Tom Pelissero: Why Some NFL Teams Are Frustrated With the NFL's International Schedule Release

The complaint coming out of NFL front offices this week is not about going overseas. It is about how late teams find out they are the ones going.

NFL Network's Tom Pelissero told Rich the international slate has produced quiet frustration around the league, and it is concentrated on the visiting teams who get almost no runway to plan.

"There is, let's just say, some frustration among some teams about the international slate, and specifically when teams learned they have to go and play overseas," Pelissero said.

The home teams get the news months in advance. The Saints knew in January they were playing the first Paris game. The 49ers learned during Super Bowl week, in late January or early February, that they were hosting Mexico City.

Their opponents did not get that same heads-up.

"The Steelers found out on Tuesday, 'Hey, remember last year you went to Ireland to play the first game there? This year we're sending you to play the first game in Paris. So good luck. We're announcing it tomorrow morning. Do you want to make a comment on this?'" Pelissero said.

The Vikings drew an even tougher draw. Minnesota became the first team ever to play back-to-back international games in two different countries last season. Pelissero said they assumed they had earned a year off the international rotation.

"The Vikings find out on Tuesday, 'You're going to play a week 11 against the 49ers in Mexico City,'" Pelissero said.

The Colts got the same treatment after playing Germany last year. Tuesday call, London announcement, get to work.

Pelissero made the point that the travel itself is not the issue. Mexico City is roughly the same distance from Minneapolis as San Francisco is, and the Vikings would not even leave their time zone. It is the operational lift that piles on football operations staffs with no warning.

The bigger picture, Pelissero said, is that this scramble is about to become standard. Roger Goodell has repeatedly said the goal is for every team to play one game overseas. Eventually, Pelissero thinks the number climbs.

"My belief, just me, no one has told me this, but my belief is ultimately teams may be playing two games per year overseas, just because if you're playing that many, it makes sense to have pods, reduce the travel, establish those markets with multiple games instead of one," Pelissero said.

All of that has to be negotiated. International scheduling will be a core piece of the next collective bargaining round. For now, the only thing players get for shouldering a second international game in a single year is, in Pelissero's words, a $5,000 stipend.

"That's your bonus for going to play in the second international game," Pelissero said. "You get 5,000 bucks."