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.
After trading Dexter Lawrence, the Giants have brought in a veteran defensive tackle.
According to multiple reports, New York has agreed to terms with D.J. Reader on a two-year contract.
Via Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, the deal is worth $12.5 million in base salary and can reach $15.5 million with incentives.
Reader, who turns 32 in July, spent the last two seasons with the Lions. He started all 17 games for Detroit in 2025, playing 53 percent of the club’s defensive snaps. He finished with 28 total tackles and four QB hits.
In his 10 seasons, Reader has registered 12.5 sacks, 27 tackles for loss, and 56 QB hits. He’s appeared in 137 games with 128 starts for Houston, Cincinnati, and Detroit.
Lions cornerback Terrion Arnold’s second NFL season was hampered by a shoulder injury that led him to have surgery early in the offseason, but he doesn’t think it will continue to be an issue when the team gets to training camp this summer.
Arnold told Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press that he doesn’t know what he’ll be able to do before the offseason program, but “I know I’m expected to be there” once the Lions hit the field for camp in August. Once he’s back, the 2024 first-round pick will be trying to build on what he considered to be a step forward in his second NFL season.
“Before I got hurt I was getting in my groove, figuring things out,” Arnold said. “Started playing my best ball and then just dealing with that injury, nagging it, so I’m just excited to see where I’ll be at with not having any injuries and just really looking forward to being out there with my team.”
The Lions are hoping to bounce back from a disappointing 9-8 record that kept them out of the playoffs last season. Arnold’s return to health won’t get that done on its own, but it would be a boost to those hopes in Detroit.
Steelers wide receiver DK Metcalf will not face criminal charges for his altercation with a fan during a game against the Lions at Ford Field, prosecutors in Detroit announced today.
The fan, Ryan Kennedy, is pursuing a civil lawsuit, but the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office says it will not prosecute.
“At approximately 5:30 p.m., it is alleged that [Kennedy] left his seat holding a Metcalf jersey to get an autograph. As he approached the front railing of the stands, he said something to Mr. Metcalf. As Mr. Metcalf approached the stands, there was a brief interaction where Mr. Metcalf grabbed his shirt and pushed him back. The fan did not appear to be injured, nor did he seek medical attention at the game. After an extensive review of all the relevant evidence, the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office has determined that charges will not issue in this case,” the prosecutor’s statement said, via the Detroit Free Press.
In addition to suing Metcalf, Kennedy is suing Ford Field management and former NFL players Chad Johnson and Shannon Sharpe, who suggested that Metcalf was motivated by Kennedy using racist language, which Kennedy denies. Kennedy’s lawyer says the decision not to file criminal charges has no bearing on the civil lawsuit.
Lions receiver Jameson Williams played most of his college career before the NIL era began. He’s now looking to get compensated for the money the system prevented him from earning — and for the money the system earned from his skills and abilities.
Via the New York Post, Williams has sued the NCAA, the Big Ten, and the SEC for misappropriating his name, image, and likeness rights.
As framed in the civil complaint filed in Los Angeles County, California, on Monday, the alleged violations are ongoing.
“To date, Williams has received no fair compensation from Defendants for the full commercial value of his name, image, and likeness,” Williams contends in the lawsuit. "[Defendants] continuously financially benefit from Jameson Williams’ name, image and likeness rights, [while] also doing so without [providing] him with just compensation.”
Williams, the 12th overall pick in the 2022 draft, seeks compensation for “the social media earnings that [he] would have received but for Defendants’ unlawful conduct,” along with a portion of “the game telecast group licensing revenue” the defendants earned during his playing career.
Williams also contends that, during his college career, “he was not able to sell his name, image, and likeness rights.”
To the extent that the antitrust laws opened the floodgates for players to get paid, those who were denied the ability to do so because of past antitrust violations have potential rights that can be pursued in court.
