Angeles Rams |
| 18 | San Francisco 49ers |
| 19 | Green Bay Packers |
| 20 | New York Giants |
| 21 | Detroit Lions |
| 22 | Dallas Cowboys |
| 23 | Buffalo Bills |
| 24 | Las Vegas Raiders |
| 25 | Denver Broncos |
| 26 | Houston Texans |
| 27 | Tennessee Titans |
| 28 | Minnesota Vikings |
| 29 | Baltimore Ravens |
| 30 | Cleveland Browns |
| 31 | New England Patriots |
| 32 | Pittsburgh Steelers |
How is the NFL schedule determined?
The NFL has a basic formula for determining its schedule on a year-to-year basis. Every team's schedule is derived from this set of rules, and it's why each team knows its opponents for the next season the minute the regular season ends.
Below is a look at the NL's formula for putting together each team's schedule:
- Each team plays six divisional games, facing each divisional opponent three times at home and three times on the road (six games).
- Each team faces all four teams from another division within its conference on a rotating three-year cycle (four games).
- Each team faces all four teams from a division in the other conference on a rotating four-year cycle (four games)
- Each team faces two more intraconference opponents based on the prior year’s standings. For example, because the Browns already play the entire AFC North and AFC West in 2024, they face the teams in the AFC South and AFC East that finished in the same spot in the standings as Cleveland did (second) the previous season. In their case, it's the Dolphins and Jaguars (two games).
- Each team plays one additional game against a team from the other conference based on the prior year's standings on a rotating four-year cycle. These games match a first-place team from one division against a first-place team in an opposite conference division that the team is not scheduled to play that season. The second-place, third-place, and fourth-place teams in each division are similarly paired. The home conference for this game rotates each season (one game).