Tom Pelissero’s Key Takeaways from the NFL’s Schedule Release So Far

The NFL got a taste last year of what a marquee Thanksgiving game can do, and the early read on 2026 is that the league is trying to break every record in the books.

Tom Pelissero broke down his early takeaways from the schedule release on the show, and the Thanksgiving slate is where he started.

Rich set the table. Eagles-Cowboys on Fox in the middle of Thanksgiving Day. Lions-Bears in the early window.

"You're talking about huge two huge divisional matchups," Pelissero said.

The night before is the new wrinkle.

"You've got the Packers-Rams game now on Thanksgiving Eve, the national biggest day for bars across America, now will also be packed with NFL fans watching those games," Pelissero said. "You want to talk about lit, there will be some people getting lit while watching the Packers and the Rams."

The broader strategy, in Pelissero's framing, is not about playing every night.

"They've never espoused the idea of, well, we need to be playing seven nights a week," Pelissero said. "It's not the NBA where they got seven different partners. But they are taking some parts of that model, which is any other places they can find to put a game where they feel like it's going to be advantageous, where you can draw a big audience with a big game."

He acknowledged the risk in scheduling marquee games late in the calendar.

"You could be putting the Chiefs on Christmas like you do every year, and then last year, all of a sudden, hey, they're eliminated, and this game doesn't mean anything," Pelissero said. "Those are the chances that you take with some of the unknowns with scheduling those games late."

Rich opened the floor for anything else. Pelissero went to the Melbourne opener first.

"You're opening up in Melbourne, we've known that for a while, with a divisional game between the 49ers and the Rams," Pelissero said. "That's a pretty substantial type of a thing."

The Week 1 Chiefs-Broncos slot gave Pelissero a tell about quarterback availability that he wanted to share.

"You certainly wouldn't think the NFL would want to be putting a Justin Fields versus Jared Stidham game in week one," Pelissero said. "It would seem to suggest they're pretty confident about Patrick Mahomes, whose goal has been to be out there in week one, and Bo Nix, who again, another guy who had a second procedure in the offseason, but it sounds like everything is going in the right direction."

He vouched for Sean Payton's comments about Bo Nix as the rare instance of straight talk.

"Sean Payton sometimes can be liberal with the truth, but in this case, it sounds like everything he said in his podium session the other day was true," Pelissero said. "Bo Nix should be ready to roll. They'll be delicate with him through OTAs, but he should be ready to go for the season."

Pelissero kept reading the schedule like a chess board.

"Sometimes you get those little types of indications that help," Pelissero said.

The Buffalo opening week got its own callout.

"You got the opening of Highmark Stadium, which is going to be the first game on Thursday night prime in week two against the Lions, and all the history with those teams," Pelissero said.

Pelissero reminded everyone the full release is not out yet at the time of the conversation.

"It may feel like we know the whole schedule, and if you're following the unofficial leaks, you may have half of it at this point," Pelissero said. "But we do officially have 257 more games that will be announced tonight on ESPN, NFL Network and the family of ESPN networks."