In the past, it was almost a given that NFL teams would have their bye week following an international game. The reasoning was simple: after a tough travel schedule that includes thousands of miles and a drastic change in timezones, a team earned a week off to get home, rest, and re-acclimate.
But that appears to be a thing of the past. The NFL no longer guarantees a bye week after an international game, and for the Detroit Lions, they are not expecting to get one after their 2026 game that will be played in Munich, Germany.
“It’s not any longer guaranteed that you’ll get the bye after the international game, and we’re in a little bit of an odd situation with the game likely in November and Thanksgiving,” Lions team president Rod Wood told reporters on Tuesday. “So I don’t know what our bye treatment will be, but I think it’s unlikely that we’ll get it the week right after the game.”
At the moment, the Lions’ Germany opponent is unknown, and the date of the game hasn’t been announced, either. The expectation is for it to be an early November game, because each of the Germany games in the past four years have been played between November 5 and 13.
And in case you thought this was a sign Detroit may stay overseas for a second game in a row, the Lions are not expecting back-to-back international games this season.
“I would never say never […] but no one has brought it up to me,” Wood said. “So I’m hoping they would have brought it up to me by now if that was going to happen. So I don’t think that’s likely.”
Wood, who announced he’ll be retiring by the end of the offseason, has historically made requests to the league about the Lions’ schedule. It appears he did not request to get the bye week after the international game. However, he did make an interesting request about their November schedule.
“The one thing I did push for was to not have the Thursday-to-Thursday (games) after Thanksgiving,” Wood said. “Assuming this international game in Munich might be in November, because I think the games in Germany have been in November. The thing about flying back, playing a game, playing Thanksgiving, then playing the Thursday afterwards, it’s really tough on the players and travel. So that’s the one thing I requested, and hopefully I’ve made my case.”
The Lions have played in back-to-back Thursdays in two consecutive seasons.
As for the Germany game, Wood said they’ve already begun preparation, despite not knowing the opponent or date. They are sending both the business and football side of the team over to Germany to scope out, plan, and give Lions fans an opportunity for a trip they’ll never forget.
“We’ve got some marketing ideas that we’re putting into our budget. We’re going to treat it like a pretty big deal from a fan experience standpoint,” Wood said.
