Packers 2026 Schedule Release Predictions: Green Bay breaks trend, lands international game and more intriguing tidbits

Green Bay plays nine games at Lambeau Field this season. The team is also set to play eight away games, but one of them could be another international matchup.

The NFL will announce its complete schedule on Thursday, May 14. For now, we don’t know much about the Green Bay Packers schedule, beyond the opponents — expect that they will play nine games at Lambeau Field this year. So, it’s time for some bold (and some not-so-bold) predictions of what’s to come for the green and gold in 2026.

1. It’s gonna be a divisional opening once again

The Packers have had an NFC North matchup to open the regular season in three of the last four seasons. The exception was the Brazil game against the Philadelphia Eagles in 2024. It’s extremely feasible to expect another division rivalry game to kick things off in 2026. The Packers faced the Minnesota Vikings in 2022, the Chicago Bears in 2023, and the Detroit Lions in 2025. A Vikings game against Kyler Murray would be exciting, but another Packers-Bears in Week 1 for a playoff rematch wouldn’t surprise either.

2. No Thanksgiving for the first time in Jordan Love’s era

Since Love took over as the starting quarterback in 2023, the Packers have played every Thanksgiving — twice against the Lions, and once against the Miami Dolphins. And they had three wins in those games. At some point, though, it has to stop — unless you’re the Detroit Lions or Dallas Cowboys. So, instead of a fourth consecutive Thanksgiving game, Green Bay could realistically be saved to another primetime game in that same week. A “Sunday Night Football” right after the Holiday would be cool to see.

3. Surprising primetime game

You can foresee some natural primetime games for the Packers. Chicago Bears, Dallas Cowboys, Los Angeles Rams. But what about an interconference matchup? A game against the New England Patriots should be extremely funny — if for no other reasons, just because Jordan Love and Drake Maye offer a pretty exciting combination of aggressive quarterback play. It’s also the Romeo Doubs revenge game.

4. L’Europe verra les Packers

The Packers have already played two international games over the past few seasons, losing to the New York Giants in London in 2022 and to the Philadelphia Eagles in São Paulo two years ago. Now, the Lions blocked a Packers game in Munich, but there’s still a scenario for Green Bay to play overseas in 2026. The Packers have an away game against the New Orleans Saints, and they will host the first regular season game ever in Paris, France. The NFL likes to put good teams to open new markets. Just like the league did in Brazil, it would make sense to schedule a Green Bay game in France.