NFL Schedule 2024 Release & Bye Weeks + Fantasy Football Best Ball News
There are still over three months with no real NFL football games. That’s a cruel summer, as Travis Kelce’s girlfriend might say. But along the way, there are small cases of NFL news and rumors to help us get through.
We laid out our detailed 2024 NFL Offseason Schedule to help you plan ahead. But we got a big offseason present yesterday for both NFL fans and fantasy football gamers alike to debate over: the NFL schedule release!
Here is the full 2024 NFL schedule grid, courtesy of NFL Research.
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What a miraculous time? It used to be that we just had your typical season and a couple fun games on Thanksgiving. Nowadays, there are games in Brazil, Germany and the UK! There are games on Black Friday and Christmas, and even Saturday games!
There’s a wealth of twists and turns to digest so let’s take a quick look then make a couple observations for fantasy football purposes – especially for those best ball leagues where there’s no waiver wire and you need to be very careful of bye weeks!
2024 NFL International Games
- Week 1 - Green Bay Packers vs. Philadelphia Eagles in Sao Paulo, Brazil
- Week 5 - New York Jets vs. Minnesota Vikings in London, U.K.
- Week 6 - Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Chicago Bears in London, U.K.
- Week 7 - New England Patriots vs. Jacksonville Jaguars in London, U.K.
- Week 10 - New York Giants vs. Carolina Panthers in Munich, Germany
2024 NFL Holiday Games
- Thanksgiving - Chicago Bears vs. Detroit Lions
- Thanksgiving - New York Giants vs. Dallas Cowboys
- Thanksgiving - Miami Dolphins vs. Green Bay Packers
- Black Friday - Las Vegas Raiders vs. Kansas City Chiefs
- Christmas - Kansas City Chiefs vs. Pittsburgh Steelers
- Christmas - Baltimore Ravens vs. Houston Texans
2024 NFL Bye Weeks
- Week 5 - Lions, Chargers, Eagles, Titans
- Week 6 - Chiefs, Rams, Dolphins, Vikings
- Week 7 - Bears, Cowboys
- Week 8 - None
- Week 9 - Steelers, 49ers
- Week 10 - Browns, Packers, Raiders, Seahawks
- Week 11 - Cardinals, Panthers, Giants, Buccaneers
- Week 12 - Falcons, Bills, Bengals, Jaguars, Saints, Jets
- Week 13 - None
- Week 14 - Ravens, Broncos, Texans, Colts, Patriots, Commanders
2024 Fantasy Football Best Ball Notes & Pairings to Avoid
All offseason we’ve been looking at different position groups to get an idea of what teams could be tough matchups for certain players or not. And, luckily for us, folks like Sharp Football are already on top of some strength of schedule numbers, even with the schedule just coming out last night.
That allows us to get an advantage as soon as possible. And there are a few items that jump out at us based on the surface-level info.
Bye Week 12
There are two “hot spots” this year with six bye weeks – Weeks 12 and 14. Pairing teams with Bye Week 12 is especially punishing for running backs. You have Bijan Robinson, Breece Hall, Travis Etienne, James Cook, Alvin Kamara and Zack Moss all on bye.
On top of that, the early running back strength of schedule info over on FantasyPros suggests that the Jaguars, Bills and Jets are all in the top five most difficult schedules for running backs. So, you’ll need to load up if you are pairing these guys.
Bye Week 14
If your plan was to take one of Lamar Jackson, C.J. Stroud or Anthony Richardson, then circle back to pair them with a rookie QB other than Caleb Williams or J.J. McCarthy, think again.
Not only do those three share a bye week with Jayden Daniels, Drake Maye and Bo Nix, but the Ravens, Texans, Patriots, Commanders and Broncos are all in the bottom eight teams for strength of schedule, per Sharp Football. If you go that route, you are committing to a three-QB build in best ball.
Chiefs, Dolphins, Eagles, Lions & Rams
This group of players has a uniquely difficult combination. First off, all five players have AT LEAST two difficult matchups during fantasy football playoffs (the Chiefs and Dolphins are pretty tough for all three). And not only do a lot of these guys have overlapping bye weeks, but you really don’t get any break Week 6 with the Eagles and Lions playing Dallas and Detroit.
It’s not the end of the world, but if you end up drafting two of these players, you’ll probably want to consider a late, third quarterback. And these guys aren’t particularly cheap to draft, so it ends up being a fairly expensive build.
TEAM | Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 15 | Week 16 | Week 17 |
Chiefs | NO | BYE | @CLE | HOU | @PIT |
Dolphins | @NE | BYE | @HOU | SF | @CLE |
Eagles | BYE | CLE | PIT | @WAS | DAL |
Lions | BYE | @DAL | BUF | @CHI | @SF |
Rams | GB | BYE | @SF | @NYJ | ARI |
For all your NFL Best Ball draft needs, be sure to check out Fantasy Alarm's Strength of Schedule tool for the best potential matchups!
Player News
Dolphins signed No. 13 overall pick DT Kenneth Grant to a four-year contract.
ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reports that Grant will sign his contract today. The former Michigan defensive tackle is expected to fill a major void left by Christian Wilkins, who left for the Raiders in the 2024 offseason. Grant totaled 32 tackles, three sacks, and seven TFLs in his final season at Michigan and excelled at stopping the run while also generating 27 pressures in his final season, per PFF.
Beat reporter John Hendrix reports that free agent WR Donovan Peoples-Jones is among the 16 players that the Saints will host for their rookie minicamp.
Peoples-Jones last played regular season snaps with the Lions back in 2023, when he caught 13-of-24 targets for 155 yards. He is highly unlikely to return to fantasy relevance at this point but could perhaps sign on as a special teams contributor.
Titans signed fourth-round pick WR Elic Ayomanor to a four-year contract.
Ayomanor will now begin learning behind Calvin Ridley. Although Ayomanor is unlikely to find a meaningful role in year one, dynasty managers should note his status as training camp gets underway this summer. The former Stanford receiver flashed big-play ability in his two college seasons.
Buccaneers signed seventh-round pick WR Tez Johnson to a four-year contract.
Johnson will serve as a rotational deep-threat option for Baker Mayfield. His thin frame (5'10/154) simply does not lend itself to the repeated hits one incurs in a full-time role. Johnson did earn 100-plus targets in his two seasons at Oregon, though. His big-play style make him a better fit in best ball for now, pending any major on-field breakthroughs.
Giants waived DT Casey Rogers.
Rogers was a 2024 undrafted free agent and logged 33 defensive snaps for the Giants in his rookie season. He is credited with zero tackles and/or sacks. He may find his way onto another roster as a practice squad option.
Vikings signed third-round pick WR Tai Felton to a four-year contract.
Felton is quietly in play to challenge Vikings No. 3 WR Jalen Nailor in training camp. Nailor (5'11/190) caught 28-of-42 targets for 414 yards and six touchdowns in his first season as a starter last year, with the latter category buoying his fantasy productivity. Felton (6'1/183), meanwhile, caught 96-of-143 targets for 1,119 yards and nine touchdowns while averaging 2.32 yards per route run in his final college season. Fantasy managers should monitor Felton’s training camp reports this summer, as he could have a matchup-based WR5 role if everything falls into place.