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.
Cowboys safety Caleb Downs has the top-selling jersey of all rookies. For those who were expecting a jersey displaying No. 18 to eventually show up, they’ll be in for a surprise.
Downs has already shifted to No. 13, via Tommy Yarrish of the Cowboys’ official website.
At rookie minicamp, Downs wore No. 18. He’ll wear the new number for OTAs.
But buyers beware. Yarrish notes that the current number is “subject to change and still could be different between now and the beginning of the regular season.”
Downs wore No. 2 at Ohio State. That number currently has been issued to cornerback Cobie Durant, who signed a one-year contract with the team in March. It’s possible Downs will work out a deal with Durant — or that the Cowboys will exercise their prerogative to reclaim the number.
If Downs is going to change from No. 13 to No. 2, here’s hoping it happens soon. If Durant doesn’t return in 2027, Downs could make the change from No. 13 to No. 2, rendering obsolete any and all jerseys purchased in 2026.
Colts wide receiver Josh Downs will be looking for the date of one game in particular when the 2026 schedule is released later this month.
The Colts will be hosting the Cowboys at some point during the regular season and that means that Downs will have a chance to play against his brother. Safety Caleb Downs was the 11th overall pick of this year’s draft and his early intel about the Cowboys’ plans for him suggest the two brothers will be seeing a lot of each other.
“He told me if he goes to the Cowboys, he’s playing nickel,” Josh Downs said, via James Boyd of TheAthletic.com. “So, that’s like head-to-head all game. I was like, ‘that’s interesting.’ So then he got drafted, I was like ‘you know we play next year’ and he got all hyped. It’s all fun and games, but you know I gotta let him know he’s the little brother in the situation.”
The Cowboys will be in Rio to play the Ravens in Week 3 and Week 18 is reserved for divisional games, but the matchup of the Downs brothers could take place at any other point in the regular season.
Recently, former NFL defensive end and former ESPN and Fox Sports on-air personality Marcellus Wiley was accused of sexual assault by four individuals. The claims, which were addressed in an item on Awful Announcing, were first reported by Rolling Stone on April 29.
On Tuesday morning, Wiley responded publicly to the new accusations on his YouTube show.
“Pick a date, pick the encounter, pick the allegation,” Wiley said. “For every one of them, I either saw, communicated — through email, text, phone — was invited by these individuals after these dates to engage, to be intimate, or all the above. After the dates that are in question, OK? So this matters. Why does it matter? . . . Because it directly contradicts the narrative that they’re trying to present publicly.”
He posed a simple question to the accusers. “Why did you continue to see or maintain friendly communication at minimum that can be verified — will be verified — with someone that you’re accusing after the alleged incidents?”
Wiley compared his situation to the Stefon Diggs criminal trial, which at the time had not yet ended. (On Tuesday, Diggs was acquitted of strangulation and assault charges.)
Unlike Diggs, Wiley faces accusations from multiple persons. Unlike Diggs, Wiley has not faced criminal charges.
Wiley has vowed to defend his name, especially since his son carries that same name.
“To you, it’s about money,” Wiley said. “To me, it’s about my son’s name that he will one day Google and think that this is about him, but he’s gonna know it’s about his dad. And how dare you stain the brain of my child and his hero.”
Wiley did not address any of the details in the allegations. And that’s smart. Anything he says can be used against him in court by the persons who have made the accusations.
On Tuesday night, Wiley posted on Twitter court documents showing that three prior allegations have been dismissed.
Columbia University also has been named in the new lawsuit, which seeks certification of a class action against Wiley and Columbia. Via Rolling Stone, a hearing regarding potential certification of a class action will be held on May 12.
Wiley will have the right to fully and aggressively defend himself against the allegations. And, again, he has faced no criminal charges at any time in connection with any of the claims.
Where the litigation goes from here remains to be seen. Wiley’s initial response makes it clear that he intends to aggressively fight all of the allegations.
Wiley spent 10 years in the NFL, playing for the Bills, Chargers, Cowboys, and Jaguars. He worked for ESPN through 2018, and he then worked at Fox Sports until 2022.
The Cowboys closed the book on the Micah Parsons trade during draft weekend. The team used the extra picks to make even more trades.
In the end. . .
The Cowboys sent the All-Pro edge rusher to the Packers. They traded defensive tackle Mazi Smith and a 2026 second-round pick to the Jets (later traded to the Lions) and the better of their two 2027 first-round picks to the Jets.
The Cowboys acquired defensive lineman Quinnen Williams, defensive lineman Kenny Clark, outside linebacker Malachi Lawrence (23rd overall), cornerback Devin Moore (114th overall) and defensive lineman LT Overton (137th overall).
The team has walked away from Parsons feeling as if they have won the trade.
“We feel really good about it,” executive vice president Stephen Jones told Adam Schein on Mad Dog Sports Radio. “Obviously, much respect for Micah and what he stands for and how he plays and the caliber of player he is. At the same time, we feel good about what we’ve added via that trade. You look at a guy like Quinnen Williams and Kenny Clark. They’re alpha players, who are not only great players on the field, but they’re leaders in the meeting rooms, how about they go about their business in the offseason. Just bring great leadership to this team.
“I just feel very optimistic that we have the right pieces in place. Ultimately, the decision we made was that one player is not worth four or five good ones, and we feel like that’s where we’re going to end up here in a good spot. We had that opportunity there. Didn’t feel like we were one player away last year, but I certainly feel like we’re putting the pieces together to give us an opportunity to go do what our fans deserve, what we want, which is to go and try to win the big trophy.”
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones predicted after the trade that Dallas would turn the trade into “three, four, five, six players for one.”
It’s unlikely that any one of the players the Cowboys acquired is as good as Parsons, but Williams is only 28 and has four Pro Bowls and is a one-time All-Pro. Clark is a three-time Pro Bowler.
The Cowboys, who are switching to a 3-4 defense under new coordinator Christian Parker, will have only three of the same starters from Week 1 of last season in what turned out to be a historically bad defense. If the Cowboys can have even a mediocre defense in 2026, they could contend, even without an All-Pro edge rusher.
