The first game of the 2026 season will be televised by NBC, on Wednesday, September 9. The second game of the 2026 season will stream.
According to The Athletic, the 49ers-Rams game from Australia will be televised by Netflix.
It becomes the third Netflix game of 2026. Currently, Netflix handles two Christmas games.
The move meshes with Netflix’s desire to handle big events. With the NFL reportedly splitting four games it absorbed from ESPN between Netflix and YouTube, Netflix will be in line to get one more game for 2026.
The biggest new event for 2026 will be the first-ever Thanksgiving Eve game, which is expected to debut this year.
The Vikings are not officially announcing their interviews for General Manager, but three more candidates for the role have now been reported.
According to multiple reports, Minnesota has put in an interview request for Titans assistant G.M. Dave Ziegler and 49ers assistant G.M. RJ Gillen. Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports notes the Vikings have also put in a request for Chargers assistant G.M. Chad Alexander.
Of this group, Ziegler has previous G.M. experience, having served in that role for the Raiders in 2022 and 2023. He was fired midway through his second season, along with former head coach Josh McDaniels.
Gillen has spent the last 11 seasons with the 49ers. He was promoted to assistant G.M. last year after serving as director of player personnel for two years.
Alexander has been the Chargers’ assistant G.M. since 2024. He was previously with the Ravens’ personnel department from 1999-2018 before serving as Jets director of player personnel from 2019-2023.
For many years, Mike Evans was the leader of the Buccaneers’ receivers room.
But that is no longer the case, with Evans electing to sign a three-year deal with the 49ers in March.
Tampa Bay still has plenty of talent at wideout, including 2025 first-round pick Emeka Egbuka. In an interview with Up & Adams this week, Egbuka noted that while the Bucs feel the loss of Evans, they have the players to fill the void.
“Obviously, I think there’s a passing of the torch, and it needs to be received by someone,” Egbuka said. “I think that our management — our G.M., our owners, and everything like that — they’ve done a great job of bringing guys in who are up to the task. So, obviously, they drafted me last year. But we have Chris Godwin, we have Jalen McMillan, and we have a bunch of guys who are ready to make an impact. We just drafted a wide receiver [Ted Hurst out of Georgia State], so we’re really excited to see what he can do.
“But obviously, we’re feeling the effects of Mike being gone. He’s so loved within the building, within the Tampa community. There’s nothing but love for him. There’s no hard feelings or anything. We all believe he’s going to do amazing things in San Francisco. But, yeah, there’s a little bit of a passing of the torch, and handoff, and I think everybody in our room is up to the task.”
Egbuka, in particular, seems up to the task of leading Tampa Bay’s wideouts, telling Kay Adams that he feels leadership is “always something that’s come very natural to me.”
“I remember in draft prep and everything like that, when the Bucs were evaluating me, that was something that they put a lot of high emphasis on, was me being a leader, and stepping into leadership roles,” Egbuka said. “I was a captain at Ohio State — been a captain on pretty much every football team I’ve been a part of. So, it’s definitely something that’s always come naturally to me when I was younger.”
Egbuka, 23, caught 63 passes for 938 yards with six touchdowns as a rookie in 2025.
49ers tight end George Kittle remains on track in his rehab from a torn Achilles.
That gives coach Kyle Shanahan hope that Kittle can get back in time to play in the 49ers’ season opener on Sept. 10. The 49ers will play the Rams in Melbourne, Australia, to open the season.
“I know there’s a chance to,” Shanahan said Thursday on The Rich Eisen Show, via David Bonilla of 49erswebzone.com. “I know he’s working his butt off to do it. I don’t want to say he’s on track, but I think that’s what he’s shooting for. And I don’t put anything past Kittle. He works as hard as anyone.”
Kittle tore his right Achilles during a Jan. 11 playoff game against the Eagles. That gave him only eight months for surgery and rehab, prompting an initial fear that Kittle would miss some of the 2026 season.
Dr. Neal ElAttrache performed the surgery on Kittle’s Achilles in Los Angeles the week of the injury.
Kittle, 32, made a seventh career Pro Bowl last season despite playing only 11 regular-season games due to hamstring and ankle injuries.
The 49ers dropped a player from their roster on Thursday.
The team announced that they have waived defensive back Tre Tomlinson. The 49ers did not make any corresponding moves, but signed running back Sincere McCormick, safety Patrick McMorris and eight undrafted rookies earlier this week.
Tomlinson was claimed off of waivers from the Rams last offseason, but missed the entire season on injured reserve. He was a 2023 sixth-round pick in Los Angeles and he had 13 tackles in 15 games during his rookie season. He also spent the 2024 season on injured reserve.
The 49ers could clear more space on their roster for rookie additions before or after next week’s rookie minicamp.
