The Bengals know they will be playing in Baltimore at some point during the 2026 season, but the timing of that game will be of some interest.
When the schedule is released on Thursday, head coach Zac Taylor and the rest of the Bengals will learn whether their annual road game against the Ravens will be played in primetime for the fifth year in a row. Taylor was asked if he’d be surprised to see things go that way during a press conference on Tuesday.
“I think I would be surprised, but prepared for it, if that’s what they choose to do to us for the fifth straight year,” Taylor said.
The Bengals lost their first three night games in Baltimore, but they snapped that streak with a win over the Ravens on Thanksgiving in 2025. This year’s matchup will look different from that one in one significant way as Jesse Minter is now coaching the Ravens. We’ll find out if the setting is also different in a couple of days.
The Ravens signed veteran safety K’Von Wallace, the team announced Monday.
Wallace, a six-year NFL veteran, appeared in three games with the Texans last season and made nine tackles.
He entered the NFL as a fourth-round pick of the Eagles in 2020.
Wallace, 28, has appeared in 74 career games with 20 starts and has totaled 177 tackles and an interception.
The Clemson product spent his first three NFL seasons in Philadelphia and has also spent time with the Cardinals, Titans and Seahawks.
Wallace has 1,592 defensive snaps and 1,004 on special teams in his career.
Baltimore may deploy three safeties frequently under new head coach Jesse Minter, with Kyle Hamilton, Malaki Starks and Jaylinn Hawkins leading the group. Wallace will likely compete with second-year player Keondre Jackson and others for the No. 4 safety role.
The Ravens didn’t use any of their 11 draft picks on a safety.
Rookie minicamps routinely include more than rookies. In Minnesota, veteran quarterback Cooper Rush will participate on a tryout basis.
The team has announced 57 attendees for the weekend session. Of that number, 23 have been invited to the weekend practices on a tryout basis.
Rush, 32, has played in 42 regular-season games with 16 starts. He has a 9-7 record.
The Ravens cut him earlier this year, after making Tyler Huntley the primary backup to Lamar Jackson. Before that, Rush spent seven seasons with the Cowboys, starting eight games in 2024 and five in 2022.
Although the Vikings have four quarterbacks on the roster, they need arms for the rookie minicamp. And they neither drafted nor signed as an undrafted free agent any rookie quarterbacks.
Joining Rush on a tryout basis will be Aidan Bouman. His father is former NFL quarterback Todd Bouman, who played for the Vikings, Saints, and Jaguars.
The NFL will announce the full 2026 schedule on Thursday, May 14, but the league’s international slate of games will be revealed earlier than the domestic ones.
The matchups for this year’s international games will be announced on NFL Network at 9 a.m. eastern time on Wednesday.
Nine international games are on the docket this year, but the matchups for two of them have already been announced. The 49ers and Rams will meet up in Melbourne in Week 1 and the Cowboys will face the Ravens in Rio in Week 3.
One team in each of the other seven games is already known. The Jaguars will play in London twice and the Commanders will be involved in the city’s third game. The 49ers will be in Mexico City, the Falcons will be in Madrid, the Lions will be in Munich and the Saints will take part in the NFL’s first game in Paris.
When defensive lineman Calais Campbell heard from Ravens General Manager Eric DeCosta this offseason, it didn’t come as a great surprise to the veteran.
Campbell played for the Ravens from 2020-2022 and said in an interview for the team’s podcast that he has heard from DeCosta several times over the years about a second stint in Baltimore. He said a return to Arizona was possible and that other teams also reached out, but that he thought the Ravens offered him his best chance of fulfilling his goals for the coming season.
“This year there was a lot more pressure than years past,” Campbell said. “Eric DeCosta called pretty much every year, but this year was more like ‘I gotta have you. This could make a big difference.’ I felt that. I believe that this team has all the tools to win. . . . Where can I go where I can make plays and win games? Baltimore made the most sense when it came down to that.”
Campbell played in three playoff games during his first run with the Ravens. If he and his teammates can make enough plays, they’ll have a shot at playing in at least that many again this year.
